TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Chinese-Indonesians share joy with less fortunate
Free as a bird: Chinese-Indonesians release birds during the Fangsheng ritual, which followed Chinese New Year prayers at Vihara Dharma Bakti in downtown Jakarta on Friday
Change Size
Free as a bird: Chinese-Indonesians release birds during the Fangsheng ritual, which followed Chinese New Year prayers at Vihara Dharma Bakti in downtown Jakarta on Friday. In the Chinese tradition, Fangsheng signifies manâs moral obligation to help all shackled beings regain freedom. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira) (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)
F
span class="inline inline-none">Free as a bird: Chinese-Indonesians release birds during the Fangsheng ritual, which followed Chinese New Year prayers at Vihara Dharma Bakti in downtown Jakarta on Friday. In the Chinese tradition, Fangsheng signifies man's moral obligation to help all shackled beings regain freedom. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)
The celebration of the Lunar New Year in Jakarta was unusually dry on Friday, despite the celebration occuring during the rainy season.
Thousands of people in red swarmed to the Dharma Bhakti Temple in Petak Sembilan, Glodok, West Jakarta, to celebrate Imlek.
Devotees came to the capital's oldest Buddhist temple and distributed money in angpao (red envelope) to those waiting outside.
Lusy came all the way from Pluit in North Jakarta with her family and friends to pray for a safe and prosperous year.
'I visited another temple in Roxy, [West Jakarta], before I came here. It's my way of celebrating Imlek, by praying and hanging out at the same time,' she said.
She said that she believed this year would be better than last year despite the lack of rain.
Many believe that rainfall on the holiday means blessings for the whole year.
The temple's security coordinator, Hengky Halim, said on Friday that over 5,000 people had come to Bhakti Dharma Temple since Thursday evening.
'Many people arrived here last night. Today, since 5 a.m. over 2,000 people have arrived here,' he said.
He added that more people were expected as Friday was the peak of the celebrations.
Chinese-Indonesians are not the only ones celebrating Imlek, as around 2,000 beggars both from the surrounding area and from out of Jakarta flocked to the temple.
Sadiya and her husband, Sayib, came from Tangerang, Banten, to receive gift money.
'My husband is actually a fisherman, but with the weather these past weeks, he has not been able to go fishing. Thus, we came here to get some money,' she said.
Those looking for gift money also gathered at Boen Tek Bio Temple on Jl. Bakti, Tangerang.
Sumarni, a beggar from Tangerang, said that more and more beggars came to the oldest temple in the city during Imlek.
'Last year I got Rp 500,000 [US$41] in a day. Today, I only got Rp 50,000 even though I've been here since early in the morning,' she said.
Over 3,000 Chinese devotees flocked to Boen Tek Bio Temple, said temple spokesman When Cing Eng.
Chinese-Indonesians in other provinces also took the opportunity to share joy with the poor.
In Batam, Riau Islands, caretakers of Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya (MVDM) Temple provided free meals for 35,000 people, impoverished families lined up to receive angpao from the Tri Dharma community praying at the Tay Kak Sie Temple in Semarang, Central Java.
Chinese-Indonesians are now free to celebrate Imlek openly after it was banned for 32 years during the Soeharto era. Former president Abdurrahman 'Gus Dur' Wahid lifted the ban in 2000, while his successor, Megawati Soekarnoputri, declared Chinese New Year a national holiday in 2002. (nai)
Fadli and Suherdjoko contributed to the story from Batam and Semarang
