The First Time Chinese New Year Becomes A National Holiday In History January 24, 2001

JAKARTA - On January 24, 2001, for the first time the Chinese New Year became a holiday in Indonesia. This is based on two Decrees of the Minister of Religion, each No. 13 of 2001 concerning Chinese New Year as a Facultative Holiday and No. 14 of 2001 concerning the 2001 Lunar New Year Facultative Holiday.

Making Chinese New Year a holiday cannot be separated from the role of the Fourth President of the Republic of Indonesia, Abdurrahman Wahid or Gus Dur. Gus Dur revoked Presidential Instruction No. 14 of 1967 by issuing Presidential Decree No. 6 of 2000 concerning the revocation of Presidential Instruction No. 14 of 1967.

Presidential Instruction No. 14 of 1967 states that Chinese worship practices which have aspects of cultural affinity centered on their ancestral country must be carried out internally in family or individual relationships. This means that Chinese New Year celebrations in Indonesia cannot be celebrated openly.

For more than 30 years, from 1968 to 1999, the New Order government banned Chinese New Year celebrations in public places in Indonesia. Citing a VOI article entitled "Chinese New Year in Indonesia: Suharto Forbids, Permitted by Gus Dur," all celebrations of ethnic Chinese religious traditions, including Chinese New Year, Capgomeh, Pehcun, and so on, are prohibited from being celebrated openly.

Likewise, the lion dance and lang-liong dances, which are prohibited from being performed. Even the prohibition also concerns the use of Chinese characters, so Chinese songs also disappear from radio broadcasts.

“Chinese language, characters, arts, clothing are prohibited or at least not allowed. Although there are exceptions that are not prohibited, such as food, stories, and Chinese silat films. During the New Order era, the celebration of the Chinese New Year was practically prohibited or at least not justified, although it was still secretly celebrated internally among citizens of Chinese descent," wrote Jaya Suprana in Bercak-Bercak Harapan (Blots of Hope) (2018).

With the policies made by the New Order, the Chinese group had to follow a comprehensive assimilation policy. President Suharto himself stated that Indonesian citizens of Chinese descent must immediately integrate and assimilate into Indonesian society.

But unfortunately, Suharto's assimilation is more about sorting. Instead of uniting ethnic Chinese and Indonesians, the policy actually separated groups into various communities.

Revoked by Gus Dur

By issuing Presidential Decree No. 6 of 2000 concerning the revocation of Presidential Instruction No. 14 of 1967, it was as if the Chinese had a new beginning in Indonesia. The Chinese community in Indonesia finally got the freedom to adhere to their religion, beliefs, and customs. That is, they can perform religious ceremonies to welcome Chinese New Year openly.

"They are Indonesians. They cannot be isolated, they are only given one place. If someone criticizes them for not being active in society, it is because they are not given the opportunity," said Gus Dur.

Quoting Tempo, Gus Dur followed up on his decision by establishing Imlek as a facultative holiday, valid for those who celebrate it. This is based on Decree No. 13 of 2001 concerning the stipulation of Chinese New Year as a Facultative National Holiday. On April 9, 2001, Presidential Decree No. 9/2001 was issued, which marked Gus Dur's inauguration of Chinese New Year as a facultative holiday.

Chinese New Year was finally designated as a national holiday by the Fifth President of the Republic of Indonesia Megawati Soekarnoputri. Megawati Soekarnoputri issued Presidential Decree No. 19/2002 which stipulates Chinese New Year as a national holiday.

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