President to attend Nyepi celebration

JAKARTA: President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice President Hamzah Haz are expected to attend an event marking the Hindu Day of Silence (Nyepi) on April 20 at Candra Wilwatikta Park, Pandaan, near Malang in East Java.

Chairman of the event's organizing committee Insp. Gen. Pol. I Dewa KG Astika said some 10,000 people would take part in the celebration, which would wrap up a series of rituals held in observance of the holiday, which also marks the Hindu new year.

Astika met Hamzah to report on the ongoing preparations for the ceremony on Tuesday.

Nyepi falls on April 13, and is a day on which Hindus fast, stay at home and refrain from lighting fires.

Social and business activities come to a halt during the holiday in Bali. A no fly zone was also declared over the island in observance of the holiday last year. -- JP