Why are Indonesian people proud of wearing Batik?

Batik is one of the traditional clothes from Indonesia. It is made by dipping the cloth which is covered with wax, so the colors would not be mixed. Batik is famous because it has a lot of different designs and Batik is usually identical with Indonesian. Based on my interview, knowledge and the internet source, there are four reasons why Indonesians are proud of wearing Batik.

The first reason is Batik as a national heritage. Firstly, Batik was introduced by Ir. Soekarno who was the first Indonesian president but actually, Batik was used as the traditional clothes in Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta’s palace usually uses Batik to differentiate between the royal family and the citizens. This happened a long time ago, so Indonesians claim Batik as their national heritage. Then on October 1, 2009, UNESCO announced Batik as the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. This was coming after Malaysia claimed Batik as their traditional clothes. With this occasion, Indonesians love Batik more and proud of wearing Batik to show their identity so Malaysian will be ashamed because of it.

The second reason is Batik becomes the formal clothes in every occasion. Based on my interview, a lot of respondents said that they didn’t need to worry to choose their clothes when they wanted to go to the wedding party, had meeting with the colleagues, attended the funeral or went to the university because by wearing Batik, they would be considered as polite and neat people. Most of the students in my class said that wearing Batik is cool even if you wear it in the class. Therefore, a lot of new Batik designs are invented and the youngsters can wear Batik without looking old.

The other reason is that wearing Batik is obligatory. A lot of companies or institutions make Batik as their uniforms. Their Batik is often written by the logos from their office so by wearing Batik, they can show their companies’ or institutions’ identities. Moreover, by wearing those Batiks, their companies or institutions will be famous and they are proud of it.

The last reason is that a lot of Batik designs are owned by Indonesia. One of the examples is Batik Buketan, this Batik is a characteristic from Pekalongan. Batik Buketan is made because of the influence from Europe and, therefore, the other countries do not have this design. Beside of the designs, Batik from Indonesia is different from other countries; it has a lot of patterns and a lot of color combinations.

 

From the reasons above, I can conclude that Indonesian people proud of wearing Batik not only because of its design but also because of its history. As Indonesian people, we need to preserve Batik by wearing it and show the world that we are the owner of Batik. Not only by wearing Batik but also we need to be creative and make a lot of new innovations in Batik design. Moreover, we should love Batik so that the other countries will not steal Batik from us and we will help Batik makers build their business bigger.

Sources:

http://www.suaramerdeka.com/index.php/read/kejawen/2012/10/03/608/Esensi-Batik-Warisan-Budaya-yang-Harus-Dijaga

http://www.madaniamat.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=art&action=display&thread=4&page=1                

 http://www.id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batik