S. African of Indonesian descent back home with arts

S. African of Indonesian descent back home with arts

By Mehru Jaffer

JAKARTA (JP): They left with chains around their feet and
sorrow filled their soul. But 300 years later their descendants
have returned to their ancestral home dancing, with a song on
their lips and nothing but joy in their hearts.

Indeed, there is much to celebrate at the Gedung Arsip
Nasional where a colorful exhibition on Indonesians in South
Africa: Historical links Spanning Three Centuries" opened
recently.

"I don't believe that I am actually here," says Faeza Rossier,
dressed in traditional clothes for the occasion. A mixture of
white, Arab and Malay people, the fair and lovely Faeza traces
her ancestry to Syekh Yusuf, perhaps the most important person
amongst hundreds of Indonesians exiled to the Cape of Good Hope
in 1624.

It is an extremely emotional moment for Faeza and all the
others of the group of over 60 people belonging to the Malay
community of Indonesian descent in Cape Town who are visiting
here, most of them for the first time in their lives.

The aim of the exhibition is to illustrate the historical bond
that exists between South Africans of Indonesian descent and this
country by way of culinary arts, photographs, documentation,
dance and music from the time of the Dutch occupation of the Cape
of Good Hope and the East Indies.

"I cried when the airplane landed in Jakarta," says Hassiem
Salie, president, South African Melayu Cultural Society, one of
the three organizers of the exhibition along with the South
African embassy and the foundation for the Indonesian Archives
Building.

Hassiem first visited Indonesia about two years ago and went
straight to Banten which is mentioned as the original home in
many manuscripts and books left by his ancestors.

Syekh Yusuf was born in Gowa, South Sulawesi but settled in
Banten where he became a spiritual guide to the ruler, Sultan
Ageng Tirtayasa and married his daughter. He also commanded a
force of Buginese and Makassarese troops against the Dutch who
eventually captured him and put him aboard the ship The Voetboog.

At the age of 68 years along his two wives, 12 children, 12
imams, several followers and servants the soldier and sufi
scholar arrived at the Cape of Good Hope to live in exile. Five
years later the Syekh died, but only after he had converted
thousands to Islam.

His shrine at Faure, in an area called Makassar, in Cape Town
is considered sacred today, second only to the shrine of Kaaba in
Mecca.

"Most of us trace our ancestry to either Syekh Yusuf or to the
52 members of the sufi saint's entourage," Hassiem told The
Jakarta Post.

The Dutch shipped off thousands from all over the Indonesian
Archipelago as slaves, criminals or political prisoners in the
17th century to far away South Africa where members of the
community continued to defy the Dutch.

They were prevented from practicing Islam or communicating in
their native language, making the other famous exile, Imam
Abdullah bin Kadi Abdus Salam or Tuan Guru from the royal family
of Tidore advise his community, "Be of good heart my children and
serve your masters; for one day your liberty will be restored to
you, and your descendants will live within a circle of kramats
safe from fire, famine, disease, plague, earthquake and tidal
wave."

For centuries all children of the Cape Malay community have
grown up with stories told to them by their elders of the beauty
of their culture and love for the homeland.

"It took us so long to trace back our origins to Indonesia
because travel was forbidden to us under apartheid," says Ibrahim
Manuel who found a book in the family that was written in a
language none could read.

When travel restrictions were lifted in South Africa only a
few years ago, he promptly came to Indonesia clutching the
handwritten book by one of his ancestors and was told to visit
Pemangong, a village in Sumbawa.

There it was revealed to Ibrahim that the author of the book
in his possession was Imam Ismail whose full name was Lalu Ismail
Dea Malela, son of king Lalu Abdul Kadir Jaelani Dea Kowasa. It
was at the court in Pemangong that political leaders and members
of the aristocracy met to plot against the unfair domination of
the Dutch.

When the hideout was discovered some from the group were
killed and others banished to the Cape in 1674.

"I cannot explain to you what joy I experienced in meeting
with my relatives from the village. I feel like a total person
now after the visit to Pemangong," says Ibrahim who also
discovered that the name Manuel is his slave name, his actual
name being Lalu Ibrahim Dea Malela.

A chef by profession, Ibrahim helped to lay out a generous
spread on the inaugural evening of dishes representative of the
Cape Malay cuisine that is a combination of Indonesian, and not
just Dutch food but also Indian, Arabia, Turkey and English. The
exhibition also includes a model of the ship that carried people
from here to the Cape, the common spices used by both communities
and similarities in clothing.

The Lingo Ayoen dance from the Cape traces its roots back to
Java and it was discovered that the Debus is nothing but a
variation of the trance dance similar to the Barong and Kris
dances. A glimpse into many other similarities between the two
cultures is also on display at the exhibition that ends on June
27.