Surviving oppressive regime, family retains dance tradition

Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 02/09/2010 8:55 AM

A family legacy: Oscar Kam Hok An, the owner of Bel Pas Barongsai-Liong Club, poses with his grandchildren who have been groomed to become the next generation of dragon dance performers. Ever since the government changed the law to permit Chinese traditional and religious celebrations in public, the club has had no shortage of work, especially around Chinese new year. JP/Irawaty Wardany

It is his great passion for his decedents’ traditions, especially the barongsai (tiger dance) and the liong (dragon dance), that helped Oscar Kam Hok An withstand the ups and downs of the government’s policy on the Chinese tradition.

Even when the Indonesian government banned barongsai from being performed in public, Oscar maintained his barongsai-liong dance club that he named Bel Pas, an acronym of Belakang Pasar (behind the market), because the club’s office that also houses Oscar and his family is located behind Jatinegara traditional market in East Jakarta.

“This club was actually started by one of my seniors, the late The Cap Tian, under the name of Kun Siang She in the 1950s,” he told The Jakarta Post at his house on Monday.

Back then, the 59-year-old man had not yet realized his own passion for the barongsai tradition, “but I often watched when [members of Kun Siang She] performed”.

The club went into a long hiatus after the Soeharto government in 1967 issued a presidential decree that banned any Chinese traditional or religious activities in public.

In 1970 the group was suddenly invited to perform in Bogor for Cap Go Meh (the event marking the end of Chinese New Year).

“There was a letter that guaranteed the barongsai performance could be performed in public for that celebration only,” Oscar recalled.

After the performance, he and his colleagues decided to reopen their barongsai club and asked The Cap Tian to train them.

“Ever since the club was restarted I was put in charge of it’s management and decided to change its name into Bel Pas,” Oscar said, adding they used to dance the barongsai in the alleys of Jatinegara market, before the government withdrew the restriction.

It was when the government under late president Abdurrahman Wahid abolished the presidential decree in 2000, the club started to grow and received invitations to many events.

“We play everywhere at every event, be it office openings, religious events or simply traditional festivals,” Oscar said.

Today the club has at least 35 third generation barongsai and liong performers, from 17-25 years old, and 15 fourth-generation performers ranging from 10-12 years old.

With Chinese New Year around the corner the club is almost fully booked for a month before the day. “We receive invitations almost every day between January 28 and March 7,” Oscar said.

This year Chinese New Year falls on Feb 14, marking the year of the Tiger.

The Bel Pas school performs barongsai free of charge at schools and at religious events, however it does charge Rp 3 million for barongsai and Rp 4.5 million for liong at office openings and mall performances.