Cempaka Culture and Tourism: Preserving Betawi Culture With Abang, None Jakarta

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Friday, November 28, 2014

Preserving Betawi Culture With Abang, None Jakarta

Jakarta Globe, Fanny Octavianus, Nov 27, 2014

Members of Teater Abang None, a theater company established under the Abang
and None of Jakarta Union, staged the annual ‘Indonesia Menari’ event on Car-Free
Day in front of the Grand Indonesia mall in Central Jakarta. (Photos courtesy
of Teater Abang None)

More than 140 members of Teater Abang None livened Jakarta’s Car-Free Day last Sunday with the “Indonesia Menari” or “Indonesia Dances” event in front of the Grand Indonesia mall in Jakarta.

The young participants performed the organization’s signature dance, Nandak Ondel-Ondel, (Ondel-Ondel Dance)to entertain hundreds of residents.

“We are so proud to be a part of this project. This moment is priceless; when you see hundreds people joining a flash mob, dancing to traditional songs and doing traditional dancing,” said “Indonesia Menari” participant, Devi.

The annual event was initiated by Galeri Indonesia Kaya and Djarum Foundation in 2011 with the same vision as the Abang and None of Jakarta Union (Ianta): to preserve Betawi art and culture.

Contributing to this cause, Teater Abang None — which was established by actress and model Maudy Koesnaedi — stages plays that bring the folklore of Betawi to life.

“This is our way of preserving our [Betawi] culture,” said Maudy.

The theater company has created and performed a number of productions, including “Cinta Dasima” (“Dasima’s Love,” 2009), “Si Doel” (“Doel,” 2010), “Soekma Djaja” (2013), “Topeng Betawi” (“Betawi Masl,” 2013), and “Lenggak Lenggok Jakarta”(“The Sway of Jakarta,” 2014).

Each production attracted a sizeable audience throughout their respective runs, but most importantly, they were successful in educating the public about Jakarta’s culture, such as the city’s dialect, songs, dances and martial arts.

Teater Abang None also aims to launch the entertainment careers of traditional Betawi artists by placing them in the national entertainment spotlight.

Under Ianta and specifically the Abang and None (Betawi for “big brother” and ‘Miss” respectively) beauty pageant, Jakarta’s younger generation can help in preserving traditions that date back hundreds of years to colonial Batavia (the name given to Jakarta by the Dutch East Indies in 1619). Even after their tenure is over, the crowned winners often choose to continue and stay faithful to the cause.

Former radio host and television personality Indra Bekti praises the organization, saying it has the has the ability to have a positive impact on Jakarta and its multi-ethnic population.

The organization’s social projects have played a prominent role in raising awareness about various issues currently plaguing Jakarta. In October, the contestants of the Abang None South Jakarta pageant established “Jakarta Clean,” a campaign encouraging residents to keep the streets of the capital city free of rubbish.

The group has also been actively involved in providing aid — in the form of clothing, food and medicine — to victims of natural disasters, including those hit hard by the annual floods of Jakarta during the rainy season.

None Jakarta 1995 winner Fifi Aleyda Yahya expressed the immense sense of pride she feels for having been apart of the organization’s social outreach programs, saying its activities have influenced others to create non-profit relief efforts that have vastly helped the underprivileged residence of Jakarta.

Ianta’s next social project is to establish a scholarship program for the poor in an effort to provide greater access to education for both children and young adults who are unable to afford schooling. The foundation says it sees education as the most effective tool for narrowing the massive gap between the rich and the poor in Jakarta.

One of its most recent endeavours, the brainchild of 2014 None Jakarta and Young Tourism Ambassador Vina Andani Muliana, aims to create and implement a system for sustainable farming in low-income residential areas of Jakarta that would involve the entire community.

“People can then choose to either sell or consume the harvest. We hope to give these communities the means to be economically independent through their own efforts and hard work,” Vina said.

Ianta chairman Rizkie Maulana Putra is optimistic that the future Abang and Nones of Jakarta will continue to be a positive influence on the city.

“Every year, we select 180 of Jakarta’s most promising youths to be a part of our organization. Each of them are then trained to serve as Jakarta’s Tourism Ambassador. These young men and women come from different educational and cultural backgrounds to serve for the betterment of Jakarta,” Rizkie said.