Christmas serenely celebrated amid rain in Jakarta

Christmas serenely celebrated amid rain in Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Amid spurts of heavy rain and drizzle, people
serenely participated in Christmas masses and services held at
churches Tuesday night, while thousands more spent their leisure
time at public places and shopping complexes yesterday.

The Jakarta Cathedral accommodated some 15,000 people during
eight consecutive masses, including four masses on Christmas Eve.

The Christmas mass committee at the Jakarta Cathedral said
that even a group of believers from Bali, who happened to arrive
in Jakarta during their tour, attended the mass.

Some 2,000 cars were parked at three locations around the
Cathedral, including the Istiqlal Mosque and the Central Post
Office, Central Jakarta.

Police Major M. Iriawan of the Sawah Besar precinct said that
the Cathedral was more crowded than last year.

"The reason is probably because the weather was not too bad,"
he said.

Hundreds of churches in Greater Jakarta observed the religious
commemoration of Jesus Christ's birth in a tranquil atmosphere.

Reverend Eka Darmaputra of a Protestant church in East Jakarta
said that the five religious services he held were packed,
slightly more crowded than last year.

"I get the impression that people prefer to dig deeper for the
meaning of Christmas this year and to hold family gathering at
the sacred time of Christmas Eve," he said.

"But I also feel that the people are not very settled yet
after some unwanted happenings this year, like the July 27 riots
and the Situbondo incident," he said.

Catholic brethren from Jatibening, Bekasi, consisting of some
6,000 believers, did not hold a Christmas Eve mass at their
regular place of worship, which was burned down early September
by people claiming to be local residents.

"We held two masses at a hall owned by a believer at
Jatiwaringin, Bekasi. We started quite early at 4 p.m and 6 p.m.
to avoid Christmas Eve at night," said Suwarso, a Catholic church
official at Jatibening.

Security for Christmas festivities was tight. City military
and police have deployed more than 11,000 officers to secure
Christmas and New Year's Eve festivities.

Antara reported that services at the Immanuel Church on Jl.
Medan Merdeka Timur, Central Jakarta, GPIB Church Jemaat Paulus
and St. Mikael Kranji in Bekasi were carried out solemnly.

The Protestant church on Jl. Bintaro Permai, South Jakarta,
had been guarded by three military officers since 4 p.m.

On Tuesday, most of city's roads were congested in the
afternoon. Motorists using the roads which are vulnerable to
congestions, such as those in Bintaro, South Jakarta, the
southern artery roads which connects Pejompongan and Pondok
Indah, Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk, all complained.

"I had to spend two hours driving from Bintaro to the Golden
Truly Department Store in Blok M," a teenager said. "I saw only
two police officers directing traffic at one corner of the artery
road."

In several residential areas non-Christian families visited
Christian families just to say Merry Christmas.

In Pondok Betung, a group of non-Christian men collected money
to buy a gift for a neighbor Catholic family. "We don't think
about religious difference. What we know is that the members of
the family are good to the neighborhood. Now that they are
celebrating Christmas we just want to express our joy to them,"
Endang, a local resident, said.

Yesterday, Christmas day, the weather was cloudy from early
morning.

Heavy rain fell at midday in certain parts of the city. Many
people spent the day at recreational places, including Taman Mini
Indonesian Indah, East Jakarta, and Ragunan Zoo, South Jakarta.

Taman Mini's spokesman Dandoel Hardoyono, said yesterday that
some 40,000 people arrived to spend their leisure time there on a
public holiday, which fortunately fell on a week day.

"On Sundays up to 30,000 people visit the park," Dandoel said.

"We just come here for fun and leisure," said a housewife
carrying her three-year old daughter while also hanging on to her
six-year son.

A Javanese traditional drama of Ketoprak was shown at the park
last night, recounting the Roro Mendut story, a Javanese tragedy
of a woman held mistress by a military commander of the Mataram
kingdom, Yogyakarta.

The Ragunan Zoo was delighted by the birth of two female and a
male white tigers. The news of the baby tigers apparently
attracted many visitors, who expressed disappointment for being
not allowed see the baby tigers.

Mulyadi Rasjid, the zoo's promotion division head said: "We're
keeping them away from visitors to avoid them being under stress,
which may endanger their lives."

He said the tigers would be presented to public in a couple of
weeks. (07)