Residents eagerly await barongsai show
Residents eagerly await barongsai show
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A six-year-old boy stands on a partition trying to get a clear
view of the performance of a Chinese traditional dance performed
by women dancers at Pluit Mega mall, North Jakarta.
"Mom, where's the barongsai?," Jason, the Chinese-Indonesian
boy asked his mother last Saturday.
Jason, a residence of Lippo Karawaci, Tangerang, Banten, was
eagerly waiting for the barongsai show to start.
Jason's mother said she often takes her son to see barongsai
performances at various malls in Jakarta, especially during the
Chinese New Year season.
"My son loves to see the barongsai or the lion. For us this
kind of public event is really great," she said.
Up until the resignation of former president Soeharto in May
1998, the public display of Chinese culture was prohibited.
China had been accused of supporting the abortive coup d'etat
blamed on the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in
1965.
While Chinese cultural shows began to be seen in public in
1998, the Chinese New Year was not celebrated in the country
until 2003, when then President Megawati Soekarnoputri declared
it a national holiday.
Around 3 percent of the country's 215 million people are of
Chinese descent.
Jason and his mother were two of over 25,000 visitors waiting
in anticipation to see the barongsai performance led by Wom Pak
of the Kong Hang Hong Foundation in a live show at Pluit Mega
mall last Saturday.
The barongsai performance was just part of several events held
at the mall themed "Chicken in Red" running from Jan. 13 to Feb.
14 to welcome the Year of the Rooster.
According to Elsa Laela Dewi, Mega mall's media relations
officer, visitors looked forward to the barongsai more than other
performances.
"That's why we saved it for the last show," Elsa said.
Besides the barongsai, visitors were stunned by a Mongolian
dance performed by a 60-year-old woman who has gone international
for her talent and skill in performing traditional Chinese and
Indonesian dances.
The young-looking Tjhie Zien Ing has been recognized for her
dedication to the preservation of Chinese arts and culture in
Jakarta and throughout Indonesia.
"Arts and culture are universal languages. Every country in
the world has its own uniqueness and variations. We have to
continue developing the arts and culture in order to create peace
and to fight cruelty in this country," said Tjhie Zien Ing, who
said that she began to dance freely after the demise of the
Soeharto regime in 1998.