Indonesian culture takes center stage at MIT

Indonesian culture takes center stage at MIT

Maggie Tiojakin, Contributor/Boston, Massachusetts,
mathe_80@yahoo.com

"There's been a bombing in Bali," a 21-year-old Indonesian called
out as he stormed into sight. "I'm so worried about my friends
and family back home," he continued, as he paced relentlessly. He
buried his head in both hands, fell to his knees and let out an
agonizing groan. "I feel so useless."

Meet Indra Wiralaksmana, a junior at Northeastern University,
who was master of ceremonies at this year's PERMIAS (Indonesian
Students' Association in the U.S.) Massachusetts' annual event,
Indonesian Cultural Night 2004: The Majestic Archipelago. Held at
MIT's Kresge Little Theater in Cambridge, in mid-May, over 400
people came to see the show, a good percentage of whom were non-
Indonesians.

For two hours, no less than seven dance numbers were
performed, including the famous Petik Teh (Tea Picking) from West
Java, performed by PERMIAS New York City, and Panyembrana from
Bali, accompanied by the musical performance of Gamelan Galak
Tika -- a group of gamelan players and dancers based at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a campus so large it is
equipped with its own museum, theater, apartment buildings, as
well as sports auditorium.

In past shows, Indra always had a co-host to share the
spotlight with, but "(this year) she decided to back off," said
Indra, who admitted he was feeling jittery about having to go
solo. Yet, by the time the show opened on Sunday, dressed in a
pair of khakis and batik-patterned shirt, Indra performed with
the ease of an actor who knew his way around the stage. If he was
nervous, no one in the audience spotted it.

A native of Jakarta, Indra expressed his pride as an
Indonesian. Looking back at his first year of living in the U.S.,
which was a little over four years ago, he remembered a time when
several people came up to him and asked if he had ever lived in a
real house before. "They thought all Indonesians live in huts,"
Indra said.

By participating in PERMIAS events, Indra hopes to promote his
home country to the international community in the U.S. "They
should know Indonesia is a country worth visiting."

Cecilia Hermawan, 20, a management major at Bentley College,
who was only recently appointed as the president of PERMIAS
Massachusetts, took the liberty to elaborate on Indra's
statement. As the head organizer of this year's event, she
expects the audience to leave the show with "some degree of
awareness regarding Indonesia's variety of cultures" or, at
least, begin to recognize some of its traditional dances.

Asked what she will do with the event's proceedings, Cecilia
said the organization wishes to donate the funds to charity.

Ever since she started her presidential term at PERMIAS
Massachusetts, Cecilia has made it her ultimate goal to help
raise money for the education of disadvantaged children back in
Indonesia. "We (as an organization) feel that the children's
education has the most important role in our society, and it's
sad that most children in Indonesia can't afford to get the
education they deserve," explained Cecilia.

Always diplomatic, Cecilia seems to be taking her role in the
organization very seriously. In spite of her final exams and
summer classes preparations, Cecilia continued to work
side-by-side with the 100 participants who volunteered, for the
past six months, to put the show together.

However, she admitted that "finding the right location for the
show" was quite a challenging task.

"I must have called up over 50 places around the area, and
they were all charging ridiculous amount of money for a one-night
show," said Cecilia, who eventually decided to pull some strings
and ask for help from the Indonesian Students' Association at
MIT. Nevertheless, according to Cecilia, the most difficult
challenge was working with "the large number of cast and crew".

Laila Munaf, a finance major at Northeastern University, who
was responsible for directing the show's performances on stage as
well as choreographing Saman and Yapong dances, quickly seconded
Cecilia's statement.

"Working with so many people is really hard," said Laila, who
had to give up performing in this year's event because of other
engagements in the show. While she had no problem choreographing
the dance numbers, scheduling rehearsals was a major issue for
Laila, who fell ill from exhaustion during the show's
preparations.

"It got really hectic for me, especially during final exams,"
said Laila.

After the show was over, her only expectation was that
"everyone had enjoyed themselves, either on stage, backstage or
in the audience".

Upon realizing how Indonesia's reputation in the U.S. has
often preceded itself, Laila also hoped the event would "generate
a positive reaction among the audience".

The 21-year-old, who plans on taking an internship at Manu
Life Financial here in Boston, feels responsible for rebuilding
her country to assist it toward a better future.

She conveys her ambition to let "everybody know that not
everything about Indonesia is negative", even if media coverage
says otherwise. Being so far away from home, Laila said, "it's
difficult to make a difference." Cecilia agreed. "Still, there
are ways," added Cecilia.

Despite their notoriety for leading a jet-set lifestyle, with
their private cars and extensive travels, the young generation of
Indonesians living in Boston have proven that they are more than
what they are often perceived to be. Their commitment to the
event and each other, for example, is completely voluntary.

Boston, a city with one of the highest living costs in the
U.S., is a cultural haven to many of its residents. From Bengali
movie theaters to Middle-Eastern bars to events such as
Indonesian Night 2004, the city never cease to amaze its diverse
population. Even so, Laila finds herself missing her home country
more than she can afford to visit it.

"(Eventually) we will go home and support Indonesia -- for
now, (the show) is the only thing we can contribute," she said,
smiling brightly.