Indonesian Pride

I woke up late this morning, I had a really unfriendly week (really 2 hours to go to the office is just too much lol). so I rush to take a shower and realized that today is Batik's day, since I'm too lazy to explain I'll give a piece of article on Batik and Batik Day

Batik

"Batik (Javanese pronunciation: [ˈbateʔ]; Indonesian pronunciation: [ˈbaːtik]; English: /ˈbætɪk/ or /bəˈtiːk/) is cloth which traditionally uses a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. Due to modern advances in the textile industry, the term has been extended to include fabrics which incorporate traditional batik patterns even if they are not produced using the wax-resist dyeing techniques. Silk batik is especially popular.[citation needed]
Javanese traditional batik, especially from Yogyakarta and Surakarta, has special meanings rooted to the Javanese conceptualization of the universe. Traditional colours include indigo, dark brown, and white which represent the three major Hindu Gods (Brahmā, Visnu, and Śiva). This is related to the fact that natural dyes are only available in indigo and brown. Certain patterns can only be worn by nobility; traditionally, wider stripes or wavy lines of greater width indicated higher rank. Consequently, during Javanese ceremonies, one could determine the royal lineage of a person by the cloth he or she was wearing.
Other regions of Indonesia have their own unique patterns which normally take themes from everyday lives, incorporating patterns such as flowers, nature, animals, folklore or people. The colours of pesisir batik, from the coastal cities of northern Java, is especially vibrant, and it absorbs influence from the Javanese, Arab, Chinese and Dutch culture. In the colonial times pesisir batik was a favorite of the Peranakan Chinese, Dutch and Eurasians."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batik

"The word batik is thought to be derived from the word 'ambatik' which translated means 'a cloth with little dots'. The suffix 'tik' means little dot, drop, point or to make dots. Batik may also originate from the Javanese word 'tritik' which describes a resist process for dying where the patterns are reserved on the textiles by tying and sewing areas prior to dying, similar to tie dye techniques. Another Javanese phase for the mystical experience of making batik is “mbatik manah” which means “drawing a batik design on the heart”.

http://www.expat.or.id/info/batik.html

Batik Day

"Indonesians have been asked to wear batik on Oct. 2, following UNESCO’s decision to add the traditional dyeing technique to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
The listing, which will give the age-old batik tradition some degree of protection under the UNESCO charter, will be made official at an event in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, between Sep. 28 and Oct. 2.
To acknowledge the listing, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked all Indonesians to wear batik.
“Batik is regarded as a cultural icon with its own uniqueness. It contains symbols and a deep philosophy of the human life cycle — and it was submitted by Indonesia as a non-material element of cultural heritage,” Coordinating Minister for the People’s Welfare Aburizal Bakrie told a press conference at Bogor Presidential Palace on Monday."

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/09/08/batik-selected-unesco-cultural-heritage-list.html

yeah well that's the reason LOL (laziness is a disease I guess), so I run trough my closet looking for batik, fortunately I got two (you could never go wrong with batik, so having at least one is obligatory). So I went out to go to the office and was astounded by the sea of Batik outside. I guess all Indonesian takes the event seriously by heart, I've never see so many models, colors and design of Batik. It was really astounding and heartwarming to see all those people from different background wears batik proudly. Years ago you could only see people wears batik on special occasions like weddings, formal ceremonies etc. I mean some school wears batik as their Friday uniform and also government officials, but that's not a choice, just obligation if you know what I mean.

The booming of batik I guess started when there is another country that tries to claim batik as theirs, this matter really upsets Indonesian, there are a lot of arguments, bad mouthing (normal decent thing to do when you're quarrellings between neighbors I guess hahaha) etc. After that I guess people realize if they want to keep the tradition alive, the have to utilize it to the max. So people start to make more modern design of Batik, with colors and cuts. The effect was amazing, Batik is no longer becomes a tradition, it's a lifestyle for the young and hip, it's no longer a formal wear, it's is now a casual dress code. And I personally support this noble cause.

So as i enjoy my trip to the office through the pollution, traffic jam, cramped-hot-slow public transportation and occasionally some swearing between the road user. I start to count the number of people wearing batik, ah the pleasure of doing useless thing before work. there should be at least 1000 people using Batik today, and as Indonesian, I felt proud to be one, and I'm going to wear my Batik proudly.