"Pat Im" Music Preserves Plurality in Cirebon
The Covid-19 pandemic has made the celebration of Imlek or Lunar New Year 2572 in Cirebon, West Java, less jovial. The cheerful Cap Go Meh (the 15th of first lunar month) carnival is also canceled.
The Covid-19 pandemic has made the celebration of Imlek or Lunar New Year 2572 in Cirebon, West Java, less jovial. The cheerful Cap Go Meh (the 15th of first lunar month) carnival is also canceled. However, the tone of plurality has continued to resonate through pat im (traditional Chinese music) in Dukuhwidara village, Pabedilan, Cirebon.
On Monday (8/2/2021), the soft tone of pat im was heard from the modest house of Surip, 29. He and four members of Pat Im Langgeng (Everlasting Pat Im) group were playing the Chinese-nuanced music that noon. None of them are of Chinese descent.
“This year we aren’t staging a show due to the coronavirus. It’s alright, we have an exercise in reverence for Imlek,” said Surip.
During Imlek, they usually perform at Wihara Dewi Welas Asih (shrine of Goddess of Mercy), Cirebon. Incense smoke fills the room as they sit on a mat. Only musical tunes are presented without vocalists.
Their willingness to appreciate plurality that day wasn’t without sacrifice. Only one key member was absent. Sehkudin, 21, Surip’s younger brother, asked permission from the food stall where he works for the exercise. Wanto, 24, Surip’s nephew, also took a break from his paddy milling work. Ki Amad, aged around 70, took a break from selling corn.
The grandfather of 11 was enthusiastic. He strongly hammered the gambang (wooden xylophone). The wooden bars he struck matched the tone of the kong ayan (traditional violin) played by Sehkudin. Their sounds went in harmony with the pitch teh yan, a bigger kong ayan, handled by Wanto.
The pat im music drew people’s attention. A number of children were peeping through the window.
The trumpet blown by Surip and the drum beaten by Akmad, 65, Surip’s father, further enlivened the atmosphere. The pat im music drew people’s attention. A number of children were peeping through the window.
As the Chinese words mean, pat im comprises musical instruments with eight or nine players. But the minimum regeneration and difficulty in buying new devices have reduced Surip’s group members to only six.
Let alone the purchase of instruments worth millions of rupiah, even the old equipment of this group is now packed in a corner of Surip’s home, not well kept in the dwelling located around 38 kilometers from Cirebon city. The house measuring about 50 square meters is occupied by nine people. When it rains heavily, the water dripping from leaks on the roof dampens the instruments.
“That’s why I join the tarling (guitar-flute) band of dangdut (Hindi-Malay pop music) to earn some money so that this group keeps going. The dangdut troupe can perform the whole month when there are various events,” said Surip, who belongs to the fourth generation of Pat Im Langgeng.
Sadly, the income from tarling, at least Rp150,000 per day, has gone also because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, four performances were canceled.
Fortunately, in last year’s Imlek Pat Im Langgeng could still appear. They staged six shows in religious ceremonies with minimum crowds.
Performing at Wihara Welas Asih for years, they don’t charge any fixed fee.
Pat Im Langgeng, known by the public as Cokek Losari, is unique as it’s not seeking the rupiah. Performing at Wihara Welas Asih for years, they don’t charge any fixed fee. “We get paid in amounts sincerely offered. This is based on the agreement with my ancestors. Thank God, we’ve always had fairly good fortune,” revealed Surip.
Surip related that cokek in Cirebon was initiated by Warcita Gender, the father of his great-grandfather, Wastar Rucita. Warcita got acquainted with the art around mid-19th century from Babah (Indonesian-born Chinese) Heng Liam, a native of Semarang who lived in Cirebon. It used to be performed in traditional Chinese potehi (glove puppet) shows.
“The art is not mute. It sounds out compassion. While the ears of my father and mine sense the beauty of the Chinese art, why we should not just learn it,” said Wastar (Kompas, 25/8/2001).
Cokek volved in the period of Wastar. There were four groups of the same vein. Each group had six to eight members. None of them were of Chinese descent. All of them were Muslims.
“Formerly we were busking on foot. In a month at least we staged twice,” recalled Akmad, who joined the group in the time of Wastar. They performed at Chinese shrines in Indramayu, Majalengka, as far as several regions in Central Java like Pekalongan and Tegal.
“Bapak Sutan from a shrine in Tegal injected (treated) us when we got sick. He was the doctor who gave us drugs and money,” said Akmad, referring to the name of a cokek lover.
When a conflict broke out in Losari, Cirebon, at the end of the New Order period, the board of the shrine in Tegal even asked Pat Im Langgeng to take shelter for the moment. “We were given accommodation for four days and food. Several houses of ethnic Chinese people were burned in Losari,” said Akmad.
Many ethnic Chinese people finally moved to Bandung and Jakarta. In fact, the conflict wasn’t triggered by Losari residents. “Here, all residents pada bae (are equal). Although ethnic Chinese, they’re Indonesian citizens. So they can elect the kuwu (village head) as well as president,” he said.
Nonetheless, nurturing plurality doesn’t free from derision. “Many people say, ‘the Javanese play Chinese music? What’s your religion? Why enter shrines’,” said Surip imitating the mockery of others.
Surip responds to it with his smiles. His group doesn’t perform worship at shrines, but rather they venerate Imlek celebration. He also strives to safeguard the will of his ancestors to preserve pat im music, as implied by the name of his group.
Sungkono, 78, Secretary of Wihara Dewi Welas Asih, admires the loyalty of Pat Im Langgeng. “This is the capital to maintain plurality in Cirebon.
Moreover, in the last few years there have been attempts to spoil our brotherhood,” he said.
During 2011-2018, at least 28 residents of Cirebon and its vicinity became terrorist suspects. The development of worship buildings also has often been rejected by certain circles.
A lecturer of Syekh Nurjati State Islamic Institute, Cirebon, Marzuki Wahid, described Cirebon as being in an emergency of radicalism lately. In 2011, a suicide bomb exploded at the mosque of the Cirebon City Police. During 2011-2018, at least 28 residents of Cirebon and its vicinity became terrorist suspects. The development of worship buildings also has often been rejected by certain circles.
Actually, according to Gouw Hong Giok, 77, a Chinese cultural observer of Cirebon, the coastal city has been open to residents of whatever cultures for centuries. Sunan Gunung Jati, the 15th-century leader of Cirebon, married Princess Ong Tien, the daughter of Emperor Hong Gie (1368-1644) from the Ming Dynasty. The history of tolerance has also been sustained.
“During Imlek, for instance, some cokek Losari shows have even distributed keranjang (sticky rice) cakes to non-ethnic Chinese residents. In Cirebon, Imlek belongs to everybody,” said Gouw.
The musical tone of Pat Im Langgeng proves that the melody of plurality continues to be heard even during a hard time. Whoever is able to enjoy the tuneful music as long as the ears, eyes, mid and heart remain open.
(This article was translated by Aris Prawira)