‘Imlek’ holiday ‘Cap Go Meh’ parade ends Chinese new year festivities

(News Terupdate) - About 4,000 participants took part at the annual Cap Go Meh parade to end festivities welcoming the year of the tiger in Chinatown, Kota, West Jakarta, on Sunday.

The event included toapekong (gods and goddess miniature statues), artists performing liong (dragon dance) and barongsai (lion dance).


A taste of local culture was presented through ondel-ondel (giant Betawi puppet performan-ce) and tanjidor (Betawi music orchestra).

Residents arrived at Dharma Jaya Toasebio temple in Glodok before the parade kicked off.

They stood alongside the streets where the convoy traveled down Jl. Toko Tiga, Jl. Kunir,
Jl. Gadjah Mada and Jl. Pancoran.

Sisi Natallia, a resident from nearby Jembatan Dua, said she loved watching the event although she said the event was overcrowded.

Febrina Miosi, from Kalideres, bordering Tangerang, said she came with her family as they wanted to learn more about Chinese culture.

“This is a rare occasion for us,” Febrina said.

“We came here for the long weekend.”

She added she was a surprised that residents were hesitant to touch the toapekong and give ang pao (red envelopes containing money) when they had the opportunity.

On the sidelines, Buddhist monk Rungdet from Thailand said, “It is believed that when you touch the toapekong you have touched the [real] gods or goddess. One asks for the gods or the goddess’ blessing for wealth and health.”


Giving ang pao, he said, expressed one’s gratitude to touch the toapekong.


Teisal Winata, parade performer, said he and his friends from Senen of Central Jakarta had been rehearsing two dragon dances since January for the show.


“We wanted to participate at the event,” Teisal said.


The event’s spokesman, Suryadi, said that security and traffic issues needed more attention at further celebrations, following traffic congestion on some parade routes, including an intersection between Kota station and Transjakarta busway shelter.


“The policemen did their best but the public packed the roads beyond control,” Suryadi said,
He added that the Taman Sari sub-precinct police office had deployed 228 personnel to guard the occasion.


Youanto Kenchana Jaya, who heads the event organization, said that the convoy was deployed to secure residents from potential safety problems.

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