Preserving the Culture amid COVID-19 Global Pandemic

The emergence of COVID-19 in December 2019 had many impacts on

people's lives. This affects human life in various sectors, from health, economy,
education, to tourism and culture. In the economic sector, for example, the
presence of COVID-19, which caused the world's conditions to be in a global
pandemic, limited economic activity in society. Many entrepreneurs eventually go
bankrupt due to not being able to adapt to existing conditions. Or from the
education sector, for example, the presence of COVID-19 has disrupted teaching
and learning activities, causing students to study online.
The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 also has an impact on the
cultural sector. In this case, many cultural traditions cannot be implemented due to
limitations during this pandemic. This will certainly have an impact on the
development of cultural traditions in the future. Existing cultural traditions can be
forgotten or even lost from civilization.
One of the cultural traditions that have been lost due to the COVID-19
pandemic is the “Nganteuran” tradition that is commonly practiced by people in
the Tangerang area. This cultural tradition is usually carried out in the month of
Ramadan. This tradition is a multicultural tradition, originating from Sundanese
culture. The word "Nganteuran" comes from the Sundanese language which
means to accompany each other. In this tradition, the surrounding community
provides food to neighbors and relatives, which is usually done by the younger
community to the older community. With the condition of the global COVID-19
pandemic, the community has not adopted the “Nganteuran” tradition. This is
because their economic condition has weakened as a result of the pandemic,
which leaves them with no extra money to provide food for their neighbors.
Not only the “Nganteuran” tradition, simple traditions such as shaking
hands are also threatened with fading. This is due to the spread of COVID-19
which can be transmitted through droplets, or small droplets of saliva. Therefore,
to prevent the spread of this virus from occurring, the tradition of shaking hands is
no longer practiced. However, this tradition was replaced by new forms of
"handshaking", such as using the elbow or just waving.
Although many cultures are in danger of being lost due to the global
COVID-19 pandemic, on the other hand, many cultures that used to be forgotten
are now reappearing. One of them is the culture of drinking traditional herbs or
herbal medicine. In Javanese culture, there are traditional ingredients that are
believed to ward off viruses, namely "empon-empon". "Empon-empon" is a
traditional drink derived from rhizome plants, such as ginger, ginger, turmeric,
and so on. This drink is believed to be able to ward off the virus and make the
culture of drinking these “empon-empon” popular again amid the global pandemic
of COVID-19.
In addition to the culture of drinking "empon-empon", other cultures such
as "Beas Perelek" are again being practiced by the community. "Beas Perelek" is a
culture that comes from the Sundanese tribe. This culture teaches that humans
must always remember the people around them. In this culture, every time they
cook rice, they will set aside a handful of rice and put it in the "leuit". "Leuit" is a
long segment of bamboo, and is placed in front of each house. Then, local
community leaders will collect the rice into one, and the collected rice will be
used when there is a food crisis in the area. The existence of the global COVID-19
pandemic has caused the financial condition of the community to decline, and this
can be an excuse to re-establish the “Beas Perelek” tradition that has begun to be
abandoned.
However, in some conditions, there are other efforts to maintain the
existing culture. One of the efforts is to reduce some of the things that are usually
done in these cultural traditions. For example, the tradition of "Meriam Karbit" in
the Aceh area. This tradition is usually done on the night after Eid. In this
tradition, people light a kind of firecracker made of bamboo blades. If the length
of this cannon is usually along the Krueng Baro River, which is 61.7 kilometers,
then during the pandemic, only tens of "Meriam Karbit" were ignited.
Another effort to keep cultural traditions from being lost is by utilizing
technology. This was done by Langen Beksan Kinasih Erawati in preserving the
cultural traditions from Boyolali, such as "Topeng Ireng" and "Buto Gedruk".
This studio uses streaming technology to maintain the existing culture. Through a
streaming platform, this studio is actively uploading various videos related to
Boyolali's culture and art. In addition, through the streaming platform, this studio
also uploads various other videos, such as jokes, tutorials on dancing or makeup,
to short movies. The plus value of this is not only to maintain culture from fading
but also to expand the spread of existing cultural traditions.
It can be concluded that the current conditions, namely the global
pandemic COVID-19, could be a threat to cultural preservation in Indonesia.
However, there are many positive things behind it, namely the re-emergence of
cultural traditions that have begun to be forgotten. The community continues to
innovate to maintain the existing culture in the midst of this pandemic. Various
ways have been done, such as changing the procedures for implementing
traditions without reducing the essence of the tradition. Another way is to take
advantage of technology such as streaming technology or social media. The
Internet and social media are things that are not limited by space and time so that
traditions can be maintained and even knowledge of these traditions can spread to
people in other areas or even in other parts of the world.
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