H

undreds of Chinese-Indoesians and followers of the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) jointly held a prayer for the recovery for ailing former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid in Semarang, Central Java, on Saturday evening.

Taking place at the replica of Zeng He ship near the Tay Kak Sie temple on Jl. Gang Lombok, the prayer was joined by members of the Indonesian Confucianism Council and led by preacher Haksu Bing Buana Jaya from Jakarta and several bunsu (monks) from Semarang.

After the Confucianist prayer, preacher Muhammad Munif Zuhri, the leader of Giri Kusumo Islamic boarding school in Demak, Central Java, led the Islamic prayer for the health of Gus Dur.

The former president is currently confined to bed at his home in Ciganjur, South Jakarta. The former NU chairman had earlier suffered several mild strokes.

"The prayer is for Gus Dur's recovery. It's our sympathy and deep attention to Gus Dur for his huge contribution to Chinese-Indonesians," said Harjanto Halim, a Chinese-Indonesian representative.

"Today, Gus Dur is ill. This Ramadan, Chinese-Indonesians and NU followers are praying for him," the prayer's organizer Ari Pramadi added.

Many Chinese-Indonesians considered Gus Dur to be "the father of Chinese-Indonesians".

During his presidency, Gus Dur issued Presidential Decree No. 6/2000 on Jan. 17, 2000, revoking presidential instruction No. 14/1967 that had banned the development of Chinese religion and culture.

Since then Chinese cultural expressions, such as dragon and lion dances, are exhibited freely in public. Confucianism become the sixth official religion, after Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism and Buddhism.

Gus Dur once claimed he was Chinese-Indonesian through the blood line of his ancestors, a claim considered by some as an effort to gain support from the ethnic group.