Torajans fight for cockfighting ceremonies

Torajans fight for cockfighting ceremonies

TANA TORAJA, South Sulawesi (JP): Tulak, 36, a resident of
Rantepao, Tana Toraja is an angry man.

His family still keeps the remains of his grandfather, who
died three years ago, at home.

"We shall not bury him before the government allows us to
stage the cockfighting rituals he asked for before he died. My
grandfather fought roosters since he was a child, you know," he
says.

Like his grandfather, Tulak is also a cockfighting man. He
says that he makes money by gambling on it. Indeed, he has no
other source of income.

Like many Torajans, he used to carry his fighting roosters
everywhere he went and spend the whole day lovingly caressing the
birds. Now he cannot do this any longer.

When Regent Tarsis Kodrat came into office early in 1995, Tana
Toraja declared a war against all gambling, including betting on
cockfights.

At first no-one paid much attention. All his predecessors had
done the same thing, but they all gave up eventually, since
gambling among Tana Toraja people, especially betting on
cockfighting, is impossible to eliminate - or so people thought.

The war Tarsis declared turned out to be a real one. It has
claimed many illustrious victims, including one member of the
regency's legislature, several government officials, and police
officers. The legislator and a clutch of government officials
were sent to jail, along with other gamblers and cockfight
enthusiasts. Police officers who backed the gamblers were demoted
and moved away from the regency.

Tarsis continues to urge the public to report any gambling
they see and has established special mailboxes for people to
denounce those practicing it. He has offered Rp 50,000 (US$21.5)
in reward to anyone who reports cockfighting, and Rp 25,000
($10.7) to anyone who reports gambling on cards or dice.

The measures have had their desired effect. No one is seen
carrying roosters in public any longer. Instead, people hide the
birds at home or sell them for fear of being black-listed by the
police.

The Jakarta Post saw locals running away rather than be
photographed carrying roosters.

"Eighty percent of the Torajans gamble," Tarsis told the Post.

Renda Sarungallo, 72, the first Torajan to graduate from
university, who now lives in South Jakarta, was surprised when
told of the regent's statement.

"If this is true, it's good news. That would mean things are
better now. All Torajans used to be gamblers," said Renda, a
graduate of the University of Leiden in Holland.

"In the past people placed bets on everything, including
themselves. The loser then became the slave of the winner," said
Renda.

Cock culture

The Torajans gamble on cards, dice and cockfighting, but it is
cockfighting which is the most popular. Maybe because it is
closely connected to their culture.

Roosters are the favorite animals of the Torajans after
buffaloes. The bird's likeness is carved on the front of the roof
of traditional tongkonan houses. It is said to be a symbol of
heroism.

In the past, with quarrels which could not be solved, the
Toraja people resorted to cockfights. The result of the fight
would decide who was right.

Before the current Tana Toraja administration started the war
against gambling, cockfights with betting were staged during and
outside death rituals (Rambu Solo'). Today, the government allows
some cockfights in the ritual, but not the ones outside.

The cockfights used to last from sunrise to sunset and involve
up to 100 pairs of roosters every day.

"In the evening, people usually went card and dice gambling,"
said Josep Tangke, vice chairman of the Indonesian Guides
Association in Tana Toraja.

Although forbidden, cockfights were freely staged outside the
rituals since the police were heavily involved in it.

The Toraja people were so obsessed with cockfights that in the
early 1990s they started to look for "unbeatable" cocks from
outside the area. The so-called "Filipino rooster" quickly gained
popularity. Some Torajans discovered the species in Malaysia,
where they were told it was originally from the Philippines.

"The Indonesian rooster mostly fights with its legs on the
ground and rarely attacks its enemy from the air. The Filipino
rooster, by contrast, mostly makes attacks from the air. It can
fly up three meters," said Tulak.

He has three such roosters which he bought in Malaysia at Rp 1
million each.

Crackdown

The current crackdown on gambling in Tana Toraja started with
the arrival of Lt. Col. Santoso in November 1994 as chief of the
Tana Toraja police. By his own account, he was sent by the
Military Headquarters with the sole mission of cracking down on
gambling in the area.

"When I arrived, I was shocked to see that gambling, including
betting on cockfights, was almost ubiquitous. Everyone, including
old people and children, was involved," he said.

Santoso then found almost all police officers involved in the
gambling, either as gamblers or as backers receiving commissions.

With strong support from his superior in Ujung Pandang, he
then cleaned up his corps, kicking out 14 officers, including his
deputy, and many other senior officers,

The new regency's military commander arrived a few days later
and the new regent arrived in January.

The three of them share the concern about the gambling habit
of the Torajans and soon announced the war against gambling.

"We can't change the gambling habits of the old generation.
But at least we can keep the young generation from being
influenced," explained Regent Tarsis.

Cockfighting during a death ritual is still permitted but the
number of fighting roosters is limited to three pairs a day, and
nobody but the family of the deceased may take part in the game.

Previously, cockfights involved hundreds of people from
various places, many of whom were not related to the dead.

Some followers of the traditional belief of Aluk To Dolo,
strongly protested against the new law, but the local
administration showed them a decree from the Hindu authorities
which states that Hindu ritual requires only the tabu rah, that
is, the spilling of chicken blood on the ground.

"Thus, theoretically, one pair is enough. Since the followers
of Aluk To Dolo have already accepted that their religion is
categorized as Hinduism, they are expected to accept the decree,
too," said Santoso.

Santoso says that the hosts of death rituals like to stage
cockfights to make money. The more roosters involved, the more
money they receive.

The host, he said, receives Rp 40,000 in fees, called suke
baratu, from the cockfighters for each pair of roosters taking
part in the fight.

"Thus, if there are 100 pairs of roosters a day, a host can
make Rp 4 million a day. If the burial ritual takes seven days,
they make Rp 28 million," said Santoso.

Many parties, including the church, strongly support the local
administration's effort.

However, experts like Stanislaus Sandarupa, a doctoral
candidate on anthropology at the University of Chicago, have
called on the government to further discuss the matter with the
followers of Aluk To Dolo to find the most suitable cockfighting
system during their ritual.

"It is too easy to apply the rules of Hinduism to them. Aluk
To Dolo is willing to accept the government's definition of the
religion as Hinduism only for the sake of security." he says.

Following the crackdown, the people don't dare stage
cockfights openly any longer, but do so secretly, in the
mountains.

Some addicts, including Tulak, go to as far as Palu, Central
Sulawesi, some 700 kilometers away, on a 18-hour-bus ride from
Rantepao.

"In Palu, we are free. The stakes are also high. It's great,"
he said.

It will take time for people to drop this bad habit. The task
is made even more difficult for the Tana Toraja administration by
the fact that other authorities do not seem willing to join in.
(jsk)