New Year Festivity

In this article, I would like to share some cultural activity in our village. So let us go back a few months, when it was still early January, when we could find New Year festivity every day in the first week. It is a kind of festivity where most residents of both Sawinggrai and Kapsawar Villages are gathered and march together to visit every house accompanied with several teenagers and adults playing the drums, while every house they visit has to prepare some snacks and beverages for people who visit their house. Both are social customs to bid farewell for the past, and at the same time wish a happy new year. This event is meant to help strengthen their bond between each other as a family and a community and goes on non-stop for a whole week. At the end of the week, every village has to prepare a banquet of food and beverages for the other village.

This is a very fascinating and unique experience for me to see and feel up close, to be able to get to know your neighbors and all the people who live around you as it is not something you normally have in Jakarta. I can clearly feel the pride the community takes in this festivity. It also helps many teenagers in their adolescence to gain a sense of pride, and identity they can be proud of by discovering how they can contribute and have a role in society, having an identity as a community. In addition, it also serves as a mental development when the younger i