As the New year approaches, Dewi Kurniawati reports on how the Chinese are gaining new respect in Indonesia.

Jakarta - It was late in Indonesia's capital old town area when 25 youths were sweating, laughing and shouting to each other under the dark open sky, while practicing their dancing and jumping moves to the sound of a Chinese drum and cymbals.

One of them was Syafri Sanusi, a 10-year-old boy who takes part as the head of the Barongsai, which means "to dance like a lion."

The traditional Chinese dance consists of two people in lion-like costumes performing moves based on wushu, a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts.

"I become the head of the lion, because I am small," Syafri said, to laughter from his friends in the dance group. "But that's okay, I like performing the lion dance very much."

Syafri is a pribumi (indigenous Indonesian) and a Muslim who joined Kong Ha Hong, a popular lion dance group based in Jakarta, two years ago. Some might think it odd for a non-Chinese to perform a traditional rite of Chinese culture.

"Not any more!" said Ronald Sjarif, the caretaker and owner of the dance group, who was also a dancer. "Today, Barongsai has successfully glued many differences of our nation. It is absolutely a natural way to mix Indonesians."

Indonesia comprises more than 300 native ethnic groups that speak more than 800 dialects and worship several religions. The country's national ideology, "Pancasila," promotes unity through diversity.

But it was only a decade ago that the predominantly Muslim nation practiced official discrimination against ethnic Chinese, who are mainly Christian and are perceived as controlling the country's economy.

Following a failed coup by the Indonesian Communist Party in 1965, late dictator Suharto banned Chinese-language books and newspapers, Chinese names and symbols, and outlawed public celebrations of Chinese holidays.

"At that time, nobody dared to even think of performing the lion dance. We were really scared," said Sjarif, who has performed with his troupe in front of three Indonesian presidents since the fall of Suharto.

Indonesian Chinese finally won their rights after a pro-democracy movement in 1998 ousted Suharto and swept Abdurrahman Wahid into office the following year.

"I still recall the time of transition, when it was in 1999, we still needed permission from the police to perform the lion dance in public," said Andri Wijaya, 24, a member of the group.

"It has been better in the years after that," he said. "Now as you can see, my friends in this group vary - many of them are Muslims or non-Chinese. The lion dance is a universal language; I am proud of that."

Wahid lifted the bans and finally in 2000 the Chinese New Year celebrations were held in the Glodok Chinatown area in Jakarta for the first time in decades.

Indonesia's ethnic Chinese population is less than 10 per cent of the country's 230 million people, yet they exercise major influence in local economies across the nation and are perceived to enjoy preferential treatment by the government.

Nagging misunderstandings and prejudice have led to periodic riots and rampages against the Indonesian-Chinese community, very often instigated by political or military elements.

The animosity hit its worst point in May 1998, when pro-democracy demonstrations brought on by unemployment and high prices for rice and fuel suddenly began targeting ethnic Chinese in Jakarta.

Dozens of Chinese women were believed to have been raped, tortured and murdered, while scores of buildings, markets and shopping centers were razed.

"We have definitely moved on and put that behind us," Ronald Sjarif said. "It is almost irrelevant to talk about discrimination nowadays," he said.

Sjarif's troupe were rehearsing their performance for the Lunar New Year celebrated by Chinese. The dancers practiced their kicks and jumps on 3-metre poles, together carrying the lion costume.

"The lion dance is not just fun, but also healthy. Although you have to remain disciplined," said Juliana Atmiwijaya, one of the girls in the group who is half-pribumi and half-Chinese. "Plus you make friends too."

"We will perform for the public in a mall in south Jakarta for 17 days," Ronald Sjarif said, noting that the group is fully booked for the whole month. "This would never have happened in the Suharto era, may his soul rest in peace," he said.

The Kong Ha Hong lion dance group was re-established in August 17, 1999 after three decades in limbo. They have entered several times in world championship tournaments and last year placed 5th in the world.

"I am hoping and praying that there will never, ever be any restrictions again on performing the lion dance," Andri Wijaya said firmly. "This should continue to future Indonesian generations."

dpa