It started with a boisterous drumroll, followed by the “Crash!” and “Clang!” of cymbals. The sound of the loud percussion filled the mall, which became the entryway for a barongsai (lion dance) performance that evening.

It was part of the Chinese New Year celebration, also known as Imlek, which falls on Saturday.

Hundreds of people had gathered around a makeshift stage on the ground floor of the Pondok Indah Mall 2 in South Jakarta on Wednesday, waiting for the performance to start, while others were watching from the floors above.

The barongsai team that day was a group of 12, half of whom played the lion while the other half accompanied the performance with musical instruments. All of them were wearing a two-piece red uniform bearing the words “Kong Ha Hong Indonesia” as the name of the troupe.

One of the performers was Roni Yuono, who works as a motorcycle taxi driver.

The 32-year-old has practiced barongsai for almost 16 years. He started his training as a high school student in Malang, East Java, because he wanted to try something new, and he has been hooked ever since.

“I started by learning the culture, because barongsai is closely associated with the Chinese culture. From then on, my interest grew,” Roni said.

Roni, a Javanese Muslim delving into a sport traditionally and predominantly practiced by people of Chinese descent, said he was proud to have represented Indonesia in numerous international tournaments, including the Putian Open in China in 2013, where the team came second.

Throughout the Chinese New Year season, Roni and the group are booked for more than 100 events.

He dedicates three times a week to practice session and almost every day nearing an event or a competition. Having a family-like community helps.

“In our group, we consider ourselves family. We don’t differentiate between ethnicity, religion or race. Everyone blends into one [community],” Roni said.

The same was true for Frendi Sulistio’s barongsai group, Daya Bersama Indonesia.

The 30-year-old Indonesian of Chinese descent grew up in a diverse neighborhood of Neglasari, Tangerang, Banten, and began taking an interest in barongsai some 20 years ago, when he was a fifth-grade student.

Frendi explained that barongsai was not a culture that exclusively belonged to people of Chinese descent but rather a culture that every Indonesian citizen should embrace, regardless of their ethnicity or religion.

“Barongsai also teaches us the true meaning of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika,” he said with reference to the Indonesian state motto of Unity in Diversity.

Diversity and inclusion, aside from international accolades, was a selling point that the head of Barongsai Kong Ha Hong Ronald Sjarif used when introducing his five-time world champion team to the audience that Wednesday evening.

“The one performing as the head is a Muslim and the one performing as the tail is a Catholic,” Ronald said.

The crowd looked enthusiastic throughout the performance. Many took out their phones to record the spectacle and were excited to express their gratitude with angpao (red gift envelopes containing money) when the 20-minute performance ended.

Ronald said he was happy that the show could today be enjoyed by people from all walks of life, which had not always been the case.

Ronald is a living witness to the changing acceptance of Chinese culture in Indonesia throughout the course of Indonesia’s history. He used to practice barongsai as a 10-year-old but stopped when the country, under the New Order regime of Soeharto, outlawed the practice.

Imlek has only been openly celebrated for 20 years, marked by the issuance of a presidential decree by then-president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid in 2000 that lifted the ban on Chinese cultural expression. Ronald established Barongsai Kong Ha Hong on Aug. 17, 1999, a year before Gus Dur lifted the ban.

“Now we are free to play.” (ydp/hpw)

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