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.