Scotch mist at Highland Gathering?

The Highland Gathering at Lippo Karawaci was a high point for me last week, until I noticed a lot of children outside the grounds attempting to watch the event through a very high wire fence. I left the grounds to see how the children and some parents were experiencing the event.

Inside the grounds children, mostly of Western or mixed race origin enjoyed themselves on the grease pole. This is a pole over water where two children fight each other to stay on the pole.

Outside the grounds, groups of Indonesian children could just about see the heads of the competitors, little more. A few boys climbed to the top of the fence to watch the spectacle. The reason the activity couldn't be observed by the children was the presence of a banner with a company advertised on it. It occurred to me that simply raising the banner would allow the children outside to see the fun.

At the same time, outside of the Highland Gathering fence, helicopters took mostly Western joyriders up into Jakarta's skies for a bird's eye view of the event. The fee for this was Rp 200,000 per person for a five-minute flight. The pilot took off with or without full seat occupancy. Children gathered on the large grassy area to watch the takeoffs and landings of the choppers.

Despite the fact that there is this large grassy area outside of the festival grounds, nothing was provided for the local children. They spent the day seeing, or attempting to see another world, mostly the First world, having a great deal of fun. Sunday's admission charge was Rp 20,000 for a child and Rp 30,000 for an adult: quite a fee for a local family. A sign at the entrance announced that the money collected would go to charity. Where does the charity begin?

I would like to encourage the organizers to think about local families and how they can be included in future events rather than leaving them feeling that they live in another world.

DES PRICE

Jakarta