Maluku Artist Team rrives in Holland to Perform

Jakarta, Indonesia - A Maluku artist team, scheduled to perform at Indonesian Cultural Performance in the Netherlands on October 7, 2010, has arrived in the country.

Spokesperson of culture and art affairs at Maluku Culture and Tourism Office Ms An Likko said in the provincial city of Ambon on Wednesday that the departure of the artist team to the Netherlands was undeterred by the cancelation of President Yudhoyono`s trip to the country.

Moments before his departure to the Netherlands on Tuesday, the president said at Halim Perdanakusuma airport that he finally decided to cancel his three-day state visit.

The head of state and his entourage were scheduled to leave Jakarta by presidential aircraft Garuda Indonesia`s Airbus 330-200 on Tuesday at about 01:30 pm local time but the trip was finally canceled.

"After listening to President Yudhoyono`s statement on TV about the crenelation of his trip to the Netherlands, I immediately contacted the artist team coordinator Semmy Toisutta and he said the team was undeterred by the cancelation," Likko said.

She said the artist team from Maluku was scheduled to perform in the Netherlands to to grace a banquet to be hosted by Queen Beatrix for President Yudhoyono.

But the president has made up his mind to cancel the trip, although a spokesman of the Indonesian Embassy in The Hague, Firdaus Dahlan, said earlier that the Dutch government would fully ensure the security of President Yudhoyono during his visit.

The Dutch government`s assurance was issued following a threat from John Wattilette, the self-styled president of the separatist "Republic of South Maluku" (RMS) movement in exile.

Firdaus Dahlan said the Dutch government had reiterated it did not recognize the RMS.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, there are about 50,000 people of Maluku origin currently living in the Netherlands, some of whom have taken up Dutch citizenship.

The RMS movement began in 1950 when soldiers from South Maluku who were loyal to the Dutch staged a failed revolt in favor of an independent state after the Indonesian government reverted to the unitary republic from the system of federal states.

As many as 12,000 people were temporarily resettled in the Netherlands with the hope that they would one day return to South Maluku. This hope, however, never mateialized and in 1986, the Maluku community there was recognized by the Dutch government as a permanent element of Dutch society.

But Indonesian ambassador to the Netherlands JE Habibie had contacted political elites in the country to fully ensure security for President Yudhoyono.

In the meantime, a number of media publications reported that RMS elements in the Netherlands had asked for the arrest of President Yudhoyono during his state visit to the Netherlands on October 5-9, 2010.

The demand for the arrest of the Indonesian president was made by John Wattilette in a teletext statement to the Dutch broadcasting network Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) on Saturday.

That might be the reason why the president had to cancel his trip to the Netherlands but it did not deter the Maluku artist team from going to the country.

Likko said said the artist team from Maluku was scheduled to perform in the Netherlands to to grace a banquet to be hosted by Queen Beatrix for President Yudhoyono.

"The Maluku artist team with the similar teams from Aceh and East Nusa Tenggara provinces had undergone special training in Jakarta since September 30, 2010 to perform in the Netherlands," Likko said.

She added that the team of six has arrived in the Netherlands to perform Lenso, Terine Mamae, and Orlapeip dances to entertain Dutch people, especially of Maluku origin in the country.

In April this year the Indonesian Embassy in the Netherlands organized an Indonesia Fair which was also graced by an artist team from Maluku.

Chief of Maluku`s Cultural Park Semmy Toisutta said the artist team at the time was made up of a Hawaiian music band and a number of traditional dancers to highlight the Indonesia Fair early April this year.

He said the artist team at the time presented Maluku songs accompanied by Hawaiian music, and Maluku traditional dances, namely Tari Lenso, Pinemou, Pataheri, Sasi Laut, Kabaressy, Mahina Arika, and two other contemporary dances produced by the Maluku Cultural Park to accompany Banda Neira and Panggayo songs.

Besides highlighting the Indonesia Fair which lasted from April 1-5, 2010, the artist team from Maluku also performed in five major cities in the Netherlands. (T.O001/P003)

Source: http://www.antaranews.com
Photo: http://regional.kompas.com

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