Preserving Betawi culture

Preserving Betawi culture

From Media Indonesia

I was really touched upon reading a news story in this newspaper that the Jakarta provincial administration will prioritize the culture of the Betawi people, or the indigenous people of Jakarta. As a member of the Betawi community, I have long waited to see the Betawi community and culture sustainably developed. Of course, the government's sincere and serious assistance and the support from the entire community will be needed.

It seems that the modern Betawi community pays little attention to their own traditions and culture. They seem to be ashamed of their traditions and culture. They rarely use the Betawi dialect in daily conversation. They also stay away from Betawi arts such as the mask dance and traditional music known as tanjidor and rebana ketimpring. If they build houses, they are unwilling to adopt Betawi architecture such as the unique Betawi stilt house or the house you can see in the film on Betawi life -- Doel an educated person. My guess is that a lot of Betawi people are afraid that they will be called country bumpkins if they uphold the Betawi tradition and culture, especially because Jakarta is now a metropolitan city.

If this condition persists, there will come a time when everything related to the Betawi culture will be only history.

HEPRI HERYANDI, Jakarta