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Diverse ethnicities celebrate 'Imlek'
Free pose: Chinese community members in the Tambak Bayan area in Surabaya pose for photographs on Sunday
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Free pose: Chinese community members in the Tambak Bayan area in Surabaya pose for photographs on Sunday. The social event was organized by the Matanesia Photography community in the Chinese area in the center of the capital city of East Java one day before Chinese New Year.(JP/Tarko Sudiarno) (JP/Tarko Sudiarno)
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span class="inline inline-center">Free pose: Chinese community members in the Tambak Bayan area in Surabaya pose for photographs on Sunday. The social event was organized by the Matanesia Photography community in the Chinese area in the center of the capital city of East Java one day before Chinese New Year.(JP/Tarko Sudiarno)
Thousands of people from various cultural and religious backgrounds, not just the Chinese-Indonesian communities, in many cities across the country celebrated the Lunar New Year, known also as Imlek, in diverse festivities on Monday.
In Semarang, a crowd of people, mostly Javanese, visited Sam Po Kong Chinese temple, enjoyed numerous art performances, including Barongsai (lion dance), and sang Mandarin songs in dangdut (mixed Malay and Indian music).
Juwita, along with her friends, had to pass through heavy traffic jam to arrive at the temple, the original of which was built in the early 1400s by Chinese explorer Admiral Cheng Ho, to celebrate the new year.
'It's very lively. I never expected it to be very cheerful,' said Juwita, who wore a red hijab.
Meanwhile, Chinese-Indonesian Catholics observed the new year in a holy mass at Kristus Raja Cathedral in Kupang led by four priests in red robes.
Seven dancers, Chinese-Indonesian girls, accompanied the priests who walked to the altar of the cathedral, which had been decorated with red and with many lanterns.
Besides observing Imlek in the cathedral, many Chinese-Indonesians also celebrated the changing of the year at Siang Lay, the only temple in the capital city of the East Nusa Tenggara province.
One of the temple's board members, Robby, said the house of worship, which was built in 1865, was now the only temple still standing in the city as many were destroyed during the World War II.
Meanwhile, Surakarta, the royal city of Central Java, officially organized the Lunar New Year celebration at the Pecinan (Chinatown) area from Jl. Jenderal Sudirman until Jl. Urip Sumohardjo, making the area car free during the new year's eve.
'Now, the Imlek celebration is not belonged only to the ethnic Chinese. The arts are Chinese, but many performers of Barongsai, Liong (dragon dances) and wushu (martial arts) are Javanese. Imlek now belongs to all,' said the Imlek celebration's committee chairman Sumartono Hadinoto.
The celebration was marked with the release of 1,000 lanterns in the Vasternburg fort area and fireworks for almost 30 minutes during the changing of the year.
Chinese-Indonesians are now free to celebrate Imlek openly, following 32 years of cultural suppression under then president Soeharto. It was former president Abdurrahman 'Gus Dur' Wahid who made Confucianism the sixth religion recognized by the state in 1999. His successor, Megawati Soekarnoputri, declared Chinese New Year a national holiday.
