By Andi Abdussalam
Jakarta, Jan 25 (ANTARA) - Enthic Chinese in Indonesia are celebrating Chinese New Year 2560 on Monday, January 26, with various attractions, colorful decorations and offering or enjoying special dishes to welcome fortunes lying ahead.
A number of star-rated hotels in Jakarta have been adorned with typically Chinese decorations and presented the 'barongsai' (dragon dance) at leading restaurants offering Chinese dishes.
Gran Melia Hotel in South Jakarta is offering various Chinese menus and cakes which are usually served by Chinese families during the Chinese New Year (locally called Imlek) celebrations. "We also present barongsai dance performances to enliven this year's celebrations," Dewi Banowati, public relations manager of Gran Melia hotel said.
Not only hotels, shopping malls also compete to offer the most attractive programs to take advantage of the advent of the Chinese New Year. Chinese traditional dances, operas, wushu and Chinese traditional music performances are also held at shopping malls.
Besides attractions and art performances, shopping centers also open stalls offering various goods and delicacies normally esnaplly enjoyed during Imlek celebrations such as 'keranjang' cakes, 'moci' cakes, lampions (Chinese paper lanterns), 'chong sam' attires and 'mei hua' flowers.
Busy Imlek celebrations are not only held in the capital city of Jakarta but also in various other parts of the country. Ethic Chinese citizens visited shopping centers to buy various goods they needed for the special occasion.
In Pontianak, West Kalimantan, for example, thousands of ethnic Chinese flocked shops and kiosks in China Town on Jalan Gajahmada, to buy various items and fruits which are symbol of good fortune.
"This year, business is more than usual than last year's," Akhian, 55, a trader who sells various kinds of fruits said. He sold Bali oranges, Super Lokhan Mandarin oranges, Baby mandarin oranges and dragon pineapples. All these types of fruits bear their respective symbols of fortune in welcoming the New Year.
A couple of Bali oranges bearing Chinese characters meaing 'bring fortune' were sold between Rp30,000 and Rp150,000. Dragon pineapples were sold up to hundreds of thousands of rupiah each, depending on their sizes, shapes and fortune they promise.
Fruits contain sweet substances, which have their own meaning. "Every kind of sweet has its own meaning. Candied apples, for example, means safety," Ayong, owner of a fruit shop, said.
He sells various kinds of candied fruits. He could sell about 200 kg of sweets of different tastes with each taste bearing different meanings. "Shining red candied peaches mean longevity," Ayong said.
Fortunes promised in sweets have also led ethnic Chinese in Makassar, South Sulawesi, to flock to shops selling sugar cane in the runup to the New Year. Sugar cane is selling well in traditional markets in Makassar on Sunday. One such sugar cane may sell at Rp25,000.
"On regular days, people rarely look for sugar cane. But on the eve of the Chinese New Year, many people look for sugar canes. The most sought ones are those which are still with leaves. This causes their price to rocket up to Rp25,000 per two bars," a trader at Pannampu market in Makassar said on Sunday. Two bars of sugar canes sell only at Rp10,000 on normal days.
Tajuddin, another merchant at Pasar Terong in Makassar said he had purchased sugar canes directly from farmers since this week to anticipate many buyers who want to welcome the 'Imlek' New year. "Sugar canes are normally selling well in the runup to the Imlek New Year," he said.
Baba Liong, an ethnic Chinese who lives in China Town on Jalan Somba Opu in Makassar city said based on the tradition passed on from generation to generation, fruits and other sweet crops such as sugar canes were parts of the offerings presented during prayers.
"Fruits contain philosophical values, which offer hope for a better and sweet future," Liong said.
Besides sugar canes, bomboo and banana leaves were also selling well in the runup to the Chinese New Year in the South Sulawesi provincial capital. A bundle bamboo leaves is sold at Rp1,000 while a piece of banana leave at Rp1,500.
The banana and bamboo leaves are used to wrap 'burasa', a cake made of boiled rice mixed with coconut milk. Syerly, who was shopping at Terong Market said 'burasa' was usually eaten with meat or fish by the family at home before or after prayers at a temple.
Sugar canes as a symbol of fortune are also used by ethnic Chinese in the Indonesian tourist resort island of Bali. 'Penjor tebu' decorations, a kind of adornment made of sugar canes, are put on the fence gates of houses of residents who celebrated the New Year.
This religious nuance is almost the same as that of the Hindus when they celebrated the Darma (goodness) day against the Adharma (evil) day. The difference between the two is that the penjor during the Hindu celebrations was made of bamboo while during Imlek is made of sugar canes.
"This reflects a harmonious assimilation and religious tolerance in Bali," Hindra Suarlin of Kuta's Dhamayana Temple, said.
Sweets as a symbol of fortune are also reflected in what is called 'keranjang' cake. In Kudus, Central Java, this special occasion delicary, which is made of sticky rice flour and sugar, is an indispensible menu offered to welcome the Chinese New Year.
"Keranjang cake is especially made to be offered during Imlek," Trinawati, owner of a cake shop in Kudus said. She said she always sold keranjang cakes on the event of the Chinese New Year.
"For the ethnic Chinese community who celebrate the Imlek, serving a keranjang cake is a must and could not be passed without heed," she said adding that she produced some 5 to 6 tons of the special cake carrying a price tag of Rp20,000 per kg at her shop.
Ethnic Chinese origins observing the New Year use the keranjang cake as offering to their ancestors during prayers on the eve of Imlek and Cap Go Meh (rituals during Night 15). (T.A014/HNG/A/E002) 25-01-2009 23:00:50
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