Messages of Peace
1999 was a year of intense turmoil for Australia, Indonesia and of course, East Timor. Although many of us have already put the past behind us, signs that it will take time to heal the rifts of last year are seen in President Wahid's series of postponements of his planned visit to Australia. (He faced visitng East Timor with more ease!) Inside Indonesia the protests, retaliation, economic hardship and conflict continues. In the face of these hard times, sparks of inspiration and an intense dedication to the achievement of peace and harmony burst out like fireworks against a dark sky. These signs of gentle determination sometimes go unnoticed. In this section I would like to highlight a few.
Peace Festivals in Bali and Java
The Art and Peace Festival, held between 7 - 10 December 1999, presented a series of art events, discussions, seminars, performances and exhibitions involving religious leaders, artists, poets and students.
Co-ordinated by Balinese contemporary artist Made Wianta, Happening Art, Pasir, Angin dan Ombak, (Sand, Wind and Waves) was a climax of the Festival held before approx. 5,000 spectators at Padang Galak Beach Sanur Bali, on 10 December 1999.
As part of the Happening, two helicopters, owned by the National Search and Rescue Body and the Indonesian Navy, passed over the beach and streamed a long roll of white cloth to the ground. Hundreds of dancers and students stretched the white banner across the sand and then prayed, danced and sang.
Festival activities included poetry writing and reading contests in 100 cities in Indonesia, organised by Made Wianta and the Festival committee. At the Happening Art event in Bali, senior poet Umbu Landu Paranggi read poems that touched the hearts of the audience.
Seminars were presented by famous speakers such as Mudji Sutrisno, Tommy F. Awuy, Urs Ramseyer, Taufik Rahzen and film director Garin Nugroho. The Festival also gave the opportunity to Hindu spiritual leaders from such groups as Ashram Bali Gandhi Vidyapith, Hare Krisna, Ananda Marga, etc., to hold rituals for peace and tolerance on earth.
Made Wianta has also promised to contnue the message of the festival by organising tours to schools in Bali and other cities in Indonesia to spread the message of peace and tolerance furthur.A similar gathering for Peace was held at the Kraton in Yogyakarta in June 1999 called "Berdoa Bersama" (praying together). Beside the Sultan of Yogyakarta who called the meeting, other religious leaders including a Hindu priest, Buddhist Monk, Catholic priest and nun, and Protestant Minister led prayers from their own religious backgrounds. A large audience of at least a thousand people sat peacefully in the Pagelaran, participating in the event. As this event was organised to take place about a week before the general election, this united ceremony of devotion to peace, cooperation and religious tolerance had a powerful effect on the atmosphere in Yogyakarta. Needless to say, neither of these events appear to have had much exposure by the international media.(ed)
And in Sydney...
"An Interfaith Appeal for Peace - Ambon" in Sydney Australia
On 19 Januari 2000, the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCAA) and the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) held an 'Appeal untuk Ambon' in Martin Place, Sydney. About 250 people attended including the Indonesian Consul and staff as well as SBS and ABC Television crews.
The following joint statement was issued by the organisers:
" We, Muslim and Christian leaders in Australia, call for an end to
violence in Ambon, the Maluku islands and Lombok.
We affirm that both Islam and Christianity stand for peace and harmony among people of all faiths.
We appeal to Muslims and Christians to work together for peace, and we pray that Almighty God will lead us towards peace and reconciliation among all people"
Peace in Lombok
On Saturday 4 March an event celebrating the return of Peace in Lombok was held in the central square of Mataram, Capital of Lombok. A multi cultural parade was held to demonstrate Lombok's commitment to cultural harmony and thousands of people thronged into the square to participate in the event. Hundreds of students and young people representing their own unique religious, ethnic and cultural backgrounds and wearing traditional costumes paraded the streets into the square accompanied by musical groups from a wide range of cultural backgrounds.
Music presented ranged from Chinese drums, traditional Sasak drum and cymbal bands, Arabic choirs and Balinese "gamelan" orchestra symbolising ethnic harmony among the peoples of Lombok. Singers and dancers performed in the Arabic, Lombok, Balinese and Chinese traditions - usually requesting those from cultural groups outside their own to join them in dance. A highlight of the event was a "Barong-Si" Chinese lion dance and Chinese martial arts demonstrations. Such a performance would have been forbidden only a few years ago before the reformasi government of Indonesia rightly proclaimed that all ethnic groups have a basic human right to celebrate their distinct cultural traditions.
The government has shown a very significant commitment to heal the effects of events which occurred in Lombok in January when shops, homes and businesses were burned, by paying for the reconstruction of buildings damaged during the riots. The people of Mataram also made an offical declaration on March 4 reaffirming the island's long history of peaceful relations between the various ethnic and religious groups who make Lombok their home and a sworn commitment to settle differences peacefully through dialogue and consensus.
Hopefully now that peace has returned to Lombok, people who fled the island to refugee camps in Bali will be able to return to Lombok and rebuild their homes.
Songs of Peace and Universal Understanding
Two songs from diverse sources have a remarkable similarity in their theme of East-West harmony through music:
The Wesleyan Gamelan under the direction of I.M. Harjito and Sumarsam recently presented a performance of gamelan music for the Millennium Orchestra Concert at the Wesleyan University Middleton Connecticut USA. The gamelan performed a new work for orchestra and Javanese gamelan by I.M. Harjito. Please see below a beautiful poem by Mr. Harjito, which is the sung text of the work and pay attention to the first letter of each line.Ora nyana budaya kekalih
Rasa kulon temu lan rara wetan
Cukup gawe memanise
Hangrangin rarasipun
Endahe karaos ing galih
Swaranya dhandhanggula
Trenyuh kang kacampur
Raos suka nggennya pradangga
Angracik lelagon ing sajroning ati
Gamelan amanyura
Translation:
Who would have thought these two culturesWestern meeting eastern
Could yield such sweetness?
The tones softly chiming
Their beauty enters the heart
The sound of Dhandhanggula
Poignant yet cheerful the feeling
As the musicians play
The gamelan in manyura
(Translation by Marc Perlman
Email: iharjito@mail.wesleyan.edu
The latest release from the band Krakatau is the CD Magical Match. "To break through the musical barriers between Western and Eastern traditions, we have attempted to solute this enigmatic case through long devotions and hardships. Reaching the conclusion that there will be no more saying East is East and West is West, one world for anyone is our global miracle...." The words of the title track are reproduced below:
Magical Match
by Pra Budidarma
From two different worlds Came two different hearts
Such so far apart Two hearts became one
In our miracle world All is possible
Just follow nature's way To unite two sights
Only love will stay in a magical way reff:
Miracle of magical match Unity of different hearts
Naturally its a magical match of love
coda reff:
Miracle of magical match Unity of different hearts
Miracle of magical match Love unites two different hearts
Email: pra@bdg.starindo.net
Krakatau
Australia Supported Indonesian Independence
The following letter was written by an Indonesian academic last year regarding Australia's role in supporting Indonesian Independence and throws an interesting historical light on our bilateral relationship.
Dear Friends,
There was both an official and an inofficial role of Australia, but I unfortunately do not have the literature sources, mostly fragmentary memories....Official: On July 39 1947, Australia and India brought the question of the situation in Indonesia before the UN Security Council. The Australian representative stated, that his country considered that "the hostilities in progress in Java and Sumatra constituted a breach of the peace under Article 39 of the Charter..." and proposed that "the Security Council should call upon the Governments of the Netherlands and the Republic of Indonesia to cease hostilities and to settle their dispute by arbitration in accordance with the Linggadjati Agreement" (UN Department of Public Information Research Section Background Paper No. 58 [ST/DPI/SER.A/58], Lake Success, New York; see there pp. 2-3).
Considering that hostilities had resumed as result of a renewed Dutch "police action", the Australian and Indian initiative in the UN had the effect of profiting the Indonesian side.
I have no concrete knowledge of Australian territory being directly used as base for outward communication from Yogya (provisional capital of the Republic), but seem to vaguely recall having heard something about a Catalina (an amphibean airplane) flying to-and-fro to Darwin (breaking the Dutch blockade). What I do know for sure is only that we had Dakotas (DC-2 cargo-and-passenger planes) flying likewise through the blockade to Manila over an eastern route, and to Bangkok in a roundabout route over the Indian Ocean with stop-over in Medan in Sumatra.
The pilotsof the Dakotas were American volunteers. Those that got shot down (most were shot down, typically over Sumatra, where they were easy prey for Dutch Spitfires based in Palembang) contributed their lives for the cause of Indonesian independence. Who flew the Catalina, and what happenned with him I don't know.
Unofficial: Australian dockers (particularly, if I remember correctly, in Melbourne) boycotted Dutch ships. This must have been around 1948. I remember my father taking me on his lap - I was 5 years old then - and showing me a newspaper with a large photo of a freighter at a pier and telling me that people in many countries were helping us in our fight for Independence. Later when I was older I saw that picture again in some publication, and it was a Dutch ship at an Australian pier, being boycotted - at 5 years my grasp of geography had been somewhat hazy... (hence, when Aussie dockers boycotted Indonesian ships in solidarity with East Timor recently, that was in faithful continuation of a long and laudable tradition).
I gather, however, that your present interest is motivated by recent anti-Australian remonstrations in Jakarta in connection with developments in TimTim. That's very good of course, I mean both in being concerned about sustainment of Indonesian-Australian good relations, and in contributing to enlightening the remonstrators....., but essentially one needn't be too upset or worried about them.
The Army is kicking up a tantrum for having been rapped on the knuckles, and in a frantic all-out campaign to save face, it is mobilising every trick it has up its sleeves. This includes spreading disinformation about Australia to impressible youth gangs, and particularly hiring demonstrators for money. But the period of Soeharto-style total censorship is, thank goodness behind us for good. Indonesians are now exposed to a free press, and military propaganda lies sooner or later get exposed for what they are.
Indonesian relations to Australia have a much too deep footing, to be so easily disrupted. For people of my father's generation, who experienced World War 2 and took active part in the Perjuangan, our fight for independence, Australia is our back country, the last retreat. Even today still, my mother cannot listen to "Waltzing Matilda" without flutters in the heart. That had been the signal tune of Radio Australia during the period of Japanese occupation, when just listening to it could earn one the death sentence if one were caught.
To be frank, it very much hurt my feelings of propriety, when official Australia solidarised with Soeharto Indonesia's occupation of East Timor.
So, you can imagine that I feel particularly gratified by your present engagement in helping keep the peace there. It's indeed more than just keeping the peace in East Timor, it's also contributing to the re-establishment of democracy in Indonesia itself. So we owe you our thanks for that.....
Salam,
Waruno
Waruno Mahdi
tel: +49 30 8413-541 fax: +49 30 8413-3155
Faradayweg 4-6
14195 Berlin Germany
email: mahdi@fhi-berlin.mpg.de
Website:http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/~wm/
Chinese puppeteer back on stage after 32 years
From The Jakarta Post:
By Ali Budiman
"SEMARANG, Central Java (JP): The new government's tolerance toward anything authentically Chinese after three decades of stamping it taboo, has not only made a political impact. For some people, it simply means they can return to their long-forbidden art.
Thio Tiong Gie, a dalang (puppeteer) of the Chinese hand-puppet show or wayang potehi, is one of them. The 67-year-old who lives in Semarang could hardly believe at first that he was free to recite verses on the ancient Chinese kingdom or act out suspenseful war scenes using his puppets.
Thirty-three years ago when the New Order regime under president Soeharto came to power, wayang potehi shows were banned in Indonesia. Thio was at the time the chairman of the association of wayang potehi puppeteers.
The sudden ban on the puppet performance was imposed at the same time the government began a long and senseless prohibition on the use of Chinese characters, names, and on Chinese-linked education, arts and sciences.
The spirit of hate kindled by the New Order regime and excessive suspicion that communist causes could be inflamed within the Chinese community, led to the repression of the Chinese-Indonesian culture blanketed by the euphemism assimilation.
For Thio, this simply meant that he must shelve the puppets. Forced to look for another job, the father of four sons and three daughters opened a welding workshop.
But even after taking up a different profession and in shorter breath than 33 years ago, Thio's passion for puppetry remained intact.
While he is staging a performance, his sharp and concentrating gaze accompanies the stamping feet as he balances the movements of his fingers wrapped in the cloth of the potehi puppets. His normally husky voice is transformed into a sharp, strident and authoritatively heavy voice.
In his hands the puppets are given souls. The dynamic movements come with expressive dialogs. During war scenes, the potehi puppets turn upside down displaying Kung Fu martial art slashing swords and thrusting spears in all directions.,/P>
Chinese tambur (drums), gembreng (gongs), rebab (two-stringed instruments), guitars and several musical instruments made of wood and bamboo, resound repeatedly, creating an atmosphere of ancient China. The mini stage, dominated by red, fleetingly resembles an altar. Banners are placed with Chinese characters containing words like wisdom on the supreme deity, the nation's prosperity and excerpts of verses taken from the related story.
The wayang potehi relates Chinese historical tales, such as Sie Jin Kui, a folk hero who fights tenaciously against tyranny and cowardice before finally ascending to the throne. The story develops extensively and continues on to Sie Teng San, the crown prince of the next generation.
In the course of China's history of civilization, many philosophical teachings and the school of thought have experienced their ups and downs. Confucianism is one of the most influential teachings beside Taoism and Buddhism. The wisdom of K'ung Fu-tzu (Confucius)'s teachings is the dominant theme in the epic performances of wayang potehi.
Confucius lived from 551 to 479 B.C. Elementary school children learn it by rote, and its philosophical essence became a guidance of wisdom in life. Thio said potehi stories contain lessons of wisdom, filial respect, the battle of good versus bad and the principles of ancestral culture.
"The New Order government that indiscriminately banned Chinese art in Indonesia like wayang potehi was deplorable and arbitrary," Thio said.
"Wayang potehi was performed in a mix of Javanese and Indonesian. It is different from the wayang potehi in China's Hokkian dialect performed in Singapore. Ethnic art should not be linked with politics. It has the potential to enrich the treasure that can be acculturated with our culture."
The overblown mistrust toward anything of the Chinese culture was unfounded, he said.
"It is only coincidental that we have a different ancestral culture with unique artforms like wayang potehi, an entertaining and equally enlightening show," he said."We are born in Indonesia, we eat and drink and live our social life, and even die in the land. This is the land we love," he said...