T

he late Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid was right when in 2000 he lifted a 34-year-old ban on Confucianism, reinstated it as one of major religions in Indonesia and declared Chinese New Year an optional holiday. Filled with the same spirit of reform, his successor Megawati Soekarnoputri signed a decree in 2002 that recognizes Lunar New Year as a national holiday.

The two leaders seized the full momentum of the reform movement at that time to reinstate diversity as an intrinsic part of the unitary state of Indonesia. This precious legacy of the founding fathers had been denied during the New Order through political jargon such as Pancasila as the azas tunggal (sole foundation) for political parties and mass organizations, “round democracy” and musyawarah untuk mufakat (deliberation for consensus decision-making), which all were forms of disrespect toward diversity and respecting differences.

The old, dirty trick of divide and rule by playing the sectarian card has unfortunately returned to town as Jakarta braces for its gubernatorial election. We don’t know whether using divisive issues as a means to grab power will work this time around, unlike in 2012.

Despite recent events that clearly promoted the supremacy of the majority over minorities, it appears that Lunar New Year celebrations on Saturday will go ahead unperturbed. For the last couple of weeks shopping malls have been turned bright red, with characteristic Chinese ornaments providing extra sparkle.

Across the country, fervor ahead of the holiday is easy to find, especially in areas where Chinese communities have been living for generations. Cultural festivals are preceding and will follow the holiday in these areas, allowing people of various ethnicities to share the joy of Chinese New Year. There are regions where people of Chinese descent are the majority, but in most places they have assimilated with locals, speak the local language and adopted local cultures and traditions.

Surakarta, the hometown of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, is an exemplar of a city that has managed to clear away all barriers that would otherwise prevent people of different ethnicity from coexisting peacefully. In the sultanate city, the festival Grebeg Sudiro, which blends Javanese Islam and Chinese traditions, marks the start of Chinese New Year celebrations.

Since 2007, Grebeg Sudiro has been an annual festivity for Surakartans. Held a week before Chinese New Year, Grebeg Sudiro is a community-initiated, rather than government-sponsored, festival that preserves the legacy of a past sultan known for his respect for the Chinese community.

Like Jakarta, Surakarta has several times seen racial conflicts put inter-ethnic cohesion to the test, which only reinforces the fact that continuous efforts to promote Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) as the raison d’etre of this nation are a must. Acceptance and respect for diversity may have been a part of the school curriculum, but this won’t be enough if the state fails to act against breaches of the country’s founding principle.

Happy Lunar New Year; may the Year of the Fire Rooster bring luck and prosperity to the nation.