A six-year-old boy stands on a partition trying to get a clear view of the performance of a c performed by women dancers at Pluit Mega mall, North Jakarta.
""Mom, where's the barongsai?,"" Jason, the Chinese-Indonesian boy asked his mother last Saturday.
Jason, a residence of Lippo Karawaci, Tangerang, Banten, was eagerly waiting for the barongsai show to start.
Jason's mother said she often takes her son to see barongsai performances at various malls in Jakarta, especially during the Chinese New Year season.
""My son loves to see the barongsai or the lion. For us this kind of public event is really great,"" she said.
Up until the resignation of former president Soeharto in May 1998, the public display of Chinese culture was prohibited.
China had been accused of supporting the abortive coup d'etat blamed on the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in 1965.
While Chinese cultural shows began to be seen in public in 1998, the Chinese New Year was not celebrated in the country until 2003, when then President Megawati Soekarnoputri declared it a national holiday.
Around 3 percent of the country's 215 million people are of Chinese descent.
Jason and his mother were two of over 25,000 visitors waiting in anticipation to see the barongsai performance led by Wom Pak of the Kong Hang Hong Foundation in a live show at Pluit Mega mall last Saturday.
The barongsai performance was just part of several events held at the mall themed ""Chicken in Red"" running from Jan. 13 to Feb. 14 to welcome the Year of the Rooster.
According to Elsa Laela Dewi, Mega mall's media relations officer, visitors looked forward to the barongsai more than other performances.
""That's why we saved it for the last show,"" Elsa said.
Besides the barongsai, visitors were stunned by a Mongolian dance performed by a 60-year-old woman who has gone international for her talent and skill in performing traditional Chinese and Indonesian dances.
The young-looking Tjhie Zien Ing has been recognized for her dedication to the preservation of Chinese arts and culture in Jakarta and throughout Indonesia.
""Arts and culture are universal languages. Every country in the world has its own uniqueness and variations. We have to continue developing the arts and culture in order to create peace and to fight cruelty in this country,"" said Tjhie Zien Ing, who said that she began to dance freely after the demise of the Soeharto regime in 1998
