For the people who settle surrounding Batam Island, dugout competition which is famously called kolek competition, has been organized as a yearly agenda of Indonesian independent anniversary on August 17.
This competition resembles sail boat competition, and has become local tradition of the Malay sailor society.
This inherited tradition, according to some of local residents, is 40 years old. No body knows exactly the founder of this tradition which is always centered at Belakang Padang Island; but, in the three years later, it is also held in other places such as Sembulan and Buluh.
Huge number of people comes to enjoy the competition. On August 19, 2004, for example, no less than one thousand people who come from at least five islands such as Panjang Island, Pasir Todak Island, Patah Island, Akar Island and Buluh Island, came to enliven kolek competition in Sembulan, Galang Island. It was also attended by the mayor of Batam, Nyat Kadir.
Many people came by truck, bus, motor cycle, walking, dugout and boat. Usually, as had happened in many years before, the people who settled out of the island where the competition is held, come by boat filled with food one day before it begin. And in waiting the competition, they take a rest whether in the beach or in their own boat.
This cheerful event does not merely show kolek competition, it also shows many traditional arts such as Dangkung dance, Gazal music, and tug-of-war. However, in such amusement event, kolek competition, as the top agenda of the event, is the most favorite competition for the people of islands.
The people call it kolek because the pillar`s pole (sauk) in dugout where the sail is bound is long. But if the pillar`s pole is short, it is called belumak. In order to make the competition more attractive, the committee of the event does not forbid all participants to decorate their dugout with various colors. The sail of dugout, for instance, is painted beautifully to make its appearance differs from others. The colorful sail can be seen at the competition; red, yellow, blue, green, and other colors. In the competition, one dugout contains of whether five, seven, nine, or twelve persons. Each group of participants must reach the finish line about one mile or more in front of them by following the blowing of wind and crossing against it.
The committee also does not restrict the age of participants. Young or old man may participate within. Each participant is challenged by big waves. Although the area is very hard, all participants, most of them are sailors, capable of reaching the finish line. It is rarely found that the participant`s dugout sinks during the competition. If it happens, they rapidly can control it in order to reach the finish line.
In order to make the dugout runs fast, a skillful person is needed in restraining the rope of sail. The stronger the rope is held the faster the dugout runs. “The kolek competition has become a tradition for the people of islands. If the competition is missing, we lose our joyfulness,” Ali, 70 years old, told to the Kompas journalist when visited the event in Sembulang, Gading island, Batam.
In addition, Bujang, 58 years old, from the Sembulang Island, stated that the gift of the competition provided by the committee is not important. Togetherness and joyfulness felt by all people is the very aim they want to reach from year to year. He added “it is really unpleasant to celebrate Indonesian independent anniversary without organizing the kolek competition.”
The Mayor of Batam, Nyat Kadir, in his welcoming speech said that kolek competition, from three years later, has been elected as a yearly agenda of Batam city government in animating Indonesian independent anniversary held on every August, 17, due to the big inclination of the people in involving themselves in the event.
In the next years, Nyat Kadir promised that this event would be projected as the agenda of tourism. In the three years later, the event was not handled professionally by cooperating with the agent of tour and hotel to project this potential event to be the agenda of tourism, because the facility and creativity of the festival are inadequate enough.
By the year of 2005, the Batam city government began to arrange this event as the agenda of tourism. This policy aimed to increase the amount of tourists that had reached 1, 2 million in 2004 to 1, 5 million or more in the next years.
Nyat Kadir asserted that Indonesian independent anniversary celebrated every year in this region may become an interesting tourism. Therefore, it must be facilitated with national tourism standard, besides with cultural and traditional object of tourism. In addition, Anas, the owner of Novotel hotel, confirmed that it is very prospective policy if the government intends seriously to project this event as a yearly agenda of tourism, because, until the present time, Batam as the gate of Indonesian tourism has no yearly agenda of tourism.
Anas as the treasurer of Association of Hotel and Indonesian Restaurant (PHRI) stated “we do hope the government publicizes intensively such yearly agenda of tourism. Indeed, this prospective agenda should be provided professionally and completed with the beautiful creativity of art.
To make the event as yearly agenda of tourism is actually a realistic policy, because the event does not merely show an animated competition such as kolek competition, but it also provides the beauty of nature and beach. In another word, the tourist may enjoy not only kolek competition, but also traditional heritages of the islands such as traditional music and dance.
Source: www.kompas.com (2 April 2007)
