Christmas trees adorned with decorations and even fake snow have been erected, and Santa Clauses appear in many public buildings in the city, presenting a Christmas ambience.
It is impossible for tropical Jakarta to experience snow, but the spirit of Christmas and all the trimmings have always been present here, just like in many four-seasoned countries.
According to Rev. Rasid Rachman, an expert in liturgy, the phenomenon is because Indonesians copy Christian teachings, “There has not been effort to contextualize it with Indonesian culture.”
Rasid said there had been efforts to adapt Christian teachings to Indonesian culture but it was only on a discourse level. “Although some churches have adapted it according to their own ways.”
He gave an example of Catholic churches in Java that use the Javanese language during Mass and the Santo Servatius Church in Kampung Sawah, Bekasi, that uses the Betawi language.
The chairman of the Indonesian Communion of Churches, Andreas Anangguru Yewangoe, said Indonesian Christians supposedly adapted Christian teachings to local culture so that Christmas was not deemed solely a Western holiday but was considered a holiday for all people.
“Santa Claus for example, actually has nothing to do with Christmas. But many people here have merged the essence of Christmas with the existence of Santa, as if Christmas is Santa.”
It is similar to evergreen Christmas trees that are in fact a symbol of Christians’ undying faith. “The trees are decorated with candles, which have been widely changed to decorative lights, as a symbol that in order to give light to people, sometimes we have to sacrifice ourselves,” Andreas said.
He went on to say that some church ministers or individuals had implemented their own version of acculturation.
He gave an example of a reverend in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, who made Christmas trees from the fruit of the papyrus because the trees had long given benefits to humans.
“Even EE Mangindaan, former state minister for administrative reform, who chaired last year’s national Christmas celebration, made a Christmas tree using vegetables and fruits,” Andreas said.
The point was, he went on, people could do their own form of Christmas acculturation so long as they could make Christmas more Indonesian.
“Fortunately, many new reverends are striving to give an Indonesian touch to Christmas.”
Not only reverends but also malls have tried to improvise in giving Christmas an Indonesian flavor by using not just huge Christmas trees with sparkling lights but by combining Indonesian and Western elements.
In a South Jakarta mall, there is a huge stage where Santa effigies stand on a wooden Indonesian porch, in front of which another group of Santas work in a paddy field, while others peddle a pedicab, and tree leaves around the setting have batik motifs.
