Madurese are not coarse -- they are just direct

Madurese are not coarse -- they are just direct

By Mehru Jaffer

JAKARTA (JP): All the warnings about the unpredictable temper
of its people could not lessen Lorraine's love for Madura.

In fact, the stories told to her about the coarse and
unrefined manners of the Madurese made her even more determined
to sail across to Java's neighbor to the north to check out the
island for herself.

Being very interested in cooking, she also was intrigued by
signs that confronted her in almost every corner of Jakarta
screaming Soto Madura and Sate Madura. She wanted to find out
what was so special about the food of this near, yet seemingly
remote place.

During her five-year stay in Indonesia, she has crossed Madura
Strait three times and still cannot get enough of the batik,
boats and bull races. She is in the process of planning her next
trip to Madura later this year, mainly to find out more about the
role of batik in the daily lives of the Madurese, an extremely
colorful and friendly people whose zest for life she finds most
infectious.

"Actually it is like the flip side of a coin. For what people
on this island (Java) call uncouth, I call open, direct and
natural," Lorraine, an expatriate, told The Jakarta Post after
giving a talk on Java's less luxuriant, but no less lascivious
neighbor. The talk was part of the on-going lecture series
organized by the Indonesian Heritage Society to explore the
country's diverse cultures, both contemporary and traditional.

She compares the difference in attitude on the islands of Java
and Madura this way: "A Javanese may be too polite to object to
me parking my car in a certain place. He will not say anything to
me. But I would not be surprised to find the air from my tires
gone as soon as my back is turned. However in Madura, I feel more
comfortable about being told what is appreciated and what is
frowned upon by them. I know where I stand in Madura. In Java, I
can only keep guessing."

During her trips, Lorraine has struck up a close relationship
with a Madurese family that she considers very precious, and she
wonders why more people do not visit the island when it is just a
30 minute boat ride from Surabaya.

Besides the view of the northern coastline of Java and of
Mount Arjuna, south of Surabaya is so spectacular that people are
known to have fallen in love all over again with Java.

Lorraine has stayed overnight in Sumanep, a town in eastern
Madura that was a prosperous center of trade in the 18th century.
There you can find a small but charming castle and a mosque built
by affluent Chinese Muslim traders. She drove along the northern
coast of Madura stopping for delicious cups of coffee made from
green beans, boiled in cardamom and sipped amid scenery that is
out of this world.

She rowed to one of the many islands east of Sumanep to
witness an amazing fleet of fishing boats, decorated in all the
colors of the rainbow and in all conceivable patterns.

These boats come in different sizes and are made for various
weather, from dangerous wind, treacherous currents, rough seas to
cruising over shallows.

However in fair weather or foul, the sea continues to be
treated with great respect. Although the Madurese are
conservative followers of Islam, they still appease the spirits
of the sea by hanging beautifully painted talismans on their
boats. This is believed to help them avoid poor catches, loss of
their boats or death by drowning.

Lorraine sat in one of the Lis Lis boats that bring fish
ashore from Mayang. These boats are virtually floating factories,
where salt and water are kept boiling all the time in terra-cotta
pots on firewood for blanching the fish and keeping them from
rotting. As the stock thickens it turns into delectable terasi,
or fish paste, which is eaten with much relish along with rice.

She has been to the famous bull races, but regrets that the
final race was over before she could blink. Also, the crowds
prevented her from seeing much, even from the VIP galleries. She
prefers the more muddy, crowded, lively scene when the bulls are
auctioned and later when the more informal, less crowded bull
races are held at the village level.

Ever since she was a child in her native Sri Lanka, Lorraine
was fascinated with islands. "And the smaller they are the more
they tend to tickle my imagination. It is their capacity to home
diverse people all practicing different religions, customs and
festivals that is so noble. If a tiny country like my own can
accommodate so much diversity, imagine how colorful the world
must be."

As luck would have it she left for England where she married a
geologist, whose job led them to live in different parts of
Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. For Chris, Lorraine's
husband, Madura is just one of the many interesting places he has
come across during his travels. "But it is very special to me,"
adds Lorraine, who feels that maybe it is the similarity between
the Madurese and the people of India and Sri Lanka, along with
the glaring differences between them, that excites her.

She is a great admirer of the fierce individuality of the
Madurese, which is reflected most in the batik found on the
island. Each design is unique and even pieces made by the same
person rarely look alike.

"But why should anyone be made to follow another's idea of
perfection," questions Lorraine, who hopes that one day people
around the world, especially in her troubled home of Sri Lanka
and in Indonesia, will stop attacking those who are different.

For all the magic in life is said to lie in that very area
where similarities between human beings fade into differences and
differences fade back into similarities.