Sri Hartini-Director of Faith and Tradition, Ministry of Education and Culture
Maintaining the substance, reducing the superficial

Various traditional and cultural rituals in Indonesia can be quite expensive to carry out. Among the people of Toraja in South Sulawesi, for example, one traditional ceremony can cost billions of rupiah. Getting out of such rituals is not easy, although many communities around the country are determined to let go of certain traditional requirements that can often impoverish them, such as the villagers of Borokanda, at Ende Lio, Flores.

Director of Religion and Traditional Faith at the Education and Culture Minister, Sri Hartini, said that a simplification of rituals can be achieved through deliberations without reducing the substance of tradition. "Only the superficial aspect is simplified," she told Tempo English reporters Isma Savitri and Dahlia Rera in an interview, three weeks ago. Excerpts:

February 23, 2016