Sujadi’s Blog

Hey…I’m back. Got “dragged” out from my hiding. No, not from people who were upset with my less-than-friendly postings about life in Jakarta. It’s a long story lah. Anyways, thank you for all the comments. I really appreciate them. That’s one of the reasons why I decided to continue blogging. Right Deb..?

To those celebrating the Lunar New Year, allow me to wish you “Selamat Tahun Baru Imlek” – that’s how you say it in Indonesia. It means Happy Chinese New Year.

During this time of the year, I do my usual rounds to meet Chinese Indonesians – looking for stories to file and keeping up with the community’s development. And every time I meet them, I witnessed how proud they are of their culture and heritage – and being able to express it publicly. We all know how former President Suharto prohibited all forms of Chinese culture during his 3-decades rule. The ban was only lifted after he stepped down and subsequently Lunar New Year was made a public holiday in 2003.

This year I met Samuel David Wang, a young Chinese Indonesian. He didn’t use his Indonesian name to introoduce himself. David is 37 years old - fluent in  bahasa Indonesia and speaks conversational English and Mandarin. For the first 30 years of his life his cultural identity was supressed. There’s bottled up anger in him. I sensed this during my interview with him. I believe there are many other young Chinese Indonesians who share his sentiments. They are angsty. And David and his friends are members of Young Chinese Indonesians Association. One generation of living in cultural supression.

At the same location – at Mall Ciputra where a Lunar New Year event was taking place - I met the elders in the community – the fifty-something. Most speak only bahasa Indonesia and their respective Indonesian dialect. For instance Pak Budi Tanuwibowo (that was how he introudced himself) - the Sec-Gen of the Indonesian Chinese Association – only speaks bahasa Indonesia and Javanese. The elders appear more subdued. While the young are pressing ahead to project the Chinese culture – the elders prefer a more patient and calculated approach in making a cultural re-entry into the larger Indonesian society. I sensed tension.

But hey…some tension is good, isn’t it? It keeps everyone on their toes.

Happy Lunar New Year everyone!! Gong Xi Fa Cai!! Happy Imlek!!