Chinese-Indonesian Community Prepares for ‘Imlek’: Semarang, Central Java

Residents are busy cleaning temples and purchasing supplies in Semarang’s Chinatown in preparation for Chinese New Year, or Imlek, this coming Sunday.

“We are sprucing up the temple to celebrate the Year of the Pig, which is year 2,558 on the Chinese Lunar calendar. We are cleaning away the dirt to usher in the New Year with a clean spirit,” Chen Ling, also known as Tanto Hermawan, the caretaker of Ling Hok Bio Temple on Pinggir Alley in Semarang, Central Java, said.

Scores of Chinese-Indonesians gathered to clean the small temple. They polished the brass urns decorated with dragon motifs, mopped the floor and cleaned the miniature houses of goddesses and other temple ornaments.

“We usually do this ahead of Imlek,” said one temple member, Aris Kurniawan.

Semarang’s Chinatown is home to scores of temples dating back hundreds of years. These include Kwan In Ting, built in 1476, located on Belakang Alley, Sioe Hok Bio (1753) on Pinggir Alley, Tek Hay Bio (1756) at the end of Gambiran Alley, Tay Kak Sie (1771) on Lombok Alley and Tong Pek Bio (1782) at the southern end of Pinggir Alley. There is also Hoo Hok Bio (1792) on Mangkok Alley, Wie Wie Kiong (1814) and See Hoo Kiong (1881) in Sebandaran village, Kong Tik Soe (1845) in the Tay Kak Sie complex and Liong Hok Bio (1866) at the southern end of Besen Alley.

At least 20 other temples, large and small, are located in this coastal city. In the Chinatown area, in particular, the smell of incense wafts through the air from the numerous temples.

On Pinggir and Baru alleys, small shops are crowded with people purchasing items such as candles, joss sticks, lanterns and fake bank notes for the Chinese New Year.

“I’m observing tradition. Burning fake money after prayers is the same as sending prayers to our ancestors,” said a woman at Tay Kak Sie Temple, the largest temple in Chinatown.

Chinese-Indonesians celebrating Imlek have also provided around 1,250 poor people living in the area with gifts in the form of food packages and money. Hundreds of people were lined up in front of Tay Kak Sie Temple on Sunday to receive the gift packages.

Inside the temple, a number of people were burning incense and praying. A middle-aged woman, Oei Kim Nio, lit up joss sticks in front of several effigies of goddesses.

“This one is Poo Seng Ta Tee, or the Goddess of Health, but I don’t know this one,” she said, pointing toward the goddess Seng Hong Loya.

On the altar inside the temple were various foods, including oranges, symbolizing fortune, pears (virtue), bananas (prosperity), apples (safety) and moho cakes (thriving business).

There are around 200,000 Chinese-Indonesians in Semarang. During the New Order’s ban on public displays of all aspects of Chinese culture, from 1967 to 1999, the number of Confucian and Taoist followers dwindled, with many of them converting to Catholicism, and some embracing Islam.

With the arrival of the reform era, and the lifting of the New Order ban, Chinese culture and traditions such as the lion dance have been revived in Semarang.

As Imlek approaches, red lanterns are being lit to greet the Year of the Pig.

Suherdjoko