Thoughts: Where Migrants Come From
Now here’s a thought. Singapore is a nation of migrants. No, I’m not talking about the recent influx of foreigners. Rather, I’m talking about our forefathers, those immigrants from the Malay archipelago, China, the Indian subcontinent and various settlements around the region. They came decades ago, to Singapore looking for better opportunities, settling here and setting the stage for modern Singapore.
And so, as I was looking for new destinations to explore, I thought to myself, how cool would it be if we were to visit the place of birth of our forefathers. For me, that would be Ponorogo, a city somewhere in East Java, Indonesia. That’s on my dad’s side, we are of Javanese descent. On my mum’s side it’s not so clear, she’s Chinese by birth but we’ve no idea exactly where the migration trail started and passed through before ending up in Singapore. So let’s talk about Ponorogo.
Reachable from Surabaya after a 5 hour bus ride, the town is completely off the tourist trail. A quick google turned up some interesting findings. Ponorogo is known for it’s delicacy, sate ponorogo –> I make a quick note to taste the satay there and compare it to my dad’s version. Ponorogo is also well-known as the site of an annual festival, the Grebeg Suro. This is a week long cultural festival where the locals will celebrate by performing the Reog, a dance which pits the hero against a lion-like creature – the singa barong. Apparently there is a lot of mystical symbolism in the dance, a legacy of the Majapahit empire.
Reog Ponorogo
Back in 2007, there was apparently an uproar when a reog dance was published in a Malaysia tourism pamphlet. The Indonesians protested saying that the dance was an art form that originated from Java.
Very interesting. I resolved to pay a visit, possibly in early 2012. The last festival was back in November 2011, but there are monthly reog performances during the full moon in the Ponorogo town square, so that would be a highlight.
How about you? Have you thought about going back to the hometowns and villages of your forefathers? Or perhaps you even have relatives you know there? Maybe you can even tell me more about the Grebeg Suro? Discuss.
