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)