Subdued 'Cap Go Meh' parades in Jakarta, Bekasi and Bogor
Subdued 'Cap Go Meh' parades in Jakarta, Bekasi and Bogor
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Thousands of people thronged Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk
on Wednesday to watch the Cap Go Meh parade marking the first
full moon of the month and the end of the 15-day Chinese New Year
festivities.
However, compared to previous years, Wednesday's celebrations
were rather subdued, a situation organizers attributed to the
tsunami that killed over 170,000 people in Aceh and North Sumatra
last Dec. 26.
The Dharma Jaya Toasebio Temple in Glodok, West Jakarta,
hastily organized a two-kilometer parade, less than half the
distance of last year's five-kilometer spectacle.
"This year we kept it simple out of respect for Aceh," said
Husen Sjarifudin, who organized the event. "We are also focusing
our donations towards tsunami survivors."
"Initially we weren't even planning to have a celebration,"
said Husen. "But people from all over kept asking us to do a
parade of the toapekong."
Husen was referring to porcelain statues, symbolizing
traditional Chinese gods and goddesses, that are paraded around
to honor the deities.
Jl. Gajah Mada was closed for the parade, while Jl. Hayam
Wuruh came to a standstill with many people stopping to watch the
celebrations.
Ten traditional barongsai (lions) and two 15-meter dragons
also accompanied the one-hour procession that started at 7 p.m.
Yati, who is Muslim and not of Chinese descent, came with her
four children to watch the parade.
"My children have been asking all day about the parade," said
Yati.
Until five years ago, the celebration of Cap Go Meh, which
literally means the fifteenth day of the first month, had been
banned. In 1967 Soeharto's New Order regime banned all Chinese
celebrations. The ban was revoked 33 years later by former
president Abdurrahman Wahid.
Hendrik, 40, said that the lifting of the ban felt "euphoric".
"It's like serving a life-sentence in prison, then suddenly
being set free," said Hendrik, a devout Confucian who goes to the
temple at least twice a month.
Meanwhile, in Bekasi, West Java, barongsai hit the streets to
celebrate Cap Goh Meh after worshipers said a special prayer for
victims and survivors of the tsunami. Thousands of people
participated in a two-kilometer parade that started and ended at
the 350-year-old Hok Lay Kiong Temple.
Tan Ling Ling, a businesswoman from Depok, said her family
from Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi always came here to
celebrate Cap Go Meh.
Organizing committee member Budi Santoso said Wednesday that
Cap Go Meh was not celebrated until two years ago, when Chinese
New Year was officially declared a national holiday.
The celebrations were also attended by Muslim groups,
including a marching band from an Islamic boarding school, Betawi
dancers Ambang Kromong from Jembatan Dua, and tanjidor, a Betawi
traditional percussion group.
In Bogor, West Java, Cap Go Meh was also celebrated at the
Dhanagun Temple, or Hok Tek Bio, located on Jl. Suryakencana,
next to the Bogor Botanical Garden.