Syncretist Celebrations of Imlek, Lent and Tolerance

Red-Letter Day: Catholics and Confucians join in shared celebrations across Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Novianti Setuningsih & Carlos Paath, Feb 20, 2015

In Malang, East Java, a model in Chinese costume celebrates Lunar New Year,
which starts the Year of the Goat. (AFP Photo/Aman Rochman)

Jakarta. With the Chinese New Year coinciding with the second day of Lent, Chinese Catholics and Confucians in several cities across Indonesia staged joint ceremonies on Thursday in a show of religious tolerance.

Joint prayer ceremonies were observed at the Hallowed Cross Catholic Church in Cilincing, North Jakarta, where parishioners say the church has staged Chinese New Year celebrations for the past 10 years.

“This year’s celebration is much simpler because it coincides with our pre-Easter rituals,” said Widiyoko, the church’s Chinese New Year chief organizer.

Celebrations at the church, where 25 percent of its 6,000 members are ethnic Chinese, began at 8 a.m. with a mass and ended with a lion dance performance.

The church also gave alms to hundreds of impoverished locals, mainly Muslims.

“Events like this add to the spirit of togetherness. It makes us appreciate one another and not differentiate people based on their ethnicity or religion,” churchgoer Florentina Ninie said.

Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin wished Indonesians a prosperous Chinese New Year on Thursday, urging that celebrations be allowed to take place with tolerance.

“I think our society has already been shown to be tolerant, even though there are many religious communities who do not accustom themselves to Imlek,” said Lukman, referring to the Lunar New Year by its Indonesian name.

A similar joint celebration was also observed at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Cibinong, Bogor, according to Bogor’s bishop, Paskalis Bruno Syukur, who presided over the mass.

The Jakarta Police deployed more than 3,000 officers to boost security in the city ahead of the festivities.

The festivities at the start of the Lunar New Year are most commonly associated with ethnic Chinese, but are also celebrated by other communities, including those who identify as Korean (who call it Seollal) and Vietnamese (who speak of Tet).

During the 32-year rule of the late strongman Suharto, the festivities for the start of the Lunar New Year, as well as other expressions of Chinese cultural identity, were banned.

In 2001, then-president Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, revoked the discriminatory regulations and in 2002, then-president Megawati Soekarnoputri declared Chinese New Year a national holiday; it was celebrated as such for the first time in 2003.

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"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)

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."

‘Imlek’ celebrated in the spirit of pluralism

Andi Hajramurni and Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Makassar/Yogyakarta | Fri, 02/04/2011

Festive mood: A Church congregation joins a Chinese-themed Mass at Tebet Catholic Church in South Jakarta on Thursday. The celebration is part of Chinese New Year festivities. JP/Damar Harsanto

Chinese New Year, or Imlek, is not only celebrated by Indonesian-Chinese, but also ethnic Indonesians in a number of large cities.

In Makassar, South Sulawesi, hundreds of residents joined in the revelry on the eve of Imlek on Wednesday night.

For them, Imlek is a much-awaited time when they can enjoy the festive fireworks, lanterns, lion dances and bright temple lights in the Chinatown area pervaded by the scent of joss sticks.

On Wednesday night, hundreds of residents from Makassar and surrounding areas crowded on Jl. Sulawesi to witness the festivities. The street is home to two large temples and is where the Imlek festivities are concentrated. Police closed the road to traffic.

Residents waited until midnight to watch the colorful firework display.

Ethnic Chinese residents had since the afternoon flocked to the temples to pray. They burned joss sticks and prayed to deities for themselves and for the peace and security of the country.

An ethnic Chinese resident in Makassar, Yuli, expressed hope that the country and its people would face a better year and would be protected from disasters and upheaval.

“I pray for myself and for the country. Hopefully, there would be no disasters and riots this year, so we can live better and peaceful lives and the economy can improve,” he said.

On the resort island of Bali, an acculturation of Balinese and Chinese traditions colored the celebrations on Thursday.

Indonesian-Chinese marked the first day of the Year of Rabbit in the spirit of pluralism, as they flocked to houses of worship to pray for blessings for the year ahead.

In Jakarta, Governor Fauzi Bowo made a pledge that he would end discrimination against Indonesian-Chinese.

During a visit to the Chinese neighborhood in Rawa Kompeni in Kalideres, West Jakarta, the governor said he had made efforts to end such discrimination including repealing a policy that required Jakartans of Chinese descent to inform of their ethnic background on their identity cards.

Fauzi said Chinese culture had become part of the indigenous culture of Jakarta. “The Chinese culture is an inseparable part of Jakarta. It is now part of its culture and I am proud of that,” he said.

In Yogyakarta, the Indonesian-Chinese community held the week-long Chinese Cultural Week (PBT) festival as a mark of solidarity with survivors of the recent Mount Merapi eruptions by showcasing the traditions of residents living on the slopes of the volcano.

The PBT this year lacked the glamor of previous years. “This is our way of mourning the Merapi disaster,” Yogyakarta Mayor Herry Zudianto said.

Yogyakarta has long been renowned as boasting a diverse culture. The Imlek festivities also showcased various groups and religions in Yogyakarta. “We organized this year’s Imlek celebrations to promote tourism in Yogyakarta,” Herry said.

In Palangkaraya, West Kalimantan, Imlek celebrations took place at Avalokitesvara temple on Jl. Tjilik Riwut.

While they prayed, local youth engaged in lion dances.

In Semarang, Central Java, the Imlek celebration was highlighted by the Imlek Semawis Market.

Imlek in Aceh

The Jakarta Post | Mon, 01/26/2009 5:17 PM

Imlek in Aceh: Chinese Indonesians light candles and incense at Vihara Dharma Bakti in Banda Aceh on Monday, to celebrate the first day of the Chinese Year of the Ox. Aceh is the only province in Indonesia with local regulations that conform to sharia, an Islamic legal code. (JP/Hotli Simanjuntak)

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Bringing in the New Year

The Jakarta Globe, Titania Veda, January 23, 2009

Deep in the bustling heart of Glodok, West Jakarta, lies Jalan Kemenangan III. The busy street overflows with vendors selling textiles, cellular phones, flowers and food, all vying for space and attention. Pedestrians, motorcyclists, pedicabs and carts weave in and out along the narrow brick lane. A popular Hong Kong song from the 1960s plays from a row of compact shops, and a barongsai , or lion dance, takes place in front of a store.

Splashes of scarlet are seen in items on sale throughout the small street, from Chinese-style pajamas for toddlers to ang pao envelopes to hold money given on Chinese holidays. Lamps and paper dragons hang from trees above a wet market where merchants sell a variety of fruits.

This street is also home to Jin De Yuan, the city’s oldest Chinese temple, also called a kelenteng . The temple was built in 1650 by a Chinese lieutenant by the name of Guo Xun-Gan to honor Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy.

Under a small pavilion in a square outside the temple is a large golden hio lo , a place where joss sticks are burned, filled to the brim with ashes. It is the first port of call for those who come to pray and represents Giok Hong Siong Te, the God of Heaven. Clutching a bouquet of lit incense sticks, supplicants bow several times in prayer before placing them into the urn.

Beside a fenced garden, calico and tabby cats laze. A man reads a Mandarin newspaper, while beside him, a gray-haired woman sits quietly with red plastic bags on her lap. Although she cannot recall her age, Lim Lee Qui Fung states with certainty that she has been a regular at Jin De Yuan for the past 40 years.

“I can pray for five hours here. No one disturbs me,” Lim says.

The caretakers and temple staff greet Lim as they pass by. Every few minutes, she takes a sheet of kim chua, a gold ritual banknote, out of one of her plastic bags, walks to a smoldering gray stone urn at the corner of the square, and drops the note in. The golden paper turns to ash and smoke as it burns, lifting her prayers up to the skies. “I pray for my family, my grandchildren, my community and country,” Lim says.

Greeting visitors at the temple entrance stands a statue of the jolly-faced Chai Sen, the God of Prosperity. He wears a colorful robe, his hands raised to the sky as if giving thanks for the profusion of oranges, pears and apples offered on the ornately carved table beside him. Sunlight streaming in from the courtyard behind pierces a gunmetal gray fog wafting from the smouldering incense. The glowing incense spreads a sharp musky smell and also stings the eyes.

Clad in a soiled blue T-shirt with his glasses perched on his red baseball cap, a Tionghoa, or Chinese-Indonesian, named Yayan sits amid a mountain of magenta-colored incense. By his side are a pile of red candles and kim chua banknotes.

Yayan says that the bundles of incense, candles and gold paper form a Chinese New Year packet that he sells for Rp 17,000 ($1.51) to visitors.

The interior of the temple is a hive of activity. In steady streams, men and women enter, buy packets of offerings and make the rounds of the 24 hio lo.

Behind each of the hio lo stations, statues of gods stand or sit in their glass-covered abodes. These include the mahogany-skinned Tat Mo Coo Su, a patriarch of Zen Buddhism from India also known as Bodhidharma; the wise looking Cham Kui Coo Su, a shepherd from the 8th Song Dynasty, sitting in his golden robe; and Pe Hou Ciang Kun, the white tiger god.

To the uninitiated, the prayer rituals seem to have no order, but a more thorough scrutiny shows a pattern, which Suherman, the caretaker, explains.

“First, they light a candle,” he says, his speech seasoned with Mandarin terms. “Second, they light the hio, which is then placed in the hio lo. After they finish praying, they pour oil. Then they burn the kim paper.”

Though he has been the temple’s caretaker for only three years, Suherman spent his childhood playing and praying at Jin De Yuan. He decided to become a caretaker because it was his “heart’s calling.”

“We have a large community who come to the temple, especially youths,” he says, his hands moving animatedly. “But they only know ‘cung cung cep,’ which is gesturing with the hio and then placing it into the hio lo.”

“And they do not know what they are praying for or even the gods they are praying to. So I felt compelled to explain it to them.”

Suherman has also created a Web site to impart knowledge of the temple, its history and its gods for those interested in learning more.

Most of those who frequent the temple come from the surrounding Glodok area. But for Chinese New Year, Suherman expects people from throughout the regions surrounding Jakarta, Lampung and Cirebon.

Speaking with rapid-fire speed, Suherman describes how the number of young people coming to the temple increased during the administration of former President Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid (1999–2001).

“Gus Dur as president allowed the display of Tionghoa customs and even allowed for the celebration of Imlek [an Indonesian term for Chinese New Year], something we were not allowed to do during the Suharto administration [1965–1998],” Suherman says. “Even the writing of Chinese characters was deemed illegal because Suharto said it was political.

“Due to Suharto, an entire generation of Tionghoa cannot speak Mandarin. It was a great tragedy,” Suherman says, shaking his head.

Yayan, who sells the New Year packets, is from Tangerang, West Java, but does not speak Mandarin. He has worked at the temple since 2004 as a permanent staff member. Along with 18 others, he helps with the cleaning and maintenance of Jin De Yuan.

For Chinese New Year, the temple is cleaned and given a fresh coat of paint. Preparations began at the start of the 12th month of the Imlek calendar, or Cap Ji Gwe, which fell at the end of December 2008.

Inside the temple, standing by a table caked with melted wax from prayer candles, is toddler Ivan Ibrahim. The 20-month-old is with his parents, a young couple in their late 20s. Sofian, the boy’s father, has been coming to Jin De Yuan since he himself was a young boy living just down the street. Sofian’s parents taught him to pray at the temple and now he is teaching his son.

“We are teaching Ivan how to pray to the Goddess Guan Yin,” says Erlina, the child’s mother. The family visits Jin De Yuan weekly, even though they now live in Sunter, North Jakarta.

“He knows how to pai-pai now,” Erlina says, referring to the correct way to pay respect to the deities. Cradled by his mother, the toddler smiles and follows her clasped hands as she prays before a hio lo.

“This place is the best temple to go to because a lot of prayers are answered here,” Erlina says. “And we have had this belief since we were little.”

A tiny woman with sad eyes and extremely pale skin washing her hands nearby tells how her prayers made at the temple have been answered. Thung Geok Siu, in her 70s, says her children have all converted to Catholicism but she remains steadfast in her own faith. “I began coming here because the people of the temple helped me,” the Sulawesi native says. “They blessed my family.

“One time my husband hurt his leg. I came here to pai-pai and his leg was healed. If I feel troubled, this is where I go.” Thung’s husband has since passed away but she has continued to come to Jin De Yuan for 30 years. “I have suffered terribly in my life and coming here has helped. Because of God and this temple, I am all right,” Thung says, her eyes welling with tears.

Suherman agrees that the temple is special, saying that readings here of the ciam si, bamboo slips used to tell one’s fortune, are precise. “That is why people keep coming here,” he says.

As the day progresses, the number of supplicants increases, and the smoke rising from the burning hio and votive candles thickens. Outside in the square, a slight elderly man is paying respects to the four corners of the earth. With his hands clasped together in constant vertical movement, he seems deep in trance. No one disturbs him as they pass, entering or leaving Jin De Yuan.

Jin De Yuan temple can be found online at www.jindeyuan.org

Photo: People visit the temple from throughout Jakarta and surrounding areas to pray at Chinese New Year. (Titania Veda, JG)

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Chinese temples prepare for New Year

Andra Wisnu, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar | Wed, 01/21/2009 1:59 PM

Men and women rolled up their sleeves, wrapped red bandannas around their heads and picked up bucket, brushes and other supplies for the annual pre-new year’s cleaning of one of Bali’s most interesting places of worship.

Budha bless you: A man cleans the face of a Buddha statue Tuesday at Griya Kongco Dwipayana in southern Denpasar. The temple’s custodians cleaned up the temple to prepare for the oncoming celebration of Imlek. (JP/ Zul Trio Anggono)

There are hundreds of Buddha statues in the Griya Kongco Dwipayana Chinese Temple on Jl. Bypass Ngurah Rai in Tanah Kilap, Denpasar, and all of them must be cleaned before the welcoming of the Chinese New Year next Monday.

“The philosophy behind cleaning our statues and temples is that as we welcome a new year, we must also renew ourselves,” Ida Bagus Adnyana, high priest of Griya Kongco Dwipayana, said Tuesday.

“We must start over clean, just like the statues in this temple,” Adnyana said.

The cleaning ritual is one of the most important pre-Chinese New Year traditions.

In Griya Kongco Dwipayana, which houses many beautifully-adorned Buddhists statues, this means a lot of cleaning.

From the familiar figure of a sleeping Buddha to the statues of seven goddesses which stood on top of a pond, Griya Kongco Dwipayana adherents will spend hours, if not days, cleaning these statues in preparation for the influx of Chinese New Year celebrants.

“We just began today actually and this will probably take all day and tomorrow,” the high priest said.

Griya Kongco Dwipayana is one of the most unique worshipping places in Indonesia, as at this one site gather believers from three faiths: Taoist, Buddhist and Hindu

This combination is a remnant of Indonesia’s draconian past, when Chinese people were not allowed to observe their important holidays in public.

In effect, Chinese people secluded their celebrations in relatively small areas while keeping their number of temples low.

This only changed eight years ago, when the administration of President Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid lifted the restrictions on Chinese celebrations.

Adnyana said the building of the Griya Kongco Dwipayana temple was in itself a miracle, as it lies on a mangrove forest.

“That’s in accordance with the instructions I received in my dream more than 20 years ago,” Adnyana said.

The high priest had asked for a 16 square meter space. Unexpectedly, the Ministry of Forestry gave him 400 square meters.

In the 1990s, the ministry granted more space, bringing the total area to 900 square meters.

Now Griya Kongco Dwipayana is one of the most popular Chinese temples in Indonesia, drawing devotees from as far away as Manado, Surabaya and Jakarta.

As Chinese New Year grows nearer, Griya Kongco adherents will adorn the temple with red lanterns, decorated umbrellas and banners.

A Chinese Barongsai lion and dragon dance has also been scheduled.

Both devotees and non devotees are welcomed to experience the grandeur of the celebrations.

`Imlek' brings more foreign visitors, Association says

Ni Komang Erviani, THE JAKARTA POST, DENPASAR | Thu, 01/15/2009 5:03 PM | Bali

The number of foreign visitors to Bali is estimated to increase to 6,000 per day by the end of January as more foreign tourists of Chinese origin travel to the island to celebrate their traditional New Year of Imlek.

On normal days Bali receives 5,000 foreign tourists per day.

"A large number of the visitors arriving at the end of January will come from China and Hong Kong," head of the Bali chapter of the Indonesia Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA) Aloysius Purwa said Wednesday.

The surge of foreign tourists, Purwa said, would boost the occupancy rate of the island's hotels to 80 percent. "The average length of stay of Chinese and Hong Kong tourists during Imlek holiday is two or three days," he said.

So far, the flights from those regions to Bali have been fully booked.

"Some tourists from China have chartered private flights to come to Bali," he said.

Villa Mahapala's general manager, Jeffrey Wibisono shared Purwa's optimism although at a more moderate level.

"We estimate the occupancy rate during Imlek will reach 50 percent; hopefully the number will keep increasing in the coming weeks," he said.

The company operates 20 units of luxurious villas in Sanur and caters to mostly Korean and Chinese tourists.

Head of Bali Tourism Board (BTB), IB Ngurah Wijaya said Bali was still one of the most favorite destinations for Chinese visitors wanting to celebrate Imlek away from home.

Separately, head of Bali Tourism Agency, I Gede Nurjaya urged the local administration to welcome the surge of Chinese visitors by improving their infrastructures, particularly since the island has entered the rainy season and has just experienced massive flooding in some of its prominent tourist spots.

"Heavy rain and strong winds usually take place during Imlek holidays and the administrations should anticipate the possibility of natural disasters. If flooding takes place during the time of a surge in visitors, then Bali will receive negative appraisals," he said.-- JP

Traditional Chinese musicians go with the flow

Soeryo Winoto, Contributor The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

What do most people associate Chinese New Year festivities with? If you asked, the answer would almost certainly be the lion dance or barongsai performance. Very few think about traditional Chinese music.

Unlike the lion dance, which is usually performed outdoors, traditional Chinese music is mostly played indoors. This is largely due to a government ban on Chinese art and cultural performances following the alleged Indonesian Communist Party (PKI)'s abortive coup d'etat in 1965.

The Indonesian government's acknowledgement of Chinese culture has been a long and complicated story as a result of the paranoia that followed the coup, which inspired then president Soeharto to introduce discriminatory anti-Chinese legislation.

Members of the Li Sen Chinese music group (from right) Arman Chandra on er hu (a two-stringed Chinese violin), A Tek on di zhi or flute, Willy on yang qin (a Chinese sitar) and A Siak on bass. The group performed at the Plaza Senayan shopping complex in South Jakarta to celebrate Chinese New Year. (JP/Soeryo Winoto)

In 1967, article No. 14 on Chinese religion, beliefs and traditions was issued, which effectively banned Chinese literature and the practice of Chinese culture in Indonesia.

More than 30 years on, millions of Chinese-Indonesians welcomed president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid's 2000 decree that annulled the previous decree issued by Soeharto.

Since that day, millions of Chinese-Indonesians have enjoyed the freedom to express their love for Chinese art and culture.

Gus Dur's successor, Megawati Soekarnoputri, issued a supporting decree in 2002 that acknowledged Chinese New Year, also known as Imlek, as a national holiday on the Indonesian calendar.

Amran Chandra, owner of a pipe shop on Jl. Pinangsia in downtown Jakarta, is an ethnic Chinese-Indonesian who coordinates a traditional Chinese music group, named Li Sen.

"The group was established in the 1970s. However, it was not possible for us to perform in public, so we met `clandestinely' to play traditional Chinese music.

"We played mostly at traditional gatherings or events relating to religion at temples," said Chandra, who was born on China's mainland.

"It is nice to have leisure time to share and chat with friends of the same age and who enjoy the same hobbies. It's good for my health," the 71-year-old said of the musical group.

Sharing Chandra's joy, A Siak, the group's 73-year-old leader, said members played music for nothing other than the sheer enjoyment it provided.

"We are busy with our own lives everyday ... we meet and play music once or twice a week. What else are people of our age seeking, other than enjoyment," said A Siak, whose wife is also a member of the band.

Chandra and A Siak said Li Sen was managed through friendships and the united spirit of brotherhood.

"We never promote our performances nor set a special tariff for those who wish to hire us," Chandra said.

He added that when performing for religious events at temples, for example, the group never asked for money. However, the band is often asked to play at weddings and usually gets paid around Rp 2 million.

"Those interested in hiring the band can just call A Siak or myself, as the band has no secretariat."

Chinese New Year is always a busy time for the group, with various requests for performances at malls or shopping centers, Chandra said, declining to reveal how much the band earned from such shows.

Unlike A Siak, who started playing traditional Chinese music when he was a child in North Sumatra's capital of Medan, Chandra claims to have no musical background.

Chandra migrated to Indonesia when he was 13-years-old and fell in love with music when he was about 30. His interest in playing the er hu (a two-stringed instrument which is played like a violin) emerged after watching live performances on stage.

Li Sen's eight members have not been able to persuade their children to learn to play and love traditional Chinese music.

Chandra said none of his four children were interested in learning traditional Chinese music.

"They like the business sector. As for music, they prefer pop. But my only grandchild is showing some interest in playing traditional Chinese music," he said.

A Siak, who masters the zhong ruan (similar to a guitar) laughed when asked about his children's interests in traditional music, saying only one of his children loved to play the guitar.

"I have done nothing to preserve traditional Chinese music."

He felt optimistic, however, that traditional Chinese music would later bloom, given the fact his band's audiences were not only made up of people over 60 but also teenagers who enjoyed both Indonesian and Chinese songs.

"I'm told there are private traditional Chinese music schools in Jakarta. I know they hire instructors and teachers from China, which is good for the quality of the teaching and the originality of the music itself. So, I think there is no need to worry that the art will be lost."

Bali group says floods tarnish RI's tourism image

Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

Heads of two influential tourism associations expressed their concern here Tuesday over the negative impact the recent flood in Jakarta would have on the country's tourism image, particularly as it had just kicked off the 2008 tourism campaign.

"What we should worry about is the impact of the flood on the image we would like to present to the world during the 2008 Visit Indonesia Year," executive director of Bali Hotels Association Djinaldi Gosana said.

The Bali chapter of the Association of the Indonesia Tour and Travel Agencies (ASITA) expressed similar concerns.

"The news of the closure of the Soekarno-Harta International airport must have traveled far and wide in the international community by now," said ASITA head Al Purwa, adding that such an incident wasn't the kind of positive image the country's tourism industry wanted to convey to its global potential market.

The flood that inundated a strip of toll road leading to the airport forced the closure of Soekarno-Hatta International airport from Friday to Sunday. It was reopened Monday morning.

More than 200 domestic and international flights were delayed during the closure, which also affected the arrival times of around 14 flights to Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport.

Al Purwa welcomed the government's decision to construct an elevated road along the flood-prone strip of the toll road as a way to cope with possible flooding in the future.

"The government should carry out that plan as soon as possible," he said.

Toll operator PT Jasa Marga said the construction stage of the two-lane elevated road would commence next March. The elevated road would start at Kilometer 24 of Sedyatmo toll road and end at Kilometer 27. Sedyatmo toll road is the main highway connecting downtown Jakarta with the airport.

The actual, short-term effect of the airport's closure to Bali tourism industry, said both Djinaldi and Al Purwa, wasn't significant.

"Fortunately, we were not in high-season during the flood, so even though many flights from Jakarta to Denpasar, and vice versa, had to be delayed, it did not have much effect on tourism in Bali," Djinaldi said.

"There were some cancellations, but it was not significant," Al Purwa said.

The head of the Bali Tourism Agency, I Gede Nurjaya, said the agency had yet to calculate the number of tourists who had to cancel their trips to Bali due to the airport's closure and flood.

Djinaldi said hotels in Bali would experience a brief high season from Feb.7 to Feb.10 during Imlek (Chinese New Year) celebrations. Last year, the island saw a steep surge of tourist arrivals during that period.

"We expect the government will have taken care of the flood problem by that time," he said.

Sharing Chinese and local cultures at Semarang market

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

People from all walks of life have flocked in their thousands to Semawis Imlek (Chinese New Year) market on Jl. Pinggir in Semarang, Central Java.

"This is the fifth time we have organized Imlek Semawis market since it first ran in 2003," Semarang Chinatown Tourism Community chairman Haryanto Halim told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

"We have held the event every year since."

Through to Wednesday the 300-meter stretch of road in Semarang's Chinatown area will be filled with various stalls featuring the Chinese chess, medicine, comics, ornaments, sketches and photographs, folk performances and the famous lion dance.

Local cigarette, car, motorbike and medicinal herb companies are also participating in the festival, as well as Chinese and traditional food stands, to welcome the Chinese New Year which falls Thursday.

"We have maintained the spirit of a traditional night market in greeting the Chinese New Year, by holding it in the middle of the street. This is truly Semarang's most popular night market," Haryanto said.

Art performances have also developed into an exchange forum between different ethnicities.

Students from the Indonesian Christian School in Semarang, a majority of whom are from the Indonesian-Chinese community, staged a choir performance of traditional songs accompanied by angklung (Sundanese traditional bamboo musical instrument) and kolintang (North Sulawesi bamboo instrument) music.

Similarly pupils from Kong Kauw Hwee elementary school sang with an accompaniment of music played by musicians from the IAIN Walisongo Islamic University in Semarang.

"We aim to promote cultural exchange through the festival, so as to forge social interaction," Haryanto said.

"We will invite artists from Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore next year, so that they can exchange knowledge with local artists," he said, adding that he hoped the visits would lead to involvement of businessmen from the respective countries.

Semarang's Chinatown district has apparently become one of the city's main tourist attractions now.

Since former president Abdurrahman Wahid's initiative to restore cultural freedom to Indonesian-Chinese citizens in 1999, Chinese culture in Semarang has prospered.

The art of playing Chinese chess has been revived by Kwan Bun, 78, who was engrossed in a game with his opponent, an architectural student at the Soegijapranata Catholic University, Melissa, 19.

"I've only played it for a year. It's not hard. If you know how to play conventional chess then it's not hard to play the Chinese version. You just have to follow the rules of the game," Melissa said.

A master of the Li Dou ritual which stems from the Tao faith of asking for blessings and warding off misfortune, Santoso, said, "Around 500 people took part in the Li Dou ritual last year".

"A similar ritual will be held Feb. 26 this year," he said.

"Essentially each person has his or her own destiny. People can change bad fate by improving their behavior," he said.

The festival will also host cultural dialogs, inviting a number of noted figures to speak, including cultural observer and former Diponegoro University rector Eko Budiharjo, jamu herbal medicine producer Irwan Hidayat, Father Setyaji of Bhinneka Swa Budaya, and Surabaya's Sami Rukun Rahayu Agawe Santoso Association chairman Fadholi Said.

"Self-restraint is hard to come by these days because most people are influenced by spiritual illness like envy, spite, arrogance, egotism and greed. To maintain self-restraint people must be able to cure themselves from such illnesses," Fadholi said.