Indonesian city tears down church in front of worshippers

Google – AFP, Presi Mandari (AFP), 21 March 2013

Indonesian civilian policemen demolish the Taman Sari Batak Christian

Protestant Church in Bekasi, on March 21, 2013 (AFP, Adek Berry)

BEKASI, Indonesia — An Indonesian city government demolished a church in front of its weeping congregation Thursday, as Muslim protesters egged on workers and branded the Christians "infidels".

Dozens in the 100-strong congregation wailed as a digger tore down the brick walls, with worshippers accusing the government of "criminalising our religion", in a sign of increasing intolerance in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.

"My heart is aching and I feel numb watching my church collapse. I went to this church for 11 years," Megarenta Sihite, 46, told AFP, wiping away tears as fellow worshippers, dressed in black, hugged each other.

The congregation cries as the Taman Sari 

Batak Christian Protestant Church is

 demoslihed on March 21, 2013 (AFP,

Adek Berry)

"Our church can collapse but not our faith. We will continue to come here for Sunday mass."

As the walls of the Taman Sari Batak Christian Protestant Church -- at the centre of a planning row -- crumbled, police in Bekasi city on the outskirts of Jakarta, dispersed 200 Muslim women who sneaked onto the church land chanting Koranic verses.

Along the road Muslim protesters held back by a police cordon had chanted "Knock the church down now", and "Allahu Akbar" (God is greater).

One man shouted through a loudspeaker: "They're infidels and they've built their church without permission."

Members of the congregation had earlier begged the Bekasi city government to halt the demolition, with children clutching signs reading "please do not dismantle our church".

Reverend Advent Nababan shed tears as the building was pulled down. "You just witnessed the government criminalising our religion," he said.

The local government had ordered the demolition of the church for being built, in October 2012, without a legal permit.

An Indonesian Muslim man, seen during a

 protest against a local Christian church,

 in Bekasi, on March 21, 2013 (AFP, Adek

Berry)

However the congregation said the permit was repeatedly and unfairly rejected after they had spent 13 years worshipping at the site unopposed in a temporary shelter.

Nababan said the church had obtained broad support from the Muslim community before building started. Several neighbours confirmed with AFP they had no problem with a church in the vicinity.

Ninety percent of Indonesia's 240 million people identify themselves as Muslim and the country's constitution guarantees freedom of religion.

The Setara Institute of Peace and Democracy, however, says cases of intolerance are on the rise, with 543 incidents reported in 2011, up from 491 cases in 2009. More than 300 incidents were recorded in the first half of 2012.

Christians are among the main targets, along with worshippers who follow the Ahmadiyah and Shiite Islamic minority sects.

Setara deputy director Bonar Tigor Naipospos said the permit issue was being used as an "excuse".

"The problem is the government has shown no political will to stop cases of intolerance in the country. It does not demand the law be upheld and that perpetrators are brought to account," he said.

The Batak Protestant Church has been at the forefront of attacks in the greater district of Bekasi. One congregation was pelted with rotten eggs and urine by Muslim hardliners who denied them entrance to their land, forcing them onto the street.

Naipospos said more of the 39 Batak Christian Protestant houses of worship in Bekasi were likely to face trouble as only 10 had been granted building permits.

Related Article:

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President to dedicate Batak museum

Antara News, Friday, January 14, 2011

From the past: Visitors view artifacts from the Batak tribe group in the TB Silalahi Batak Museum in Tobasa, North Sumatra, Tuesday. The museum was recently officially opened by president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (Antara/Septianda Perdana)

Tobasa, North Sumatra (ANTARANews) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to dedicate Batak Museum at Balige in Toba Samosir (Tobasa) district, North Sumatra, next Tuesday, January 18, 2011.

"President Yudhoyono will be accompanied by a number of cabinet ministers to dedicate Batak Museum which houses a collection of Batak cultural artifacts," TB Silalahi Center chairperson Masrina Silalahi said in Balige on Friday.

She said the museum displays Batak handicrafts such as masks and household items including baskets, pots, spears, tribal effigies, and musical instruments such as gongs and drums.

According to Marsina, a committee meeting has been held at the TB Silalahi Center which was attended by retired General TB Silalahi, North Sumatra provincial acting secretary Hasiholan Silaen, and heads of Tobasa, Dairi, and Taput districts.

Meanwhile, Hasiholan Silaen said the meeting was held to discuss preparations for President Yudhoyono`s visit to dedicate the Batak museum.

He said the president and his entourage would directly fly from Jakarta to Silangit airport in Taput district, where he would take an overland trip to the location of Batak museum in Balige.

Hasiholan Silaen also called on the local people who would greet the president to wear their respective traditional costumes.

King Marnangkok Naipospos, give grains of rice to the head a number of people at a ceremony in the hall Pasogit Parmalim Hutatinggi Village, Town Laguboti, District Sanosir Toba, North Sumatra, Monday, July 26, 2010. (Demotix)

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Residents accuse hard-liners of breaking peace

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 09/22/2010 9:14 AM

Denying claims by hard-line groups, many residents from the Pondok Timur Indah housing complex in Bekasi, West Java, say they do not object to the religious activities conducted by the HKBP Protestant Church in the area.

“For dozens of years we have never had any problems with the congregation,” Ery, a Muslim who has lived in the area for about 20 years, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

She said the busy housing complex started to lose its peaceful atmosphere last year when dozens of men in traditional Muslim attire began protesting near the church located on Jl. Puyuh Raya on Sundays, demanding its closure.

“They were clad in long, white robes. Some wore turbans. I don’t know where they came from. They just showed up out of the blue,” said the 49-year-old woman, who runs a food stall in her yard.

Claiming to represent local Muslim residents, hard-line groups called for the closure of the HKBP church — established in the area a year after Pondok Timur Indah opened in 1989 — saying it did not have a permit to conduct religious activities.

Earlier this year, the Bekasi administration sealed off the Jl. Puyuh Raya site, which had been used for Sunday service since 2005. The congregation, however, refused to move, so in July, the building was again sealed off.

After moving to an empty field three kilometers away on Jl. Asem Raya in mid-August, the congregation has been the target of repeated attacks by mobs of hard-liners calling themselves the Islamic Community Forum (FUI).

The harassment came to a peak on Sept. 12 when two HKBP church officials were assaulted on their way to a Sunday service in the field.

Police have named 10 suspects, including the former leader of the local branch of the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI), in the incident.

Utik, who lived in a house a few meters away from the sealed-off church for almost 15 years, said, “Even though I was born a Muslim, it has always been fine for me to have people of different faiths around me as I believe that choosing a religion is each person’s right.”

However, she said, not all Muslims were like her as some could not accept that they lived in a country with many cultures and faiths.

The Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) said at least 11 churches and Christian institutions in Greater Jakarta were either destroyed or sealed off between January and August this year.

“How can we fight these hard-line groups? The administration holds the key to solving such problems,” Utik told the Post.

Sukemi, who lives near the church construction site on Jl. Asem Raya, said she did not object to a church in her neighborhood, as long as the congregation had permission to conduct services in the area.

“We were told the church broke the law because it did not have any permit,” she added.

“My neighbors feel sorry for me. They wonder why it is so hard for me to practise my faith,” Christina, a member of the HKBP congregation, said. (rch)

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Indonesia: The Mahanaim Church and Al-Muqarrabien Mosque share more than just a wall.(Photo courtesy of Asia Calling)

Church Elder Stabbed in Attack on Christian Worshipers in Bekasi

Jakarta Globe, Ulma Haryanto | September 12, 2010

Bekasi, Indonesia. A church leader was stabbed in the stomach and a reverend beaten during an attack on a group of Christians forced to pray in a field in Bekasi on Sunday morning.

Demonstrators demanding religious freedom rally in
support of the Bekasi branch of the Batak Christian
Protestant Church (HKBP). An elder from the
congregation was stabbed on Sunday and a
reverend beaten as they prayed in a field.
(Antara Photo)

Saor Siagian, a lawyer representing the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) Pondok Timur Indah congregation, told the Jakarta Globe an elders was stabbed by an unknown motocyclists on Sunday morning.

“Penatua [congregation elder] Sihombing was leading the congregation for Sunday mass when he was stabbed by someone riding a motorcycle,” Saor said.

Also targeted was Rev. Luspida Simandjuntak, who was assaulted.

The hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and Bekasi Mayor Mochtar Mohammad have prevented the group from holding services in their church, which has been sealed, forcing the group to hold Sunday services in a field in Ciketing, Mustika Jaya village.

Last month, a group identifying itself as the Mustika Jaya Moslem Forum (FUI) attacked the group, injuring eight.

“Since then members always go in groups for Sunday prayers,” Saor continued. “Sihombing was leading one of the groups when the stabbing occurred.”

Sihombing has been taken to Mitra Keluarga Hospital in Pengasinan, Bekasi. His condition is believed to be serious.

Two people have reportedly been arrested.

Related Articles:

Minister tells Bekasi mayor to act against FPI

Jakarta Police ask embattled church to accept govt offer and move

Din criticizes President approach to pastors attack

Besieged HKBP church refuses govt call to move

Golkar deeply deplores attack on Bekasi church people

Democrat party chief urges immediate probe into attack on church

Police Backtracks: No Suspects Yet in Bekasi Church Attack

Police Identify Suspects in Bekasi Attack

Police warned HKPB church not conduct religious services

Jakarta Police chief: attack on church leaders purely criminal

President wants attackers arrested

Superstition plagues Batak community

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan | Fri, 06/18/2010 8:11 AM

To this day, Parluhutan Pak Pak still can’t understand why his parents kicked out him of their home in Medan two years ago.

Spirituality prevails: Batak members hold Tugu Raja Sionang Pardede, a ceremony to collect the bones of Raja Sionang Pardede’s ancestors, in Pematang Siantar. Courtesy Maruli Tua Pardede

He also found it hard to swallow the bitter truth his parents only shared with him recently: He was in fact their adopted son; his real parents were the people he affectionately called Bapatua (older uncle) and Inangtua (older aunty); his real dad was his adoptive father’s eldest brother; his uncle adopted him when he was only three months old because he was without child; last but not least, he had one brother and three sisters.

“I want to see mamak [mom] in Medan,” he keeps asking every time relatives visit him in a drug rehabilitation center in Pematang Siantar, a city located about 40 kilometers from Lake Toba.

The 15 years old boy has been at the center for more than one year. According to a doctor’s diagnosis, he has been addicted to inhaling glue for several years.

His adoptive parents never knew about his addiction. He dropped out from junior high school shortly before he was expelled from his home.

“Parluhutan is a begu ganjang [an evil spirit believed to harm others] in the form of a boy,” his highly educated adoptive parents told neighbors.

They refused to see him again even after many Catholic priests assured them Parluhutan was merely suffering from an acute glue addiction. The couple are very active in their church.

The childless pair spent millions of rupiahs to get “medication” from shamans.

The begu ganjang issue is a controversial one among the predominantly Christian Batak population in North Sumatra. People in the region are still being murdered by their neighbors for supposedly having an evil spirit.

Batak prominent activist Maruli Tua Pardede is deeply concerned over the death of three members of a family, who were burned alive in mid-May by residents of Sitanggor village, North Tapanuli regency, North Sumatra, for allegedly keeping begu ganjang.

The 70-year-old deplores the local Batak ethnic community’s anarchic action against the Gibson Simaremare’s family and has since the incident been painstakingly warning villagers as well as residents of Pematang Siantar city not to believe in the existence of begu ganjang.

“There’s no such thing as a begu ganjang. I wonder why Batak people still hold on to their belief [in begu ganjang] to the extent of killing their neighbors, while they have no way of proving the presence of the evil spirit,” Maruli Tua Pardede told The Jakarta Post earlier this month.

The chairman of the Sisingamangaraja XII Customary Law Institute in Pematang Siantar, said begu ganjang was simply an old superstition exploited by unscrupulous people to scare their foes.

As a child, he added, he was also duped into believing in such a ghost but later dismissed it in the absence of proof.

“Fifty years ago, our village was rumored to be haunted by begu ganjang, forcing many of us to move to other locations,” related Maruli, who hails from Simarimbun district, Pematang Siantar. He mentioned a riverside banyan tree as one of the spooky places in those days.

Bone collectors: Batak leaders in Pematang Siantar carry out a ceremony involving the bones of their ancestors. Courtesy Maruli Tua Pardede

According to him, locals used to hold rituals to venerate banyan trees believed to be home to begu ganjang. As time went by, the places once considered sacred were increasingly abandoned. “Now most of the trees have been cut down as they [residents] found the phony phantom annoying,” said Maruli, who retains the large banyan near his home to provide a shady spot for communal gatherings.

Bungaran Antonius Simanjuntak, a sociologist and anthropologist from Medan State University, said begu ganjang was a cultural manifestation of the Batak’s excessive suspicion originating in an animistic primitive belief. In the past, he explained, they believed they could fight their enemies with the help of ghosts.

The Batak ethnic group once believed in what they called third-party power generated by a person raised from childhood for total obedience, who was later killed and physically boiled. The body of the man pledging loyalty even after death was known as pangulubalang, which according to Bungaran served as a means to help overcome enemies.

Begu ganjang, reportedly still kept by some, is claimed to be a spirit capable of gathering riches with the sacrifice of a man’s life. Literally meaning a long ghost, begu ganjang used to be raised to watch over farms or crops.

Today, it is said the ghost is ordered to seek wealth for the master — at the expense of a human soul — from midnight to 4 a.m.

“It is also believed begu ganjang serves as a jinx to make others sick, insane and die,” said Bungaran, adding that begu ganjang could still be manipulated to cause one’s opponents financial and political ruin.

“If anybody wishes to control an area, spreading a rumor of ghost haunting may prompt local people to move. Likewise, a regional executive candidate said to be keeping begu ganjang will face public contempt,” noted Bungaran.

However, given how difficult it is to prove its existence, Bungaran proposed the regional administration issue a bylaw prohibiting the use of begu ganjang for murder and other harmful purposes.

“Whoever accuses others of keeping the spirit should be questioned and unless sufficient evidence is provided, the accuser should be detained,” Bungaran cited an example of the rule.

The North Sumatra Regional Police has so far handled four cases of begu ganjang until May 2010, three in North Tapanuli regency and another in Asahan regency.

In 2009, three cases occurred in Central Tapanuli regency with two deaths, in Simalungun regency with two people injured, and in Central Tapanuli with two others burned alive.

Chairman of the Indonesian Churches Association (PGI) of North Sumatra, JA Ferdinandus, said the begu ganjang issue constituted a very embarrassing phenomenon in the predominantly Christian Batak community. In his view, as long as a Christian still believes in such a ghost, his or her faith is questionable.

“It’s a mystical belief leading to polytheism, so it isn’t compatible with Christian faith,” Ferdinandus told the Post. He pointed out as a church leader that he was pained to have witnessed these tragedies, reflecting a form of failure on the part of the clergy in fostering the congregation’s faith.

Given the circumstances, Ferdinandus and several church authorities are striving to intensify their spiritual guidance for those still in the grip of the misleading belief. “They are now receiving direct counseling from church leaders,” added Ferdinandus.

Old beliefs: A woman arranges her parents’ skulls in Mangokalholi as part of an old tradition in Samosir regency, North Sumatra. North Sumatra’s Batak still firmly hold on to old traditions and beliefs, including that of an evil spirit called begu ganjang. Courtesy of Tagor Sitohang

Meanwhile, chairman of the Presidium of Batak Toba Community, Ompu Monang Napitupulu, claimed he saw begu ganjang several times in Napitupulu village, Silaen district, Toba Samosir regency, North Sumatra.

Ompu Monang said he first encountered the ghost when he was 15. He was shocked when he saw it on the roadside about 500 meters from his home.

But he was not afraid to face it. “I threw a stone at the phantom and it just disappeared,” added Ompu Monang, who believes begu ganjang exists.

Asked what the spirit looked like, Ompu Monang described it as a tall apparition without clothing, but he could only see it vaguely and said the face was not clearly visible.

“The only one I’ve ever seen is 10 to 15 meters high. But its feet didn’t step on the ground,” said Ompu Monang. Given he had encountered begu ganjang several times already without being harmed, he concluded the phantom was not dangerous but nobody could keep it.

“It’s just like a shadow and it’s not real,” he indicated. So, Ompu Monang couldn’t believe the allegations accusing the Gibson Simaremare’s family of raising a ghost, which led to villagers burning members of that family.

According to Monang, local residents blamed Gibson’s family because they were envious and held a grudge against them, and consequently spread the rumor as a means of getting rid of the family.

“Begu ganjang is hard to prove as it’s not concrete,” he pointed out, expressing regret at taking the law into his own hands without seeking any evidence.

The begu ganjang issue is a controversial one among the predominantly Christian Batak population in North Sumatra.

Desi Anwar: Losing a Language

Jakarta Globe, Desi Anwar, April 30, 2010

According to an article in The New York Times, New York City is home to as many as 800 languages, many of them in danger of disappearing. This makes it a laboratory of world languages in decline. As official national languages tend to domi n ate because they are a country’s main tongue and English creeps into even the most remote corners of the world, many local languages are fast dying out.

New York, on the other hand, finds itself a Tower of Babel for all sorts of exotic languages and dialects brought in by immigrants who keep their languages alive, at least while there are enough people around who remember how to speak them.

Bukhari, a Persian language spoken by the Bukharian Jews of Central Asia, has more speakers in Queens than in Uzbekistan, the article said. Daniel Kaufman, a professor of linguistics at the City University of New York has addressed the problem by starting the Endangered Language Alliance to research the city’s exotic tongues. Kaufman found, for example, Husni Husain, 67, who speaks Mamuju, a language of West Sulawesi, which he learned as a child.

A large number of ethnic languages are fast disappearing as the original native speakers grow old and die, burying their languages with them. Efforts are being made by Kaufman and the alliance to record and identify these dying languages, which often have no written form, and to encourage native speakers to teach them to compatriots.

It’s always sad to hear about anything dying out. A language can only last, develop and thrive if it is used. In an increasingly globalized world, many languages are becoming strangers in their own homelands as indigenous cultures become marginalized and perhaps even abandoned altogether. Betawi used to be the spoken language in Jakarta. Now it is rarely heard except in the fringes among low-income native Jakartans. People living in Jakarta speak Bahasa Indonesia, except when they’re at home with their parents or back in their home villages.

Many of us are now brought up in a multicultural environment speaking or exposed to different languages through mixed marriages, upbringing, education and our social environment.

A language is a window to an identity, the speaker’s culture, character and tradition, even his or her general temperament, sense of humor and values. However, when the language you speak is different from that of your parents, that sense of continuity diminishes.

When my parents were alive they would speak to each other solely in the West Sumatran Minang language. Being born and raised in Bandung and having never been to their villages in West Sumatra, I naturally assumed it was their own special language, as everybody else around spoke the local Sundanese dialect or Indonesian with a Sundanese accent. My parents spoke to me in Bahasa. When we moved to England, they continued to speak to each other in Minang, while they switched to English with me as my Bahasa diminished with the passing years. So while my parents continued to hold on to their identity until they died, Minang through and through, I was not so clear.

I speak Bahasa to the family, but if people ask me where I’m from, if they are Indonesian I always say I’m Minang. I understand the Minang language. But I don’t speak it and have never lived where it’s spoken. My stomach cannot even tolerate the region’s spicy food.

Meanwhile, I have a niece who lives in Taiwan and speaks Mandarin, and another studying French in Paris. My sisters definitely don’t speak to them in Minang. No one among us professes any desire to live in the home village, though we are fiercely proud of it.

My good friend has an even more complicated identity. Her father is Batak from North Sumatra and speaks Batak with people from his side of the family, while her mother is German. She understands German when her mother speaks to her but rarely responds in that language. Similarly, she understands a bit of Batak but doesn’t really speak it and has never lived in the region. The languages she feels comfortable conversing in are Bahasa and English. She describes herself as either Batak or German whenever it is to her advantage, but for the most part, she feels neither.

As more and more of the older generation in the villages pass away, and more and more of the younger generation settle in the cities to work and raise their families, it is only a matter of time before local languages fade away for good — perhaps until they are rediscovered by a professor in New York who’s compiling a list of endangered languages.

Desi Anwar is a senior anchor and writer. She can be contacted at www.desianwar.com and www.dailyavocado.net.

Christmas celebrations, the Indonesian way

ID Nugroho and Anissa S. Febrina, The Jakarta Post, Wed, 12/30/2009 11:01 AM

Celebrating Mother Earth: Young people from Ngandong hamlet, Argosoka, Dukun, Magelan perform a play titled Bumiku Ibuku or My Earth, My Mother, at the foot of Mount Merapi, to celebrate Christmas 2009 with an environmental message. JP/Suherdjoko

For any religious or cultural celebration turned universal, there’s sure to be a streak of local hue.

While most Christians tend to commemorate the birth of Jesus on Dec. 25, they celebrate Christmas in more diverse ways than we can imagine.

Santa no longer only sports a vivid red attire, spreading joy along with us humming “Jingle Bells” in English, and Christmas dinner means a different menu at tables across the country.

If you’re bored with the Western-style Santa, try finding a local one in Central Java’s Magelang. One that knocks on doors and speaks in polite Javanese. One that has forgone his white-trimmed costume and fake white beard, opting for a traditional striped lurik (an Indigenous Javanese handwoven fabric) and a real beard instead.

Living in a tropical country, this Santa doesn’t ride a sleigh pulled by Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, but pedals a rickshaw, followed by his elves also dressed in Javanese attire.

Meanwhile, Christmas Eve and Day masses take on a local feel in different churches.

In East Java’s Poh Sarang Church, the choir sings songs in Javanese along the pentatonic melody of a group of traditional musicians playing gamelan. Hours away from there, in the Maduranese-dominated Jember, the East Java Christian Church holds a service in Maduranese.

“We combine Bahasa Indonesia, Maduranese and Javanese in our church activities,” Sapto Wardoyo, the head of the church says. Not only that, this church also uses a special Maduranese Bible, which was translated in 1982 by Cicilia Jeanne d’Arc Hasaniah Waluyo.

In Bekasi’s Kampung Sawah, the congregation follows a service in Betawi and sings gospel songs in the same language. And guess what the local Christmas treat is? Yup, dodol. The sweet sticky cake made of glutinous rice replaces the Western style Christmas cakes or ginger bread.

Aside from church services, Santa and the Christmas tree, food has always been part of the celebration. And what’s on the dinner table depends on where you’re celebrating.

Betawi Christmas: Catholics wearing traditional Betawi clothes walk in a procession at the Christmas mass in the Betawi Church of Santo Servatius, in a kampung in East Java, on the Dec. 24. JP/P.J. Leo

“Celebrating Christmas in Ambon, my hometown, means attending the midnight mass on the 24th and then spending time until dawn with my extended family in the house of my mother’s older sister,” says housewife Monica Tinangon who comes from a mixed Ambon and Manado background.

“We chat, we sing and we have a lot of catching up to do on Christmas Eve as most of us live in different cities. And for the families who came all the way from Jakarta, it’ll be the wrong time to be wanting to rekindle with papeda [traditional porridge made of sago],” she explains.

“On Christmas day, we want something extraordinary on the table. Pork in soy sauce, pork rica, basically pork becomes the symbol of our celebration. The savory treats are then topped with cakes and tarts, an influence from the Dutch culture,” Monica goes on.

“Usually, there’ll be two separate buffet tables, one covered with pork dishes and another with halal food like grilled fish for our Muslim guests.”

After the night’s feast and hours of chat, families will go for a second mass the next morning and visit friends and relatives for the rest of the day.

“For us, Christmas is that night we spend together. Back as a family, after months of being busy with our own lives. Gifts are not important, so long as we’re together.”

But celebrating the traditional Christmas in Jakarta where she resides requires a bit of adjustment.

“If we don’t get to go back to Ambon, we decide to go for a simpler celebration. I go to the morning mass with my husband and children and cook simple food just in case guests are coming. No pork, just the cakes and klapertaart [coconut tart] remain.”

Just like Monica, Ronny Poluan who originates from Tomohon, North Sulawesi, has had to tone down his Christmas celebrations since living miles away from his extended family.

For the country: The Vokalista choir performs a play titled God is good to everyone at the Jakarta Convention Center, Jakarta, on Sunday, Dec. 27, in front of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, for the national Christmas celebration. JP/P.J. Leo

“The traditional Christmas dinner in my hometown usually involves canine meat. It’s not only the highlight of the feast, it has a deeper philosophical meaning as dogs are considered our soul guardians,” Ronny explained.

Canine meat dishes or known locally as RW – a short for rintek wuuk or soft fur, a term referring to dogs – originate from Manado and Minahasa local customs. Other customs didn’t survive the Spanish and Dutch introduction of Christianity, he added.

“Unlike the Batak, frankly speaking, we’ve sort of lost parts of our customs. Thus, the way we celebrate Christmas is not that different from the general way.”

Slightly further to the south, in East Nusa Tenggara’s Atambua, Mateus Guides agrees that whatever is served on the plate, togetherness is the main ingredient of Christmas celebrations. A table with a simple meal and beverages becomes the centerpiece of the living room in his wooden-walled and dirt-floored home. No sparkly Christmas tree with piles of gifts underneath.

Despite the humble setting, his relatives come from different parts of the province to spend a day or more there. Uniquely, if others like Monica and Ronny have a list of special dishes to serve, Mateus’ family makes a point of not serving certain foods on Christmas day, namely fish.

“No fish for Christmas,” he said, adding that it was an inherited belief he could not explain. The closest possible explanation for the custom is that fish comes from the sea, which represents a form of higher power and thus off limits for celebrations.

East and west, north and south, wherever and however one celebrates it and whatever becomes the highlight of the feast, Christmas – like perhaps any other religious celebration – boils down to being together and sharing joyous moments with family and friends.

Interfaith harmony ‘could be better’

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 12/24/2009 8:21 AM

Jingle all the way: Hundreds of shoppers and visitors enjoy a musical performance at a major shopping mall in Jakarta on Wednesday. Large malls in the city have put on colorful Christmas displays and ornaments and staged shows to lure visitors and celebrate Christmas. JP/Wendra Ajistyatama

Despite recent attacks on churches and congregations, religious leaders say interfaith ties have improved in the past 10 years, thanks in part to dialogue and cooperation among religious leaders and law enforcers.

But some incidents showed inter-faith ties could be better, they said.

Chairman of the Communication Forum for Jakarta Christians (FKKJ), Theo Bela, said Wednesday Christians in general felt safe celebrating Christmas this year.

“Most Christians think they have the opportunity to express their freedom,” he told The Jakarta Post.

He added it was only a few groups who were “fanatic” and “radical.”

Near the capital last Dec. 17, a group of people vandalized a church construction site in Bekasi.

Theo said it was thanks to “good cooperation” with police that the assault was stopped. Police said the attackers were “provoked” but had not elaborated further.

“We regret [such incidences],” Theo said. “All religious leaders should work closely together to prevent such incidents.”

He referred to incidents in Bekasi, Purwakarta, Depok and Tangerang.

Authorities revoked a building permit for a Catholic church in Purwakarta, West Java, in October, that “failed to meet requirements”.

In March, Depok mayor Nurmahmudi Ismail revoked a permit for a Batak community church in Cinere, as violating regulations.

In September the Bandung state administrative court overturned the Depok mayor’s decision.

“We should all embrace such fanatics so they can become tolerant citizens and share the responsibility for the progress of our large and diverse nation,” Theo said.

Since church bombings in 2000 in Jakarta and other cities security has been high every Christmas Eve.

Muhammadiah Youth secretary-general Sudar Siandes, said the current situation was relatively conducive to religious harmony.

“I am convinced that Christmas will be quite safe. Not only does continuous dialogue facilitate harmonious relations, people have also realized the importance of religious harmony,” he told the Post.

“Many of our students at the Muhammadiyah University in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, are not Muslims. But have good relations with their Muslim lecturers,” said Sundar.

Masdar F. Mas’udi, deputy chairman of the country’s largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, said public and religious figures should become role models.

“Law enforcers should stop committing corruption.,” he said.

Improvements in political, social and economic conditions would also help interfaith ties, he added.

The Interfaith Forum said however that violent incidents among people from different faiths had increased in Surakarta, Central Java.

The forum’s chairman, Solechan, said there were 13 cases in Surakarta this year, compared to a total of seven in 2007 and 2008.

Meanwhile, Antara reported the Attorney General’s Office banned the distribution of five books, including three regarding faith and spirituality, which they claimed could spread heretical teaching and cause confusion.

The books included: Six ways to reach God by Darmawan MM, Resolving the mystery of religious diversity by Syahrudin Ahmad, and Voice of churches for suppressed people, blood and God’s tears in West Java Should En” by Cocratez Sofyan Yoman. (nia)

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Yogyakarta Palace honors culture ambassadors

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta | Thu, 12/17/2009 11:44 AM

For the first time in its history, the Yogyakarta Palace is handing out Anugerah Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat cultural awards to those considered instrumental in introducing the sultanate to the world.

Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X officially presented the awards Tuesday evening at the palace’s Pagelaran Hall to renowned Indonesian filmmaker and director Garin Nugroho and Tunisian Honorary Consul for Indonesia in Yogyakarta Muktaryanto Purwodinoto.

“This [award] is just a piece of paper,” Hamengkubuwono said.

“It’s nothing compared to your dedication and efforts in making Javanese culture, especially from Yogyakarta, known to the wider world.”

Garin is perhaps best known for his critically acclaimed film Opera Jawa, which won awards internationally.

Muktaryanto, for his part, has for many years consistently made use of all available means to introduce Yogyakarta culture to the international world, in particular to Tunisia.

Hamengkubuwono added the inaugural awards would be presented every year in a bid to further promote Yogyakarta as “a dignified city of culture”.

Muktaryanto said that besides being an acknowledgement of his lifetime achievement, the award was also a moral burden.

“With this award, I’m burdened to always maintain my stance on the culture,” he said.

He added he took up the offer to become a Tunisian honorary consul with the approval of the Indonesian government, and had set up an office in Yogyakarta.

The sultanate was chosen, he went on, because of its strong traditions and the heavy reliance of its economy on small and medium enterprises, just as in Tunisia.

He said the Tunisian consul in Yogyakarta was focused more on the educational and cultural sectors.

Among its activities is the planned sending of local students to study in Tunisia on a scholarship.

“In the cultural sector, I’ve always strived to introduce Yogyakarta’s culture to Tunisia,” Muktaryanto said.

He added that in July or August next year, Yogyakarta-based ethnic music group Kua Etnika would tour the North African state.

Garin, meanwhile, said Java had developed into a global cultural phenomenon.

“I’ve just returned from Paris and I was surprised to see a music group named Java in a train there,” he said.

“Even on the Internet the word Java is so widespread.”

He added Javanese who had migrated to other islands had adapted well to the local cultures, making them multicultural Javanese with a tangible local influence.

“Similarly, Batak and the Minang people in Java have also adapted to the local culture, and their influence is also acknowledged,” Garin said.

“That’s why Java is now multicultural.”