---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Victor Yue <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 23:20:07 +0800 Subject: [taoism-singapore] Singkawang Capgomeh: Day 3: 20 Feb 2008 - Part 3 To: G-taoism-singapore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, taoism-singapore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Day 3: 20 Feb 2008 - Part 3 Singkawang Preparations for Cap Go Meh Back to Fa Lei Tan, we arrived just in time to see the Tatung (medium) already in a daze. We missed the very beginning. He was sitting by the altar table. We got out cameras ready. As he got deeper in trance, he started addressing the Deities on the altar in a very highly polished Mandarin. It was like watching an opera watching him speaking and giving respects to all the Deities. It was not unlike those mediums in Singapore. But it was the first time I saw and hear such highly polished and very clear Mandarin. With a very short time, he was already out of the house, climbed onto the bladed sedan chair (maybe the sedan chairs here are unique to Singkawang or Kalimantan?) and was carried away to visit the temple down town. Within a short space of time, the place was quiet and the house almost deserted. We were left wondering what do to. Chase after the procession or hop into our van and follow. We decided to take a short ride into town where the main Tua Pek Kong temple was. Here was where the action was. There were many temple processions coming to pay their respect to the Deities in this temple. It was just, just, culture shock for us.There were people everywhere. And processions complete with drums and gongs and sedan chairs with the tatungs on them coming in from all directions. One just had to be able to stand and sway with the crowd as each group blew their whistles and moved towards the temple. There were just as many curious onlookers as there were participants. Each group must be at least 50 strong. Some came ontop of big trucks and quickly assembled to walk the short distance to the temple. Others probably assembled a little further away. Apparently, where to stop and which direction to take were all based on the instructions of the tatung. There were old tatungs and there were young tatungs. There was this boy who was barely 9(?). But all the same, they were revered. The challenge to us was to identify the deity they represent. For some we could identify by the name on the flags, some by their robes and many we could not. There was this one who suddenly thrusted himself in front of me and hissing. I had to jump back two steps, suddenly realising that I was blocking the way for him to pay respect to the Deity housed in the little shrine outside the temple. He had to seek approval If you peer closely at the fan he was holding, there is this interesting bronze cockle shells tied in a string which he used. It is like a sheng bei (divining blocks) TV cameras were also zooming on each procession as they snaked through the crowd towards the temple. I can only visualise the movements like the water monitor lizards swimming in a pool of water hyacinths. (^^) The crowd just moved out to let the contingent in and as soon as they passed, the came back to cover the trail left by the contingent. And when the tatungs were gone, for a moment, the TV cameraman and his anchor man zoomed into the only angmoh (caucasian) in the sea of black heads - Ronni. Soon, he became the centre of attention as he was interviewed. Our poor hosts - Rudi, William and Eugenia - had a hard time trying to locate us. Just as soon as we found one back, another would be gone, after another tatung. And we forgot about our tummies. So, it was not until about 4pm that we were all herded to this nearby Bakso Restaurant. Leave it to the Chinese. Makan (eating) must be good too. And so, they got us to this shiok (wonderful) bakso noodle shop. Here we sat to rest and quench our thirst. But it did not prevent someone running out to the street just as one interesting contingent walked past. Hendy joined us at this stage. We had an appointment already made for us. Yes, we were to pay a courtesy call to the Mayor's official residence where Margaret would get the opportunity to interview the Mayor, Mr. Hasan Karman. The Mayor was a busy man on this day. He had so many press people waiting to interview him. We had to queue, as there was an interview apparently being made across the vast span of Indonesia. A huge satellite dish was set up to facilitate the live connection to the studio back, probably in Jakarta. Still, he paused his interview to welcome us before going back to his important interview. It was a great honour to us to be granted an audience with the Mayor, the first Chinese Indonesian Mayor. And a group picture must be taken to commemorate this visit. The boss of Hotel Restu, Mr. Hidayat, who helped us in solving our tight situation with the rooms, was also there and he captured our presence there with his professional video camera. After Margaret has interviewed the Mayor, it was the time for one of the pressman to interview her. (^^) It was past 6pm when we took our leave. And the Mayor had yet another interview. We went off, only to get another surprise. The great hospitality never stops! To be contd. Victor Singapore -- Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com *** Imposible Is Nothing ***
