Suriname poet too curious to visit Java

JAKARTA (JP): Unlike homecomings for many others, Surianto's first visit to this country was devoid of emotion.

"I am curious rather than emotional about being here," said the 63-year-old poet who was born of Javanese descent in a village in Suriname. He refers to Indonesia as the home of his ancestors and not his own, and his interest in the country as academic and cultural rather than sentimental.

Surianto, who participated in the recent poetry festival at Teater Utan Kayu, is also a member of the 21-seat provincial parliament from the Percaya Luhu Party and has followed the interesting turn politics has taken here. He finds politicians in Indonesia too emotional, and religion given far too much importance in public life.

Surianto points out that one of the most striking characteristics of Suriname society is the heterogeneous ethnic composition of its population, which includes native Indians, people known as "bush Negroes", Asian Indians and Javanese, who make up 15 percent of the population. There is even a small but thriving Jewish community. They maintain their own identities to a large extent, mingling nevertheless with each other in commercial and social activities.

Although the son of a farmer, Surianto graduated in business administration and traveled for further studies to the United States. His father died before he could return for a visit to Java as he could never afford the trip. His priority has remained to work hard and educate his children.

His mother's family was the first to migrate as workers on sugarcane and cotton plantations owned by the Dutch. His father's family from Pekalongan, Central Java, followed soon after and the two married on the faraway island located on the north central coast of South America.

Although his parents were Muslim by religion, Surianto was brought up observing rites and rituals practiced by the family according to Javanese adat (tradition). He married a woman from the Javanese community in Suriname and both eventually chose to follow the Hindu religion as practiced in Java during pre- Islamic times. Only two of his four children are practicing Muslims, while one is a Protestant and the eldest a Roman Catholic.

"We spoke Javanese at home and grew up listening to our parents say how living in the village of Lasmborek in Suriname was just like being in Pekalongan. I did not recall them being too sentimental about Java," Surianto told The Jakarta Post.

Surianto was sent along with his siblings to study in the city. While some from his generation returned to the countryside to farm, Surianto chose a job in the government. In his spare time he pursued his love for literature and music and today is able to play a variety of instruments.

He uses a form of Javanese for his poetry and short stories in which the vocabulary from all the other languages of the country also creeps in. Again it was curiosity that made him keep in touch with the Javanese language through magazines published in Java; he also studied Indonesian at the Indonesian Embassy.

It is the dream of every one in Suriname whose family came from Indonesia to visit this country once, he says, but few are able to afford it. From the moment he landed in Jakarta, he never felt that he was on foreign soil. He finds the climate and landscape here the same as at home and he is happy to find young Indonesians far more traditional than in Suriname. "We are westernizing too fast in Suriname."

He does not expect any big reception awaiting him when he visits Pekalongan. He knows nobody there and it will not sadden him if he is unable to locate the home of his ancestors.

"There are no unrealistic expectations on my part. The first set of Javanese sailed for Suriname in 1890. My father left in 1931. It is all such a long time ago. I am not at all sentimental about this trip. I am just happy to be here."

But some of his friends with Javanese roots did give him a little money to buy souvenirs like batik shirts, sarongs and wayang (shadow puppets), only proving that home really is where the heart is. (Mehru Jaffer)