26 January 2008

Funeral Rites in Tana Toraja

Next: Central SulawesiPrevious: Makassar


Sudah sering ditulis mengenai upacara pemakaman di Tana Toraja, Sulawesi Selatan, yang unik. Penulisnya sering orang lokal, orang Indonesia sendiri. Ini dia tulisan orang Barat:


http://www.adventure-travel-tales-and-tips.com/tana_toraja.html

Funeral Rites in Tana Toraja


More Adventure travel tales in Indonesia:
the Minangkabau
Ubud, Bali
Komodo Dragon Cruise
Flores Island
Lake Toba
Bukit Lawang
Southeast Asian Tales:
Angkor Wat temples
Sapa Valley Vietnam
Kuching
Luang Prabang in Laos

Funeral Procession in Tana Toraja
From Makassar we move on to Rantepao, in the mountains of Tana Toraja. This is the area of the Toraja people, known for their funeral rituals and typical houses. Although they are converted to Christianity, their traditional animist beliefs are still part of everyday life.

To Rantepao

The first part of bus drive to Rantepao is in flat terrain, along the coast heading north. The views are nice, with simple yet typical malay houses in the rice fields with mountains in the backdrop. After the harbor city of Pare Pare, we move up into the mountains. This means heavy winding roads, roaring engines going up, and squeaking breakes going down. Sabine takes a pill against car sickness, which makes her very sleepy. After a while the first Tongkonan houses appear, and at the end of the afternoon we arrive in Rantepao.
Tana Toraja LandscapeRantepao is a town grown out of proportions because of tourism. We decide to stay just outside the town, and are dropped off at Sella's homestay. We are hardly checked in when a lot of information is poured over us, from someone who appears to be a guide. He tells us we are lucky, there is a funeral tomorrow in a village nearby, and we can take a look there. Although we assume there is a funeral somewhere every day, we decide to book the trip with him.

Tongkonan houses

We agreed to meet our guide in the city, where we first stop at a supermarket to buy cigarettes and other gifts for the family we will visit. Then we take a bemo, which brings us as far as the paved road goes. After that, it's still a long walk to the village. Underway we admire the typical Tongkonan houses. They have a huge roof shaped like either buffalo horns or a boat, the experts aren't sure which they represent. We also see a few megaliths, large upright stones into which a face is cut. And all in a landscape of rice fields and mountains.
When we nearly arrive we pass a few men carrying pieces of meat in between them. According to our guide, they come from the funeral. Every guest gets some of the meat from the sacrificed and slaughtered buffaloes.

Funeral rites

Buffalo heads watch the slaughter of their bodiesA funeral in Tana Toraja takes several days, depending on the importance of the deceased. The first day(s) is for the killing of the buffaloes. The more important the deceased, the more buffaloes are killed. The next day(s), the guests arrive. They often bring along pigs, who are also slaughtered. The last day, finally, is the actual funeral. At the funeral we are visiting, the killing of the buffaloes is on the same day as the arrival of the guests. This is not because of the importance of the deceased (8 buffaloes are killed, so he was important), but because of the guests from Irian Jaya, who have to return after a few days.
We are welcomed by the family in one of the specially made bamboo huts. Outside, on the compound, we can see a dead buffalo, skinned but otherwise intact. While we are offered tea and biscuits, we hear a lot of chopping noises outside, and we wonder what is going on. But a little later, we can see for ourselves. On a bed of leaves the dead buffaloes are slaughtered and divided into huge piles of meat. The chest and other parts are chopped with an axe, which was the sound we heard. Five men are working on it all day, and the rest is watching.
Then we are taken to take a look in the open air kitchen. Here the women are busy preparing food and drinks for the guests. We also get some rice, pork and hot peppers to eat. Meanwhile children are running around, some of them with a buffalo hoof they obtained from the slaughtering men. As a new group of guests arrive, the women line up to deliver food and drinks to them.

Pigs

Pig slaughtered in Tana  TorajaThe new guests are received in a central bamboo hut. The pigs they brought are lying next to it. After a while, when they finished their drinks and meal, the people are moved to one of the other bamboo huts on the terrain. The pigs are then transported to a small field behind the huts. And we can take a look there to see how they are slaughtered as well, nice….
The pigs are killed by a stab in the heart with a dagger, while a man holds them with his foot. After a scream, the pig shudders for a moment until it passes out. Immediately, the animal is cut open to remove the stomach and guts. Then the hair is burned off above a fire. Finally, the pig is cut into pieces and divided.
After this ritual we head back to the bamboo hut of the family. We pass the compounds, where the buffalo heads are staring at us, the bodies get thinner and the piles of meat higher. Not a pleasant sight, so we go quickly back inside, where we are offered a drink and some food. The palm wine tastes bad, however, and we don't empty our glass. Later we learn from our guide that he needed to apologize for that.
On our walk back to the bemo, our guide leads us into the ricefields. Nice, but he doesn't know the route, and we end up in the mud. We use some bamboo sticks to prevent being sucked into it. But the views are great and it's nice to pass the harvesting people and the children playing in the water.

Kete Kesu

Kids playing foot volleyball in Kete KesuWhen we reach the paved road it doesn't take long before a bemo picks us up, in order to drop us off at the traditional village of Kete Kesu. Here are the Tongkonan houses nicely lined up in a row, and we are allowed to take a look inside one of the houses. Nobody lives in this one anymore, but we get an idea of the small interior. Opposite to the houses is a similar row of rice storage houses. They are built in the same style, but are smaller and have an extra platform between the ground and the storage. This is where the population meets to drink tea, play cards, and socialize.
Behind the village a path leads to the rock façade, where the graves are located. Climbing up, we see a large variety of graves. Complete houses, hanging graves, nicely decorated coffins, and decayed ones, full of bones and skulls. Halfway is a locked cave with Tau Tau. These are effigies diseased. Old dolls are rigid and simple, newer are created more to resemble the diseased. The cave is locked to prevent robbery.
Back at our homestay we decide to go into Rantepao for a meal. We are offered a ride by someone from the homestay. A special service, or does he get commission from the restaurant? Either way, we're fine with it. In the restaurant we meet Kris and Paulien again, who made a detour before they came to Rantepao. We chat and they decide to join us the next day to the actual funeral.

Back to the Funeral Rites

Funeral procession in a nice landscapeThe next morning, the bemo brings us all the way to the village. We are just in time to see the coffin being carried to the church, under loud cheering. The people are catholic, so a church ceremony is part of the rituals. We are offered tea and biscuits in the meantime. The bamboo huts are still there, but the guests and all the meat is gone. The 8 horns of the buffaloes are still lined up, and a proud men shows us which 3 he killed. After tea, we take a look at the church.
The church is small and packed. We stay outside and hear the singing through the open door. A girl is walking around the church with a incensory, and there are several people taking pictures. Taking pictures of the coffin is a sign that the deceased is still part of the community, so we are also encouraged to take pictures. After the mass there is a complete session in which different groups are photographed with the coffin.

Procession

And then the coffin is carried in a procession to the burial site. Again, there is loud cheering and the many carriers stop regularly to jump up and down with the coffin. The coffin is also pushed to all sides, under loud laughter and cheering. It is all meant to scare away the bad ghosts and spirits. Eventually the coffin is pushed and pulled into the verge and uphill through the bush to a rocky cliff. Suddenly, on an open space, the coffin is put on the ground and several women are diving on top of it crying load. Apparently, this is the last goodbye and it seems as if actresses are hired to change the joy into grief. One of the women even faints from the emotion.
Pushing the coffin in the rock graveWe follow the men to the rocky cliff. A long bamboo ladder is put against the rock façade and one of the graves cut into the rocks is made open. There is not much space down below, so we move as far to the side as we can, so we are in nobodies way. Kris is asked to climb the ladder and look into the grave. He reports that it's full of coffins already, and that there is not much room to add one.

Grave pushing

After a while the coffin arrives. With 3 men it is pulled up the ladder and pushed into the grave. Put that is not easy, one man climbs into the grave first to make room, while the others push. It takes half an hour before both man and coffin are in the grave. It is amazing to see how the man crawls through the coffins to get out of the grave, but when he is out, the grave can finally be closed.
When we descend, people are eating in the open space. Here, a pig was killed this morning and traditionally prepared in bamboo. It needs to be eaten on the spot, and cannot be brought back to the village. We are offered some, but kindly decline and say goodbye to return to Rantepao.

Tau Tau skybox

Our last day in Tana Toraja we take the bemo and a long walk to the village of Londa. Here are rock graves as well, guarded by a skybox of Tau Tau. We are allowed to take a look into the caves, where many coffins are piled up in every corner. There are also many skulls and skeletons. One of the skulls still has hair, which is a scary sight. But there is no stench, which we would expect.
Skybox full with Tau Tau dollsIn Tana Toraja there is a difference in the classes. As mentioned before, the size of the funeral depends on the importance of the deceased. But there is also a division into a lower, middle and noble classes. People from the lower class are put in the caves. The middle class people get separate places, often as a hanging grave. And the noble class people get a grave high in the rocks, which we can see from a viewpoint. And those noble class people are the only ones for which Tau Tau are made.
Londa is a village where a lot of Tau Tau dolls are made. There are some souvenir stalls here, where they are offered for sale. We look around, but are not keen to buy one. Instead, we buy a cup of tea which we drink together with the family.
Back in Rantepao we have lunch at a fancy restaurant along the river. We have a mighty view on a few buffaloes swimming and being washed in the river, and an eagle circling above. The food is a bit more expensive, but still cheap. And there are little or no other tourists here either.

Riots

In the evening we eat in town with Kris and Paulien. Around 10 PM suddenly the jeep of our homestay arrives to pick us up. It appears that there are some riots on the road to the homestay. When we pass, we see two groups of youngsters with rocks in their hands. It doesn't look like a serious fight, but still.
Tana Toraja left a huge impression on us. Despite advancing modernisation people hang on to their traditions here, especially the funeral rites. We were lucky especially to see the roch funeral, although we think all guides tell their clients they were lucky to attend a funeral. Yet, we hear from some others that they needed to wait half a week for a ceremony. Anyway, the funeral rites at Tana Toraja were an amazing experience.

Return from Tana Toraja to Southeast Asia
Return from Tana Toraja to Adventure Travel Tales and Tips


Favorite site: www.tribun-timur.com


www.tribun-timur.com
Harian Tribun Timur, Makassar (Sulawesi Selatan, Indonesia)


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Makassar di Adventure Travel Tales and Tips


Ini tentang perjalanan turis. Dia naik kapal Pelni dari Maumere terus singgah di Makassar.
Di Maumere, ia mendapat kesan yang buruk tentang Pelni soal jadwalnya yang tidak pasti. Kemudian ia naik kapal dan ia bercerita:
"
After hearing some more rumours about another 10 hour delay, we decide to leave for the harbor on the 24th. We are prepared for the worst, but are relieved to see the Awu arrive on time. On the boat, our tickets are quickly upgraded, so after a while we sit in a private cabin, together with Kris and Paulien. It even has a toilet and shower with warm water!! It's a luxury we didn't have in a long time."

Di Makassar, si turis keliling kota, mencari makan dan melihat Benteng Rotterdam.


http://www.adventure-travel-tales-and-tips.com/makassar.html.


Makassar once was the main harbor and trade center in pre-colonial Indonesia. Currently, it is a big, but pleasant city, with Fort Rotterdam as its main attraction.
From Flores we take the boat to Sulawesi, one of the larger islands of Indonesia. We think we are heading for Ujung Pandang, but the Pelni schedules refers to the harbor city as Makassar, its old name. Later, we learn that the city has actually been renamed again, so the Pelni schedule is right.

Pelni trouble

Getting a ticket for the Pelni ship wasn't easy this time. In Maumere we try to figure out when the boat will leave. The Pelni schedule, hard to find and difficult to decipher, mentions a different time than local people are telling us. Even the date isn't clear, since 1 AM in the night of May 23rd , might also mean May 24th. Despite different people offering their help, we get no clear answer.
Since we do not wish to stay the few days before departure in Maumere, we want to buy a ticket directly. But that is not possible. And then Hans arrives, a friendly local, who wants to help and offers to buy the tickets for us, once that is possible. We can leave for the beach in Waiterang, although Hans is still confusing us with times, day and date of departure.
In Waiterang we learn from other tourists that the ship is delayed for a day. Hans also sends this message to us. But to be sure, we go to Maumere on May 23rd to check for ourselves. It appears that Hans hasn't bought our tickets, since it is only possible to get Ekonomi. We will have to try to change them into 2nd class on board.

Luxury on the boat

Leaving the harbor of Maumere, heading for MakassarAfter hearing some more rumours about another 10 hour delay, we decide to leave for the harbor on the 24th. We are prepared for the worst, but are relieved to see the Awu arrive on time. On the boat, our tickets are quickly upgraded, so after a while we sit in a private cabin, together with Kris and Paulien. It even has a toilet and shower with warm water!! It's a luxury we didn't have in a long time.
The trip to Sulawesi goes smooth. We sleep well during the night, and there are enough places to sit on deck during the day. At 1 PM the harbor is in sight, and a little later we squeeze ourselves off the ship. The heat overwhelms us directly so we look for a bemo to bring us to a hotel. After a short ride we arrive at the Legend, the backpacker hostel of Makassar.
The Legend has rooms with thin walls, no windows, and communal showers and toilets. But the friendly staff and other guests, both with good information about what to do in Sulawesi, make up for that. We meet a German guy who is travelling for 7 years, and a Dutchmen who is doing the opposite route from what we are doing. So there is a lot of information to be exchanged here.

Big City

Then we head for the city to explore. Makassar is a big city, with the facilities we had to live without for quite some time. First we find an Internet café, so we can inform people at home where we are. Next stop is the bank, for some cash. And finally the supermarket, although that has not much more on offer, compared to the little shops elsewhere in Indonesia.
In the evening we search for a restaurant. The foodstalls at the boulevard we read about, are gone, and there are a few expensive restaurants. But we find a small one, where the menu is limited, and the beer needs to be cooled with ice (a trick we learned: pour some beer over the ice, and drink immediately, so it doesn't get diluted. Also make sure the ice is made from boiled water). The food is a lot better than at the KFCs and McDonalds Makassar also has to offer.
After dinner we walk on the boulevard. We get a lot of attention, but everybody is friendly. On the street, boys are showing some bike acrobatics and we watch it, together with the locals.

Fort Rotterdam

Compounds of Fort Rotterdam seen from the wallWe will not stay long in Makassar, but we have to pay a visit to Fort Rotterdam. It is a large walled terrain with monumental buildings from the Dutch era. Today is Sunday and the place is visited by a lot of locals as well. And everybody wants to talk with us. We are even invited to answer some questions for a class that is practising English. All very nice, but a little tiring after a while. So we decide not to visit the museum, which we heard is nothing much anyway. Instead, we walk on the old wall until we reach the exit.
The rest of the afternoon we spend in the Internet Café to send our stories and digital pictures home. The speed of the connection is great, better than anywhere else in Southeast Asia. Makassar is just a big city, with little places of interest, apart from Fort Rotterdam. But it is a pleasant city because of the nice people and western facilities available.

Return from Makassar to Southeast Asia
Return from Makassar to Adventure Travel Tales and Tips

www.tribun-timur.com
Harian Tribun Timur, Makassar (Sulawesi Selatan, Indonesia)


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Tahun Depan Makassar Jadi Kota Internet; Losari Cyber Beach Diluncurkan

http://www.tribun-timur.com/view.php?id=45009


Senin, 28-05-2007
Satu BTS Cover 50 Km Area Internet Nirkabel
Tahun Depan Makassar Jadi Kota Internet; Losari Cyber Beach Diluncurkan

Makassar, Tribun -- Seluruh Kota Makassar akan menjadi area hotspot (akses
internet nirkabel). Seluruh pelayanan pemerintah juga akan dilaksanakan secara
online. Wali Kota Makassar, Ilham Arief Sirajuddin, mentargetkan mulai tahun
depan Makassar menjadi kota cyber.
Hal ini diungkapkan Ilham dalam konferensi pers peresmian Losari Cyber Beach di
Hotel Quality, Makassar, Minggu (27/5). "Mudah-mudahan rencana Makassar Cyber
City sudah dapat dilaksanakan tahun 2008 mendatang. Kami juga mengharapkan
dukungan berbagai pihak," katanya.


www.tribun-timur.com
Harian Tribun Timur, Makassar (Sulawesi Selatan, Indonesia)


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25 January 2008

Artikel tentang Citizen Reporter Tribun Timur di Ohmynews

http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=271508&rel_no=1&back_url=

Ini tulisan Lily Yulianti, alumnus Universitas Hasanuddin (Unhas), mantan wartawan Kompas, yang kini menetap di Tokya, Jepang, setelah menempuh pendidikan di Australia.

How Citizen Reporters Work
An experience from special coverage of Hajj Pilgrimage

Lily Yulianti (myfawwaz)     Email Article  Print Article 


Published 2006-01-28 16:48 (KST)   


Tribun Timur is a local newspaper in Makassar, the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi, which benefits from citizen journalists. It was first published two years ago and has become one of the leading newspapers in Makassar, with a distribution of 50,000 copies and about 120,000 readers.

In a talk with Tribun Timur Editor-in-Chief Dahlan, he explained that, as a new newspaper, his company has a limited budget for sending reporters overseas, although there are always newsworthy events, such as the pilgrimage to Mecca. In Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country in the world, the media have always had special coverage of the Hajj and the pilgrimage process. The mainstream media usually send reporters to Mecca and for special coverage of the events during the Hajj season.

"We practically do not have a special budget to send our reporters to Mecca, which is why we are trying to maintain cooperation with people who are going to Mecca, asking them to send reports to us. We started this kind of cooperation last year, and we have gained so much popularity among our readers, because the stories are unique and original. Thanks to the idea of citizen journalists, and we might say that our newspaper benefits from this model," explained Dahlan.

The Hajj is a holy procession for Muslims, and each year more than 200,000 Indonesian Muslims travel to Mecca to fulfill this religious call, as one of the pillars of Islam.

In the 2005 season Tribun Timur received daily reports from two pilgrims, and editors in Makassar rewrote the stories before publishing them. The stories varied from the circumstances of the pilgrims, weather conditions, lack of coordination between Saudi authorities and Indonesian Hajj officials, to the food shortages experienced by some pilgrims.

The citizen reporters in Mecca send summaries of the stories via SMS (short message service), and the newspaper in Makassar makes international phone calls for further information. "Before we make international calls, we explain to the citizen reporters that an international roaming fee might be applied and that, unfortunately, we cannot cover the cost," said Dahlan.

Based on the experience from the previous Hajj season, this year Tribun Timur feels more confident asking six citizen reporters for special coverage, one of the reporters being the mayor of Makassar, Ilham Arif Sirajuddin, who will lead the pilgrims from Makassar.

"Again, we experienced cooperation, as we received comments and letters from our readers saying that they are glad to see someone they know (the citizen reporters' families, friends and relatives), who are providing first-hand stories from Mecca," stated Dahlan.

When at least 345 pilgrims died in a stampede during a stone-throwing ritual this Jan. 12, Tribun Timur received various first-hand stories from its citizen reporters, enabling it to provide comprehensive coverage.

"I don't think we could have such a rich coverage without the citizen reporters in Mecca. I am happy that we implemented this kind of journalism a year ago, so our international news is not merely dependent on global news agencies. We would not complain against the limited budget, but are trying to improve our relationship with the citizen reporters."

Last December Tribun Timur also received extensive first-hand reports about anti-WTO demonstrations in Hong Kong, sent by an Indonesian woman activist who joined the protests and discussions.


tribun timur: www.tribun-timur.com
©2006 OhmyNews



www.tribun-timur.com
Harian Tribun Timur, Makassar (Sulawesi Selatan, Indonesia)


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www.tribun-timur.com
Harian Tribun Timur, Makassar (Sulawesi Selatan, Indonesia)


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