Mega, Amien to attend 'Imlek' festival

JAKARTA: President Megawati Soekarnoputri and People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais are slated to attend the national celebration of Chinese New Year on Feb. 6.

The official agenda of the President shows that Megawati would celebrate Lunar New Year, locally known as Imlek, with around 1,000 Chinese-Indonesians at Balai Sudirman Hall in South Jakarta.

Last year during the same celebration, Megawati declared Chinese New Year a national holiday. The holiday this year falls on Saturday, Feb. 1.

Vice President Hamzah Haz will skip the celebration as he is slated to leave for a haj pilgrimage on Feb. 5, a presidential aide said on Thursday.

Former president Abdurrahman Wahid has also been invited to the gathering, but he is likely to miss the event due to his trip to South Korea.

Chinese art and culture were banned during the rule of former president Soeharto that ended in 1998. -- JP