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ultural and artistic communities of Indonesians of Portuguese descent in Kampung Tugu, North Jakarta, are struggling to introduce their unique culture to the world amid a lack of facilities, promotion and support from the government.

Johan Sopaheluwakan, the secretary of the Tugu Family Association, said during a recent discussion on Portuguese history in Kampung Tugu at Atma Jaya University in South Jakarta, that Kampung Tugu still preserved a rich cultural identity, the result of acculturation between Portuguese and Indonesian people.

'€œKeroncong music, for example, comes from Kampung Tugus. Now, we still have two Keroncong groups from the village,'€ he said.

Johan said that the kampung, which was established in 1661 by Portugese descents from Goa, India, also had a historical architectural legacy in the form of a Portuguese-style church.

'€œWe also have several traditional festivals like Rabo-Rabo and Mandi-Mandi,'€ he said

According to Johan, Rabo-Rabo, literally meaning tailing, is a festival held on New Year'€™s Day when a group of residents visits every house in Kampung Tugu and is followed to the next house by members of the visited families.

Meanwhile, Mandi-Mandi is a tradition of smearing powder on one another'€™s faces as a symbol of forgiveness. The festival is conducted on the first Sunday of each new year after participants have gone to church.

Johan said that unfortunately, such traditions were underexposed to both local and foreign tourists.

'€œThe kampung, near Tanjung Priok port, is hard to reach as the road is used by trucks and containers heading to the port,'€ he said, adding he was afraid that the uniqueness of Kampung Tugu would fade away as many locals had sold their land and moved out.

Johan said Kampung Tugu once received Rp 4.5 billion (US$346,500) from the city administration to turn the area into a cultural spot, but it was not used as no agreement was reached between church committees and residents.

Since then, he said, the city administration seemed to have become reluctant to help rejuvenate the area.

The head of research and development at the Tourism Ministry'€™s creative economy policy department, Raseno Arya, said there were many challenges that should be addressed before Kampung Tugu could become a tourist destination like Kota Tua in West Jakarta.

'€œWhen I visited it, the kampung was not tourist friendly. It did not have basic facilities like toilets and information centers. We were even confused as we could not find a place to sit or to take a rest,'€ he said.

Raseno said church committees, locals and the government should sit together to discuss a plan to improve tourism in Kampung Tugu.

'€œWe will help in accordance with our authority. We can, for example, include the festivals in Kampung Tugu on our tourism calendar or make promotional materials,'€ he said.

Portuguese Ambassador to Indonesia Joaquim Moreira de Lemos said he was sad to see a lack of recognition for Portuguese influence on Indonesia.

'€œWhen I visited the National Museum to see the Padrao [a stone monument], the token from the Portuguese who came to Indonesia for the first time to the Hindu Pajajaran kingdom, the stone was stored in a locked room,'€ he said.

De Lemos said he was even sadder to read the written information about the Padrao, which stated that Portugal was the first country that colonized Indonesia.

'€œWe never colonized Indonesia. We came only for business,'€ he said.

He said he hoped the government would be willing to cooperate with him to make a museum that displayed the acculturation between Portuguese and local cultures.

'€œWe can make an interactive display, showing how many Indonesian words are similar to Portuguese,'€ he said, adding that around 300 Indonesian words were derived from Portuguese.