JP/19/SINGKAWN

JP/19/SINGKAWN

Singkawang boasts ceramic tourism

Bambang Bider
The Jakarta Post

Singkawang, deriving its name from San Kheu Jong -- leaning
against the hill, overlooking the sea -- is ideally situated
according to the Chinese positioning system of feng shui.

It has also been called the Thousand-Shrine City, Amoy
(Chinese girl) City and the Hong Kong of West Borneo.

A sightseeing tour of the city, as far as its outskirts, will
surely include a lot of ethnic Chinese places of worship and
decorations of an oriental type.

No wonder, almost 40.96 percent of Singkawang's population of
151,622, are ethnic Chinese, the rest comprising Malays, Dayaks
and Javanese.

Long ago, Singkawang was a small village in the kingdom of
Sambas, a transit place for merchants and gold miners from
Montrado, which is located between Singkawang and Pontianak.

Mostly coming from China, the miners and traders received
goods from abroad and sent gold dust from Montrado via
Singkawang.

As the miners settled and gradually took up farming, the
village developed. Today, the city -- 145 kilometers north of
Pontianak, West Kalimantan -- is known for its unique history and
natural, cultural and industrial tourist spots.

One of Singkawang's most popular tourist destinations, also
famed abroad, is the ceramic industry of Sakok in Sedau district
-- around two kilometers south of the city.

Sinar Terang, the oldest ceramic workshop there, which was set
up in 1937, originally produced red bricks rather than ceramics.
Later it manufactured ceramics with ancient motifs.

Among its products are Jampa urns, vases, ashtrays and animal
replicas, which are all manually made and designed, thus
enhancing their esthetic value.

Apo, Sinar Terang's supervisor, said his workshop employed
four designers to create motifs. While they were trained in
Yogyakarta, they use traditional motifs, such as dragons and
phoenixes, besides flower and plant designs for vases.

According to Apo, the tradition maintained by the Sinar Terang
management is tacitly understood. "The motifs have been used
since the period of Madame Chai Kiam Djin, who set up this
cottage industry. So we preserve the old designs also in her
honor," added Apo.

Bong Thit Phin, who heads the second-generation management,
says the traditional motifs are his shop's trademark, which is
sufficient reason to keep using them. Sunardi, a ceramic designer
at the workshop, however, described this preference for tradition
as a constraint on creativity.

Sunardi's experiments with other motifs are not accepted by
the management. He claimed that some visitors regarded the motifs
of Sinar Terang's ceramics -- particularly urns -- as 1600 years
behind the current trend.

Nonetheless, Sinar Terang has for nearly ten years used a
reference book written by ceramic experts S. Adhyatman and Abu
Ridho (1984), notably in urn making. The workshop adheres to the
standards of designs described in the book, including motifs,
colors and sizes. Urns with a dragon design are called Jampa and
stand 1.5 meters high.

For the Dayaks in Singkawang, Jampa urns are particularly
valuable. They are used as currency based on customary law, as
well as being an indicator of social status and a component of
traditional rituals.

"When displayed at various fairs, our designs were seen as
unique, but the visitors wanted something more. In Yogyakarta,
none of the urns displayed were sold, but there was interest in
our vases," Sunardi said.

Apo acknowledged the market demand, but said the workshop was
certainly not struggling. "Sinar Terang continues to use
traditional motifs -- for a reason. Big orders come from the
Philippines, the Dayak community and other local buyers, like
Jakarta and Batam, while buyers in Singapore and Malaysia are
also familiar with our ceramics," said Apo.

He said that, due to the abundant raw materials in the city,
there are five other ceramic workshops in Singkawang.

Chinese-made ceramics are Singkawang producers' main rival.
They use materials of a similar quality, but the Chinese ceramics
are superior as they are fired in electric furnaces, which
maintain a fixed temperature. In Singkawang, manual equipment is
used, which increases the risk of the pieces being damaged during
firing," he noted.

A few of Sinar Terang's 19 ceramic makers are very young,
others have served the firm since its founding. They believe that
ceramic making has a spiritual meaning.

This was indicated by the objection of an old man -- who was
working on the base of a Jampa urn -- to having his picture
taken. According to Apo, the man was convinced that by
photographing it, the mystical power of the urn would be reduced.

As a tourist destination, Sinar Terang is not sufficiently
promoted by the local administration, although it has received
other kinds of assistance, particularly in the training of its
ceramic makers.

The appeal of Sinar Terang ceramics is that their designers
continue to use traditional motifs and designs -- steadfast amid
the wave of globalization.