Int’l Gamelan Festival
English Version by the Jakarta Post February 7, 1996
Watching western women in sarong kebaya and men in blangkon, (traditional dress) playing gamelan, (traditional “orchestra”) in the International Gamelan Festival at Prambanan temple in Yogyakarta recently on television, I felt myself transported to the future.
“Where is Indonesia?” asks a tourist.
I reply: This is Indonesia.”
“Is it? These are skyscrapers like in Tokyo. That is the Hollywood Inn, the Thousand And One Night Amusement Center. I eat sukiyaki, pizza, hotdogs, pears, apples, grapes. I drink Coke, root beer. I listen to disco music. Where are the rice fields, the tropical forests prided by Indonesia? This is certainly not Indonesia but another country.”
“It is true, I am not joking. The authentic Indonesia with its forests is extinct. Now it is westernized. The blond hair you see is just dyed. If you want to see the real Indonesia you must go to …” and I show him a dot on a map, close to the equator. “There you will find Indonesia in miniature where the original culture is respected and conserved.”
I wake up from my dream with a jolt. What if some day we have to learn our own culture from foreign experts, if the authentic Indonesian tropical forest is no longer but somewhere abroad.
Somebody says: “We have no self respect.”
3 comments:
Hi,
why do you consider foreigners playing gamelan music a threat? Would you consider foreigners speaking bhs. Indonesia a threat to your language? Who is taking away anything? Could it not be seen as friendly move towards, and a sign of interest in Indonesian - or to be a bit more precise - Javanese culture?
Best
.r.
Certainly not a threat. On the contrary, it’s even more than a friendly move. I would be proud if foreigners could appreciate our Javanese culture, our bahasa and be grateful if they care to preserve it from extinction. I am worried that Indonesians don’t appreciate, respect, their own culture and tropical forests, as a child who doesn’t appreciate, honor, isn’t proud of, grateful towards his parents. That was in 1996, translated from Suara Karya and published by The Jakarta Post February 7, 1996.
Chew GH
Yea, after rereading the article it seems I somehow read a negative attitude towards foreigners playing gamelan, which is actually not there, sorry...
Best
.r.
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