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