Young Chinese-Indonesians have difficulties keeping old traditions

Agnes Winarti ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 02/08/2008 12:28 PM  |  Headlines

MAKE A WISH: Chinese Indonesians crowd the Dharma Bhakti temple in Petak Sembilan, Central Jakarta during the first day of the Chinese New Year on Thursday.(JP/J. Adiguna)

The reform era has allowed a great part of Chinese life and culture back into the spotlight in Indonesia, something that young Chinese-Indonesians are determined to take advantage of.

Riffung, 27, let her parents and in-laws give her baby daughter both a Western name and a Chinese one in order to sustain their family name.

"I'm aware that preserving traditions can be very complicated if I go through every detail," she said recently.

"I intend to hold on to some of it, though," said Riffung, whose Chinese name is Liang Lie Fung.

While Riffung had a Western-style wedding ceremony, she kept the traditional Chinese tea ritual, and said that her mother planned to teach the 10-month-old baby to speak in both Mandarin and a local dialect.

But she said that at times even her parents could not explain all the traditional rituals. "When we asked what it was for, they simply answered, 'We just do what our elders used to do'."

In contrast, Jakarta-born Henny Marlina, 38, did not give her two children Chinese names.

"It is for the sake of practicality. I learned from my four brothers, who all had difficulties in processing official papers and getting into school due to their three-syllable names," said Henny, who was not given a Chinese name either by her parents.

"Although we are in the Reform Era and are not under the New Order anymore, I don't want to risk my children's future," said Henny, who was not taught to speak Chinese because she was raised in a mixed family of Chinese and Betawis.

During the New Order era, Chinese Indonesians were discriminated against and had limited access to public facilities.

Henny, who was married just two months before the May 1998 riots occurred, said, "If I have the money, though, I want to hold a traditional Chinese wedding for my children."

"Traditions like the Chinese New Year celebrations and wedding ceremonies, should be preserved because those kinds of tradition keep us closer to both our nucleus and extended families," said Henny.

To the elder generation, however, Chinese identity is beyond skin and festivities.

Chinese Indonesian Association secretary general Budi Santoso Tanuwibowo said that while some younger Chinese Indonesians had begun to return to their traditions, "most of them are also only skin deep."

"They don't grasp that the most important part is to return to the good values that are taught in our culture, like respect for elders and teachers, humility, loyalty, trust, truth, responsibility and honesty," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Budi also said that appreciating traditional art performances, like the lion dance and Chinese New Year was a good thing. He added that having a Chinese name was also the right of every individual of Chinese descent. "But we must not stop there, only at the surface."

Budi suggested character-building education for the younger generation and said it was unfortunate that this sort of less was now only a part of religious education at school.

"Although Indonesia is a plural nation, we have been separated by our skin colors, social-economic status and religion."

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