Indonesian diaspora in US holds virtual 'kebaya' competition in COVID-19 quarantine
04 April, 2020
Countries all around the globe have told their citizens to stay at home in order to curb the COVID-19 outbreak, forcing people stuck in their homes for weeks to handle boredom and having no idea how exactly to spend their leisure time.
However, this is simply not a concern for members of the Indonesian diaspora residing in the United States, who've been holding virtual activities to kill enough time, including an online kebaya (traditional blouse) competition through video conference.
Members of Amerika Bersatu (America Unites), a sociopolitical civil group primarily intended to gather supporters of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo through the 2019 election campaign, used online video conference platform Zoom to hold the competition in an effort to showcase their nationalism.
Their signature event was called Selasa Berkebaya (Tuesday with Kebaya).
Amerika Bersatu founder Tricia Sumarijanto, also the initiator of Selasa Berkebaya, said the initiative came up as a way to maintain relationships and offer moral support for Indonesians living over the US through the pandemic.
“With a lot of bad news all around, you want to spread optimism and positivity,” said Tricia who lives in Washington DC and teaches angklung in US schools.
The online kebaya competition happened on Tuesday, attended by 25 participants from 11 cities across the US, including Washington DC, NEVADA, New York, Seattle and San Francisco.
Dyan Wibowo from Leesburg, Virginia, won the title of Best Kebaya wearing a costume called Wong Ndeso (villager).
“Many people are facing the crisis in their own way. I really believe this event can have a positive impact,” said Sinta Penyami who lives in Philadelphia and hosted the event.
Apart from the competition, the diaspora in addition has held alternative activities, including physical exercises such as gymnastics and yoga. Luthfi Madjid, a yoga instructor from NY, said meditation was among the keys to a soothing mindset amid the crisis.
“For the time being, let’s boost our optimism that [crisis] will end soon.”
The latest data published by the General Elections Commission (KPU) from Indonesian missions in america record more than 117,000 Indonesians living across the country.
Together with an incredible number of other Americans, they have been practicing self-isolation for two weeks to curb the transmission of COVID-19, which includes spread to virtually all states. The US happens to be topping the chart with the best number of COVID-19 cases in the world, taking over Italy and the virus ground-zero China.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com
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