Infidelity: Losing faith in freedom

Tarko Sudiarno, Contributor, Yogyakarta

Infidelity is not confined to adultery. Examples of infidelity can also be found in education, society and politics.

This was the message of a humorous performance titled Laughing a la Sephia "Infidelity is Nice", held last Wednesday at Purna Budaya Building, Yogyakarta.

Packaged as a variety show combining humor, including pantomime, and a talk show, the performance featured the big names of Butet Kartaredjasa, Djaduk Ferianto with his Kua Etnika, Eros and Duta of Sheila on 7, Komeng and Dery, Wayang Humor as well as Damarjati Supajar and Purdi E Chandra in the talk show.

As the theme was relevant to present circumstances - notice the presence of Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and family - tickets were sold out, leaving some Yogyakartans disappointed.

Conforming to the general theme, all those taking part in the performance represented infidelity in one form or another. Eros and Duta of Sheila on 7, sang their hit Sephia, which is about infidelity.

Butet, who specializes in solo performances, encouraged spectators to believe that infidelity was nice.

Wearing safari outfit - usually worn by members of the House of Representatives - Butet, in his typically humorous manner, said: "Infidelity is deeply rooted in our country. We can call ourselves an unfaithful nation.

"We are less faithful to our country's founding fathers. We had promised to unite in one country but some areas have shown infidelity by demanding their own independence. We had upheld the principle of Unity in Diversity but now we are fighting and killing our own people."

Butet said that infidelity was also found in the worlds of business and bureaucracy. Businessmen and bureaucrats work hand in glove when handling projects. Judges, prosecutors and lawyers make deals. Security officers and fugitives are in cahoots. Even the military and police, who are supposed to protect citizens, demonstrate their infidelity by shooting each other.

It is true that infidelity is closely related to freedom, to our desire to gain new experiences, to reduce our burdens.

"It's not surprising to see survey results on infidelity showing that 60 percent people love committing infidelity, 30 percent do it secretly and 10 percent commit it but deny it," Butet said.

Perhaps we very much enjoy our infidelity, and derive so much benefit from it that we are justified in saying "infidelity is nice".

Damarjati Supajar, philosophy lecturer at the Gadjah Mada University, has spoken about trends in infidelity between husbands and wives.

"People who commit adultery will enjoy it but never feel satisfied. A man, for example, will always look for a younger, more beautiful and more glamorous partner."

The performance itself was opened by Dibyo, young local comedian, singing a series hits but changing the lyrics. These songs, that sent laughter throughout the entire hall, included Gigi's Jomblo, Padi's Sesuatu yang Indah (Something Beautiful), Franky and Jane's Kereta Malam (Night Train), Halloween's Forever in One and Sheila on 7's Tak Kubiarkan Kau Menangis (I Won't Let You Cry).

Unfortunately, Jakarta-based comedians Komeng and Derry and "Wayang Humor" (Gareng, Joned and Wisben) failed to capture the essence of the theme in their performance. They sometimes made jokes unrelated to the evening's theme.

Likewise, Djaduk Ferianto and his Kua Etnika, offered no surprises with their musical compositions. They did not even reflect the theme of infidelity. Their only "infidelity" was perhaps their accompaniment of Eros and Duta when the latter sang Sephia.

Nevertheless, this collaboration between performing arts and a talk show was successful. The audience was prepared for the general theme of infidelity from the time they entered the hall.

A pocket book titled Committing infidelity safely was presented to each audience member. The book contained, among other things, jokes on infidelity, a crossword puzzle, better known by its Indonesian acronym of TTS, which can also stand for a puzzle on infidelity, a world map of infidelity and tips on how to commit infidelity.

It was interesting to see invitations for the VIPs and VVIPs that were in the shape of a cell phone, an icon suggesting infidelity. Hasn't the cell phone facilitated infidelity, especially with the availability of the SMS facility?