A day with Santa Claus

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."