National Children's Day

JAKARTA (JP): Some 4,000 children and 400 chaperons are expected to attend a ceremony to commemorate National Children's Day on Sunday at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, East Jakarta, organizers said.

The organizing committee's chairman, Rusli Wolfman, said in a written statement: "The venue of the ceremony was earlier scheduled to be the State Palace."

Rusli gave no explanation for the change of venue.

"The ceremony is intended to arouse the spirit of children and youths to pursue their education and also to encourage them to have a better mentality and personality," he added.

Rusli said the celebration has been highlighted by various activities during July aimed at children, such as sports tournaments and visiting less-fortunate children.

"We have presented, for example, school equipment and staple foodstuffs to 200 children on July 15. We also organized a trip to Carita marine resort, West Java, for 200 children on July 13 and 14," he said.

"We will also organize ceremonies at mayoralty level. Children of North Jakarta, for example, will attend a ceremony at Ancol Dreamland, while children from South Jakarta will hold a ceremony at Ragunan Zoo." (nvn)