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Jamaah Tuakiyah: maintaining local culture amid perils
Fresh supply: Siwalan fruits are lying on the ground while Warnadi looks for more
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Fresh supply: Siwalan fruits are lying on the ground while Warnadi looks for more.
Although liquor remains a problem in Indonesia with the distribution of oplosan (bootleg alcohol) that often claims lives, Jamaah Tuakiyah continues to exist as groups of ardent drinkers commonly found in Tuban, East Java.
Like urban socialites, members of Jamaah Tuakiyah frequently gather for discussions while savoring liquor at food stalls, in this case tuak ' hence the group's name ' a traditional alcoholic drink made from the sap of siwalan (palmyra palm).
Suhardi, 53, a native of Tuban, was recently engaged in a discussion with eight peers about village road construction that has never been realized at a food stall owned by Sunarni, 60. Suhardi and Sunarni live in a village in the regency's karst mountain range.
'Don't ever let the village road issue in this rocky, limestone region cut off the friendly ties between village people,' said Suhardi, raising his glass to his fellow tuak drinkers in a toast.
Apart from breeding chickens, Suhardi also grows siwalan. Not many kinds of vegetation can survive in the karst zone, extending from Pati, Central Java, to Tuban. Palmyra palms have become the only economic resource and create a verdant view along the northern karst range spanning the districts of Palang, Semanding, Montong, Merakurak and Kerek.
'Our culture has grown from siwalan trees. The roofs of our ancestral homes have been built from broad palmyra leaves resembling the footprints of house lizards and the pillars from the stems of these trees,' he said.
A cultural observer of Tuban, Jarwoto Tjondronegoro, said siwalan trees had become the economic foundation of Tuban people living in the barren karst mountain areas over generations.
'They derive tuak and legen [palm wine] from the trees to be sold and partly consumed together in friendly gatherings among villagers,' Jarwoto, also a university lecturer in Tuban, told The Jakarta Post.
According to Jarwoto, tuak has been known of since the 11th century, when Tartar forces from Mongolia defeated Daha troops in Kediri and sojourned in Tuban to celebrate their victory by drinking the liquor.
'Most people in Tuban are Muslims and tuak constitutes part of the local culture and a token of historical glory in memory of Rongolawe, the Tuban sovereign who managed to beat invading Tartar soldiers,' he noted.
Today tuak is consumed in gatherings on roadsides as well as at food stalls around palmyra plantations. 'This tradition is not for boozing. Local people say tuak or toak means noto awak, taking care of the body or health,' indicated Jarwoto.
He referred to the Tuban community's belief that consuming the traditional liquor can induce a process of poison and calcium removal from the body. 'Natives of Tuban living in karst areas believe that regular tuak consumption will eliminate calcium and heal kidney stone disease,' he said.
Since 2013, with the introduction of Presidential Regulation No. 74/2013 on liquor and the application of 147 bylaws banning and restricting the sale of alcoholic drinks, the local administration has planned to change the production of tuak to bioethanol.
'But the plan hasn't changed the practice of tuak consumption. It continues to be sold as an alcoholic drink at a far lower price than other kinds of liquor such as beer, which costs Rp 35,000 [US$2.52],' he said.
Tuak is sold for Rp 2,000 per liter.
Jarwoto mentioned several other regions in Indonesia where alcoholic drinks are connected with rituals, arts and customary festivals, like ceremonies in Bali with arrack, harvest festivals in Karo and Simalungun and Bona Taon parties for the New Year.
Similarly, liquor is consumed among the Chinese during Ceng Beng (Tomb-Sweeping Festival), Imlek (Lunar New Year) and Cap Go Meh (15th day after Imlek). In Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, arrack is also served in rituals to welcome guests, as is the case in Papua with sopi, a local alcoholic drink.
The community in Lembata, East Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, consumes tuak during traditional festivals. Before 2000, notably in the 1980s, tuak was even drunk daily instead of water in various hamlets in Ile Ape, Lembata, where drinking water was scarce.
The rector of Bali's Udayana University, Made Suastika, said to reduce the negative effects of liquor, several health specialists in Bali were formulating standards for handling victims of tuak and arrack poisoning as well as guiding producers of the drinks.
'The problem of tuak and arrack abuse should be overcome by education rather than regulating and restricting liquor sales,' he emphasized.
So far public health centers and hospitals in Indonesia have lacked standards for handling victims of oplosan although an explosion in the number of cases of methanol poisoning in Bali has been reported since 2009. Of the 31 patients referred to Sanglah Hospital, 93.54 percent were male patients.
In early 2013, Australian foreign minister Bob Carr urged the Indonesian government to control such bootleg liquor, after an Australian youth, Liam Davies, died at Sir Charles Gardner Hospital in Perth due to the consumption of adulterated arrack while celebrating the New Year in Lombok.
Liam's death triggered a strong reaction from the international community, especially because previously a female student from Sydney lost her eyesight after consuming oplosan in Bali, while a Swedish tourist died in Lombok in a similar case.
' Photos by Indra Harsaputra
