Three young Filipinos express their intense admiration and appreciation of Indonesia:
QUOTE
Lessons from Indonesia
Text and Photos by CHARISSA M. LUCI
After three months of socio-cultural immersion in the world’s largest archipelago, three young Filipino artists have come back and have pledged to be instruments to promote Philippine-Indonesian culture and arts among young people.
Julius, Ferlan, and Joy were among the Filipino scholars who participated in this year’s Indonesian Arts and Culture Scholarship Program along with 37 other young artists aged 21-33 from 18 countries in Asia and the Pacific including Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Timor Leste, Fiji, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, India, Papua New Guinea, China, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea.
They learned how to dance like the Javanese, play musical instruments and sing like the Sundanese, paint and carve like the Balinese, and make Indonesian batik following the month-long immersion stint at Muslim state’s cultural centers located in Solo, Bandung, and Bali.
"They performed our art and culture blended with their own cultures with the end results — new innovation and creation. This is the spirit of the cultural exchange and this is the aim of this program," Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda said keynoting the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Indonesian Arts and Culture Scholarship Program with the theme "Indonesia Channel: Bridging Asia and the Pacific."
Wirayuda said the Indonesian government has long been committed to be the power to connect and bridge nations including Asia and the Pacific region. "However, the Indonesia Channel is not merely about arts and cultures. The Indonesia Channel may serve as the means of politics as well as a conflict resolution," he said, citing his government’s share in addressing conflict in Mindanao. During the ceremonies, the foreign minister also took the opportunity to thank the 40 students and their parents for being part of the Indonesia Channel. "You are and will always be a part of Indonesia and Indonesia is and will always be a part of you too," Wirayuda said.
Since 2003, the Indonesian government has invited 120 youths from 22 countries to participate in the program highlighting the constructive power of Indonesia in establishing and bridging the relationship among nations and states.
Also intertwined with the Indonesian Arts and Culture Scholarship Program is the "first-ever" Journalists’ Visit Program where 19 journalists from member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus three, which include China, Japan and Korea; of the Southwest Pacific Dialogue (SWPD), Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), and the East Asia Community (EAC) converged at the Muslim state of about 210 million people in early December. The visiting journalists also went to three Indonesian cultural centers in Solo, Bandung, and Bali where they met their compatriots and at the same time familiarize themselves with Indonesian culture and arts.
DETERIORATING CULTURE
Julius Daep, a native of Bicol who stayed at the 200-year-old art center in Solo called Semarak Candrakirana, said the program had let him realize that most Filipinos have a shallow understanding of our their culture and arts. He lamented that because of ignorance, our culture has long been distorted.
"Alam natin lahat na nagdedeteriorate ang cultural system natin kaya hindi tayo naggrow kasi hindi natin kilala kung sino tayo. Matatalino tayong mga Pilipino pero bobo tayo pagdating sa kung sino tayo (We all know that our cultural system has been deteriorating and that’s why we don’t grow [as nation.] We Filipinos are brilliant people but we are not sensible on who we really are)," said 24-year-old Julius, a dance performer since age seven.
At 12, Julius left his family in Sorsogon to study at the Philippine High School for the Arts, the country’s only arts school located in Mt. Makiling, Laguna. There he spent four years to familiarize himself with the country’s traditional dances. Now a lecturer at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna, Julius pointed out that Filipinos could never appreciate their own culture if we they do not have a deep understanding of it.
"The Philippines is much more rich in terms of arts and culture but because of the lack of education, we cannot appreciate it or worse, we laugh at it. Unlike in Indonesia, as young as two years old, they are already very proud of their culture," he said.
The cycle of cultural enrichment starts from parents to children, from teachers to students, and from government to its people, Julius said. Ferlan also certified that the "promotion of the culture should start within the family, from childhood to adulthood," citing the Balinese culture which encourages sending of children to arts and culture schools at an early age.
"In Balinese culture, the training on arts and culture starts very early. I met children performing a traditional dance at the age of four or five," he said.
Julius stressed that Filipinos’ ignorance of culture and arts stemmed from their lack of education about culture, which unfortunately leads to disrespecting it.
"Every time na magsasayaw ako sa school na nakabahag, hindi palakpak ang maririnig kundi tawa mula sa bata. Hindi sila tumatawa dahil sa natutuwa sila, tumatawa sila kasi nahihiya sila sa yo dahil nakakatawa ka," Julius lamented.
For his part, Ferlan Farinas, 20, of Tapaz, Capiz, said that in the heels of modernization, Filipinos tend to forget the past, making our culture not too visible and weak.
"Only some Filipinos, mostly artists and local ethnic groups, possess the sense of appreciation and pride towards our culture," he pointed out. Ferlan, a senior Political Science major student at UP-Miagao in Iloilo, expressed his admiration for Indonesians for having a strong cultural grip, which Filipinos should exemplify.
"I am very amazed that Indonesians are very proud of themselves, very proud of their country. Why, we Filipinos are not proud of ourselves? Why do we prefer other cultures to ours? Our mindset is very modern (individualistic) and we end up as a community without understanding of its own culture and who prefer other cultures than its own," he asked.
His stay at Taman Sari in Bali, Ferlan recognized the richness of Indonesian culture, particularly the Balinese and the "people possess a sense of appreciation and pride of their own culture."
Riza Joy Canabo, also a graduating student with double degrees in History and Psychology at the UP-Miagao, Iloilo, agreed that Filipinos lack of cultural and historical sense, as she noted Indonesians’ cultural pride.
"In Indonesia, they even have a number of television programs depicting their rich culture," she observed. Joy was among the foreign culture and arts scholar sent to Saung Udjo in Bandung, considered as Indonesia’s shopping district and city of fashion. She learned to play Sudanese musical instruments, such as angklung, arumba, karawitan, and suling. She also learned the Sudanese traditional karate called pencak silat, tari (traditional dance for common people), anyaman (handicraft making) and even played traditional games and cooked Sudanese foods.
A CULTURE OF NOBILITY
The three scholars have observed that Indonesian and Philippine culture are similar in essence but different in manifestations in terms of music and dance.
"They dance from the heart just like us and their dance has spiritual connections, which is very dominant in our folk dance. In terms of music. But we’re using different musical instruments and our manner of playing is also different," Julius remarked.
To prove his point, Julius cited that Bandung’s Pencak Silat is a replica of Kunato Silat, a traditional dance espoused by the Maguindanaos, while the royal dances in Solo have the same styles just like the Maranao dances as well as the Pangalay of the Yakans and Basilan’s Sama di Laut. Javanese dance and music were influenced by the royalty, making them very noble compared to Balinese and Sudanese, Daep shared.
"All the movements come from within. You really need to concentrate. You really cannot play while in class otherwise you’ll be left behind," he said, noting that their instructors are dancers of the palaces. He said the Javanese dancers don’t dance for their audience, because for them, dance is a form of self-meditation.
Called the Spirit of Java, the city of Solo teems with batik shops and century-old palaces, such as Mangkunegaran and Kasunanan, which remain as homes of Prince Mangkunegoro and King Paku Buwono, respectively. Kasunanan palace annually holds a traditional dance where seven virgin ladies dance for two hours straight before the royalties, he said.
LOVE YOUR OWN
Asked if they encountered difficulties in adapting to A foreign culture, Julius, Ferlan and Joy chorused that Filipinos could easily adapt to different cultures, citing our flexibility that enables us to move around the globe.
"We are being looked up to for our sensitivity and respect for others’ cultures," Joy said, adding that most of his fellow participants admire Filipino performers and President Arroyo. "Mas masarap pa ring maging Pinoy," the 20-year-lass from Banga, Aklan said.
Ferlan said the ceaseless support of their teachers and the DFA personnel made their stay easy, but was quick to admit that he had a difficulty adjusting to the taste of Indonesian food, which he said were very spicy and hot.
For his part, Julius said through the scholarship program, he found the greatest love of all — that is to really love yourself, love your own. He pointed out that the promotion of own culture started within ourselves.
After the program, three Filipino scholars are challenged "to bring the Philippines back to the map of the world as one of the countries with dynamic culture." Persistent to enliven the Philippine culture and arts, Julius planned to launch the first leg of his tourism project dubbed "Palawan: The Island of Philippine Arts and Culture" in July 2007.
"Five years from now, I want Palawan to be the mecca of Philippine arts and traditions, just like Bali, who has been Indonesia’s favorite tourist destination. I want this to become my life-long project because I want to revive the rich and vibrant Philippine culture," he said with much confidence and vision.
But, he admitted the project needs funding to be pushed through and support of the concerned authorities. "I don’t have the resources. I just have the zeal and knowledge to engage myself in this endeavor," he said.
"We need to give the future generations a sense of identity, a pride that they are Filipinos," Ferlan added, calling fellow youth to take lead role in promoting Filipino culture.
Julius, Ferlan, and Joy said there is so much hope for the Filipino culture to be redeemed by the youth, but they must be backed up by the elders, particularly the concerned authorities. With much faith in Filipino-Indonesian cultures, Julius, Ferlan, and Joy are now more than ready to build the Filipino-Indonesian channel.
Racists can be found in any ethnic group and it's because of ignorance. And you should stop generalizing. Opinions of a small number of Filipinos do not reflect the opinion of the whole population. And stop crying like there's no Indonesian on this planet who expressed racist attitude towards us or any other ethnic group. 
thanks
it got locked and deleted
sometimes I right it Philipines..