Bogor enriched with Arab legacy

Theresia Sufa ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Bogor   |  Wed, 09/24/2008 10:42 AM  |  City

GOOD NEIGHBORS: Women of the Arab Indonesian community in Empang subdistrict, Bogor, prepare meals for breaking the fast to share with their less fortunate neighbors. (JP/Theresia Sufa)

The Arab-Indonesian community in Empang subdistrict, Bogor, has lived side by side with their uphill Sundanese neighbors for over a century. They even share food, especially during the fasting month of Ramadan.

Several Arab Indonesians managing the Empang Grand Mosque went to collect rice from the community door to door.

"The rice we collected will be given to the poor living in Empang.

"The women have extra chores to provide meals, dates and kolak (yam and banana simmered in sweetened coconut milk) so the poor can break their daily fast," said community leader Abdurahman, 80, known as Haji Amuh.

Empang administration records show that the 79-hectare area is home to 16,455 people, or 4,896 families. Most are Indonesians with Arab ancestry many generations back. But quite a few families have more recent Arab and Persian ties, with family members originally from Iran, Kuwait, Pakistan and Yemen.

"Most of the Arab Indonesians work as traders. They own almost all the shops along Jl. Raden Saleh in Empang," said Tati, an Empang administrative employee.

However, she said, many in the community had failed to comply with government regulations, including paying taxes.

"Some of them only pay property taxes when they are about to sell their house. In one case a resident is refusing to pay the taxes for the past 11 years and is asking the tax collectors to collect the money from God, the real owner of the land he lives on."

Haji Amuh denied the allegation.

"We have good relationships with the locals.... We have many mixed marriages. It's not true that we don't pay taxes, even if some of us are behind in our payment. It must be because they didn't have the money at that time," he said.

An architectural and cultural observer in Bogor, Rachmat Iskandar, said Dutch colonials divided the municipality into three areas in May 1871.

The first area designated for Dutch families covered present-day Jl. Ahmad Yani, Jl. Sudirman, Sempur and Kencana Park. The Empang and Layungsari subdistricts were meant for the Arab community. The third area, covering Jl. Suryakencana, Sukasari and Lawang Seketeng, were set aside at that time for the Chinese community.

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