New Year parties become charity events

New Year parties become charity events

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Many of the planned New Year's celebrations will become charity
events in the wake of Sunday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and
deadly tidal waves in Aceh and other nations on Indian Ocean that
killed at least 80,000 in Aceh alone as of Thursday night.

A day after announcing the cancellation of a fireworks display
that would have cost Rp 500 million (US$53,763.44) in National
Monument (Monas) Park, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso decided on
Thursday that the Rp 1 billion fireworks show at Ancol Dreamland
Park would also be canceled and replaced with a mass prayer
session. The Rp 500 million for the Monas fireworks, he said,
would be channeled to aid organizers to help survivors of the
worst natural disaster in Indonesia since 1883.

Sutiyoso's call for New Year's party organizers to scale down
their celebrations and to instead raise money for the Acehnese
was warmly received.

The Hotel Mulia in Senayan, Central Jakarta, will still go on
with its concert featuring U.S. singer Peabo Bryson and Filipino
Kuh Ledesma.

"Basically, we will modify the program into a kind of charity
party," said the hotel's public relations manager Dian. She added
that the hotel would send a Rp 500 million donation to Aceh on
top of what would be raised in the concert.

PT Unilever Indonesia also canceled its Conello New Year's
Chemistry Carnival at Kafe Taman Semanggi.

In Denpasar, hotels, resorts and cafes will also convert their
Dec. 31 celebrations into charity events.

"The events should be more modest because we are in deep
grief. But the show must go on because money from the programs
will be used for Aceh," said the Bali Association of Travel
Agencies (Asita) chairman Bagus Sudibya as quoted by Antara.

"We also call on tourists to donate their money in boxes
provided in hotels, restaurants or other tourist resorts."

Many people have been urging would-be partygoers to cancel
their New Year's festivities to express sympathy for the
survivors.

Leaders of the country's two largest Muslim organizations, the
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadyah, called on the public to
donate the money they planned to spend on celebrations to the
victims instead.

The NU also urged state officials to cancel their year-end
trips abroad and donate the money to Aceh.

The Surabaya administration has canceled 38 permits for hotels
and cafes to celebrate the New Year. The city tourism agency head
Muhtadi said that the cancellation was with the consent of the
hotels and cafes.

The general manager of the Hotel Inna Simpang, Waluyo said the
management agreed to call off the party, although they would lose
out on an expected Rp 25 million.

Governors of West Kalimantan and West Nusa Tenggara have also
decided not to attend celebrations.

West Kalimantan Governor Usman Ja'far ordered the cancellation
of a fireworks party in the provincial capital, Pontianak, and
changed it into a fund-raising and prayer event.

West Nusa Tenggara Governor H Lalu Serinata will attend mass
prayers at mosques in the capital city Mataram. The governor also
called on the public to start collecting donations to help the
natural disaster victims.