Indonesia tradition and culture

Participants of the Solo Batik Carnival, who previously received a round of applause from the local audience, was delegated as the ambassadors of Indonesian art to perform at Chingay Parade in Singapore, February 19-20, 2010. The parade was participated by Singapore and 50 other countries. Indonesia sent 150 participants, all of whom donned Batik with the touch of contemporary arts. A hundred of them were invited by the committee, while the rest were Indonesian students who are currently studying in the Lion City. In the meantime, Malaysia, China, and Japan sent around 20 participants.


This Chingay Parade is held in Singapore every year and the inception of it goes back from the idea of strolling along while playing with fireworks. It then evolved into the Parade as it is today.

For Indonesia, the event was a perfect way to promote tourism in Solo and its surrounding areas to Singaporeans considering that Singapore is one the main tourist destinations of tourists from the whole world. For the record, the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia in the previous years was approximately 6 million tourists, of which 1.5 million of them are from Singapore. That is why, Indonesia’s participation at Chingay Parade was seen as a golden opportunity to attract foreign tourists to visit Indonesia in general and Solo in particular.

Singaporean tourists are known to be keen on classic but modern things and still retain their originality and authenticity. For that matter, Batik is a good choice for them.

Purnomo Subagyo, Head of Solo Cultural and Tourism Agency, said that aside from sending the ambassadors, his administration would also send some representatives from tourism business sector to promote tourism of Solo. “We have done a number of preparations for the promotion, including that regarding the “Kereta Api Uap Sepur Klutuk Jaladara” (Sepur Klutuk Jaladara Steam Train) trip package, which is now one of the most famous attractions in Solo. (MEP)

Source:
http://oase.kompas.com/read/xml/2009/12/03/12163376batik.carnival.solo.wakili.indonesia.ke.singapura