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alinese barong, Reog Ponorogo and Chinese barongsai form a harmonic collaborative dance in the spirit of pluralism at a recent show to commemorate Gus Dur.

It was not a common scene at Mal Ciputra shopping mall, West Jakarta, where mall management dedicated the collaborative dance to pluralist figure Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, late former president who passed away December last year.

"I am emotional and thrilled.

"This is the first time we can see Reog Ponorogo, Balinese barong and barongsai perform at the same time," said pianist and chairman of the Indonesian Museum Record (MURI) Jaya Suprana after the show Wednesday, while declaring the maiden collaborative dance to be included in the MURI list.

"I believe this is what Gus Dur wants for Indonesia," he added.

The Jan. 27 to Feb. 21 show is part of a series of events to commemorate the Chinese New Year, named the "Spirit of Prosperity".

One of the main events was Wednesday's tribute to Gus Dur.

Gus Dur has always been remembered as someone who fought for pluralism.

During his presidency, he effectively worked for this cause when he withdrew the racially discriminative 1967 Presidential Instruction that restricted Chinese traditional and religious activities from the public in 2000.

He also declared Chinese New Year a national holiday.

Gus Dur's role was acknowledged by visitors to the mall including Hadi, 64, local resident who came to watch the Gus Dur tribute event.

"We must remember him because he had the courage to break the rule to uphold pluralism in Indonesia," he said.

He added that when he heard the news that Gus Dur had passed away he was emotional, although he did not know Gus Dur personally.

Since Hadi could not attend Gus Dur's funeral, he spared his time to watch the event to show his respect to the third president.

"I really admire Gus Dur."

Another visitor acknowledged that he just happened to be in the mall when the event took place.

"But I respect Gus Dur," Ikin, 38, said.

According to a public relations employee at Mal Ciputra, Rida Kusrida, the event was to remember Gus Dur's contribution in creating harmony among people from different backgrounds.

"Since Gus Dur has passed away we want to dedicate this event to remember him," she said.

She added two years ago Gus Dur attended an event at the mall to talk about living in harmony.

Artist Didik Nini Thowok also had an impression of the man.

He remembered Gus Dur as someone who was down to earth and interacted with people from various levels of society.