A day with Santa Claus

Santa Claus has come to town - in the form of Tony Lalamentik, 37. As one of Santa's helpers, the Manado, North Sulawesi, native can be seen daily at Mal Taman Anggrek in West Jakarta. At day's end, the Protestant minister returns to his wife, Ursula, and three children in Bekasi, an 30 kilometers east of Jakarta. He shares some Yuletide spirit with The Jakarta Post's contributor William Furney.

JAKARTA (JP): "I'm fasting at the moment - it's not just the Muslims, you know. This is the Christian fast and it lasts until the end of the year. I don't eat or drink from 8 p.m. to 1 p.m. the following day. So when I get up at 6 a.m., I don't have breakfast. Shortly afterward, I'm out the door to the mall. It takes about two hours by bus to get there, but sometimes I go by motorbike, and that's much faster.

My 'dressing room' is a small area that was once a shop. I put on makeup to make my skin look white and then add some 'weight' to my body. When I'm fully dressed, I go to the lobby while ringing my bell. It's a lovely setting: under the giant Christmas tree are my sleigh and reindeer. It certainly does create the mood.

It seems everyone wants to see me. From the moment I sit on my sleigh there's a queue of children and their parents. It's especially busy on the weekend. The boys and girls sit on my lap and have their picture taken. Some of them can be quite naughty -- they try to pull my beard off -- but I tell them they won't get any presents if they don't behave.

The children say to me, 'Santa, where's my present?' I tell them that I'll be delivering it on Christmas Eve, and they get really excited. We don't provide gifts at the mall, but sometimes parents will slip me a parcel, which I'll then give to the child.

A lot of the children cry, as they're suddenly afraid of a big old man in red. Even the chatty ones turn silent. But I talk to them and they're okay after a while. It's not just kids that want to see me. These past two weeks, I've had people in their late teens and people in their 60s. They're all enthralled by me, and want their photo taken. Santa is unique. Everyone thinks he's a foreigner, as there isn't an Indonesian one. That's another reason they are drawn to him. But I'm not exactly sure where he comes from - Scotland maybe?

I love being Santa Claus. This is my first time doing it. I heard the mall wanted a Santa through a friend of mine, and I leapt at the chance. Santa represents a lot of things; he's not just about giving gifts at Christmas. I think he has a special spirit that people all over the world relate to. And I like to think I have some of that spirit inside me. I'm a jolly person by nature and I like sharing things with people. I like being able to share some of that spirit with others.

I take some time off at 1 p.m. to break the fast. I'll have brought something from home, rice and vegetables usually. Then it's straight back to it. My 10-year-old son comes to the mal with me sometimes. He'll wander around all day, looking at the shops and the ice rink. If he gets tired, he has a nap in the "dressing room." He believes in Santa Claus - as do I.

It can be hard to leave in the evenings. We close at 8 p.m. but these days there are many families with children that have traveled a long way to see me. So I often stay for a while longer. It's only once a year, after all.

When I get home, I tell Ursula about the children that came to see me, and the things they said. I like to play with the children as well.

I'm going to the Seribu Islands on Christmas Eve for a special service. The next day, the most special of all - Christmas Day - I'll go home and we'll have a service in my church in Bekasi. I'm also a counselor there. Many people come to me and ask for help with their problems. A lot of them have marriage and relationship difficulties as well as financial troubles. I talk to them and show them the right road to take.

This Christmas Day, after we've exchanged gifts -- usually clothes, as the children are not that interested in toys or anything else -- we'll sit down to a traditional Manado dinner rice cooked in bamboo.

Tired but happy, I go to bed at about midnight."