Indonesia's Muslim Chinese embrace new lunar year

JAKARTA, Jan 25: Women in cheongsam, long sleeve shirts and headscarfs mingled with women wearing similar dresses, but still showing their arms in a gathering to celebrate Chinese New Year on Monday.

Indonesia Chinese Muslim community at a mosque

Family gatherings like the one held in Rawabunga, East Jakarta, have become an important tradition for Indonesians of Chinese descent during Imlek [local Indonesian name for Chinese New Year - Ed.], regardless of their religion.

Syarif Tanudjaja, head of the Indonesian Muslim Chinese Association in Jakarta, said religion was not a deterrence to upholding their age-old tradition.

“Chinese will always be Chinese although some of us have converted to Islam. We celebrate Imlek just like others,” he said.

Syarif, who hosted the gathering, said that Muslim Chinese and non-Muslim Chinese would gather at the same events during Imlek. “We visit older relatives too,” he said.

Syarif said that there were always slight differences between Imlek events. “We don’t serve alcoholic drinks or use haram [not permitted under Islam] ingredients when cooking,” he said.

Syarif said that inviting Chinese from various religions showed that Muslim Chinese could still embrace Chinese traditions.

“There is a negative stigma that Muslim Chinese are no longer Chinese. Islam has taken away their Chinese traditions. This is not true,” he said.

Syarif said that open house and family gatherings during Imlek were good opportunities to diminish that stigma. “We have tried to use this friendly situation to show that Muslim Chinese still preserve some ethnic principles,” he said.

He said that Muslim Chinese also honored the tradition of respecting their ancestors. “We don’t make altars and light up the joss sticks to pray for them but we have our own way of doing it,” he said.

“We hope such intensive communications can reduce the negative stigma toward Muslim Chinese,” he said.

Separately, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo called on city residents to promote religious and ethnic harmony.

Fauzi, who visited the Dharma Bhakti Temple in Petak Sembilan, West Jakarta, on Monday, donned in a Chinese emperor hat and batik shirt with dragon motif, said that the social life around the temple was a good example of religious harmony among the people.

“This [religious harmony] is the real portrait of Jakarta,” he said.

According to Fauzi, whoever leads Jakarta should recognize the city’s pluralism.