Surviving Amid Changing Times

Kompas

A cartoon published on 31 May 1971 in Kompas shows a property developer (left) “claiming” land belonging to a Betawi man. The indigenous Betawi people were increasingly pushed to the outskirts of Jakarta during rapid development of the city center.

Betawi culture has to face the reality of modern life in the city, which is getting more and more crowded. The lack of the public space for expression has hampered efforts in promoting Betawi culture to the public.

On 31 May 1971, Kompas published an article titled "The Djampang Terdesak" (The Djampang Cornered) complete with caricatures and pantun (poetry), a hallmark of Betawi culture.

Si Djampang, a famous Betawi fighter and leader, is often referred to Betawi people. Rapid urban development in the capital during the New Order Era put Si Djampang in a difficult situation.

Also read : Longing for Revival of Betawi Cultural Bastion

It was the reality the ethnic Betawi had to face at that time. On the one hand, they received large compensation from the land they had to sell. On other hand, they lost rice fields, land and the natural beauty of Jakarta.

Gardens, large courtyards and trees with hanging fruit must be forgotten. No choice. Such a condition has also caused the degradation of the existence of cultural activities of the Betawi people.

The existence of Betawi culture also has to face a head-to-head competition from modern life in the increasingly crowded city. The space for expression has become more limited, hampering efforts to promote traditional Betawi culture in public spaces.

Betawi and Jakarta are like two sides of the same coin. Betawi cultural products are a cultural identity amid the growing plurality of the people in the capital city. That identity has become the cultural spirit in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city with all its modernity.

Kompas

Population Data in Batavia in 1673

Betawi people

The birth of Betawi culture as an identity certainly cannot be separated from the efforts of Betawi people to create cultural products and to take care of them. Such cultural efforts have been made along with the existence of the Betawi people since several centuries ago.

Let\'s look back for a moment. Apart from the various debates about the origin of the Betawi people, the area around the Ciliwung estuary has been inhabited since the fifth century. This was recorded from the Tugu inscription from the era of the Tarumanagara Kingdom, which informed the excavation of the river at the time. This inscription was found in what is now known as Tugu Selatan subdistrict, Koja, North Jakarta.

The inscription written in Pallawa script indicated that the excavation of the Candrabhaga River by Rajadirajaguru and the Gomati rivers about 12 kilometers by King Purnawarman. This river excavation certainly required a lot of labor. This indicated that the Ciliwung estuary area already had a population at that time.

In 1527, traces of the settlement were also found in Marunda through the records of a Dutch archivist, Frederik de Haan. Marunda was used as the headquarters of the Banten Islamic army and Fatahillah troops when attacking the Portuguese at Sunda Kelapa Harbor.

Also read : Proving the Resilience of Jakarta

In the 17th century, it was also recorded that the people had also been engaged in trading activities in the port city of Jayakarta. The port was then conquered by the governor general of Dutch East India Company (VOC), Jan Pieterzoon Coen and changed its name to Batavia.

Information on the Betawi ethnicity is indeed quite difficult to find in some colonial government documents. In 1673, for example, the colonial government\'s record of the population in Batavia only indicated a number of ethnic groups such as Javanese, Malay and Balinese. They lived with migrants from the Netherlands, China, and slaves imported from outside Batavia.

Kompas

Population in Batavia in 1679. Sisi timur (east side), Sisi barat (west side), Pinggir kota (suburbs).

In 1679, Betawi was also not included in the records of the colonial government when registering residents on the east, west and outskirts of Batavia. Only Javanese, Malay and Balinese were included in the population record.

There are several possibilities why the Betawi ethnic were not recorded in a number of colonial government documents. First, population registration was only limited within the city walls of Batavia. With the existence of the city wall, the Jayakarta residents who had been driven out during the conquest by Jan Pieterszoon Coen did not settle in the vicinity of Batavia\'s elite settlements, so they were not recorded in population data.

Secondly, Betawi was not seen by the colonial government as a special ethnic group. The Betawi people could fall into other ethnic categories in the data collection.

According to Ridwan Saidi\'s account in the book “Babad Tanah Betawi” (2002), Betawi was mentioned by Nyai Inqua, a widow of a landlord in Batavia. In a testament in 1644, she referred to her female maid as a Betawi.

Tradition

Although quite rarely mentioned in the document records in the colonial era, Betawi people as residents mostly lived in the area around Batavia. The Muara Ciliwung area then became a multicultural area after the arrival of immigrants from various ethnic groups.

Over time, the Betawi people gave birth to a tradition that gradually become popular since before independence. The arts of music, dance, and traditional theater are becoming cultural products that are increasingly attached to the Betawi people.

In the art of music, the gambus orchestra or Malay orchestra has been part of the art performed by Betawis in weddings since the mid-19th century. At that time, guests also wore Betawi traditional clothes, which are still commonly seen in every wedding.

Malay orchestra was quite popular in the era of independence. In the 1950s, there were several well-known Malay orchestras, “Orkes Melayu Kenangan”, “Orkes Melayu Irama Agung” and “Orkes Melayu Chandra Lela”. At that the time, harmonium orchestra, peninsula orchestra, and Malay orchestra had already had loyal fans from Betawi people scattered in Jakarta (Saidi, 1997).

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Puppet master Ki Sukar Pulung presents a Betawi wayang kulit (leather wayang) show called “Gatotkaca Kembar” (The Twin Gatotkaca) on the evening of 27 April 2012 at the Bentara Budaya Jakarta cultural space. The puppet show tells of a kingdom that takes revenge against the five Pandavas.

Another art was Betawi puppets, a form of acculturation of interaction between Javanese people and residents in Muara Ciliwung in the past. Betawi puppets later grew as a form of entertainment and became an inseparable part of Betawi culture.

Betawi also has a tradition of storytelling. This tradition has existed since the early 1800s. Before World War II, stories that had moral values were usually sung at night by people called storytellers.

A number of traditions and arts have become the important records of the life journey of the Betawi people. Along with other arts, such as lenong, pantun, cokek dance, to various types of other cultural products, Jakarta has a cultural spirit inherited by the Betawi people.

Expression room

Unfortunately, a number of these traditional arts are now starting to fade. The available space for expression has become more limited amid the rapid modernization in Jakarta. In fact, Betawi is one of the largest ethnic groups in Indonesia which also needs a cultural heritage.

Based on the population census in 2010, the number of Betawi people in Indonesia reached 6.8 million, more than other ethnic groups, such as the Minangkabau (6.4 million), Bugis (6.3 million), and Malay (5.3) million).

Despite dominating, Betawi people often have to succumb to the rapid development of the city. Betawi villages often became the target of eviction to make a way for the urban development. One of them was during the preparation for the 1962 Asian Games. At that time, the lush Betawi village in Senayan was turned into a sports complex.

This condition is slowly beginning to have an impact on the existence of Betawi cultural products. Not just the space of expression, finding living space in the middle of urban areas is not easy. Slowly, Betawi art began to disappear more and more Betawi people moved to the outskirts of Jakarta.

KOMPAS/AGUIDO ADRI

Tatan wears an ondel-ondel Betawi costume in a street performance on 10 Feb. 2020, upholding the Betawi culture against the negative social stigma.

Hope

Now, amid the narrowing space for expression, there is still a glimmer of hope to inherit a number of Betawi traditions. From the government side, several attempts have been made such as issuing regulations on the preservation of Betawi culture to holding Betawi arts performances in a number of special events.

While from the community side, enormous enthusiasm has also emerged to help preserve traditional Betawi art. This was recorded in a Kompas Research and Development poll on 16-18 June 2020 residents of Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tengerang and Bekasi ) as its respondents.

The respondents of all ages expressed their considerable interest in participating in the preservation of Betawi arts.

However, activities and facilities for dissemination of the arts such as museums need to be intensified so that people in the Jakarta and surrounding areas can enjoy them, and also participate in inheriting all forms of Betawi culture. It is no less important that Jakarta, which celebrated its 493rd anniversary on 22 June, needs to further introduce the Betawi culture to the younger generation. If you are not familiar with it, how such cultural products can be inherited? (Kompas R & D )