Bidding farewell To 2017

Tue, January 2, 2018 / 04:37 pm

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High hopes:Pigeons take flight as the sun rises in the Pegunungan Seribu area in Yogyakarta on Monday. Political tensions are expected to continue with Indonesia to have 171 regional elections in 31 provinces this year. JP/Tarko Sudiarno
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Central attraction: People crowd National Monument (Monas) in Jakarta early Monday to celebrate the New Year. JP/Wendra Ajistyatama
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People's stage: A traditional musical group entertains peopple for New Year celebrations in Thamrin, Central Jakarta, on Sunday. JP/Jerry Adiguna
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Laughter is the best medicine: Volunteers from Sahabat Anak Kanker community wearing Rey and Darth Vader costumes console a patient at Saiful Anwar Hospital in Malang, East Java, on Sunday. The outreach program aimed to share the New Year's spirit with parents and children. JP/Nedi Putra
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Fireworks illuminate the sky near Malaysia's Petronas Twin Towers during New Year celebrations in Kuala Lumpur on January 1, 2018. AFP/Mohd Rasfan
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A woman applies coloured powder to a "rangoli", a Hindu ritual design, to usher in the New Year in front of a home in Hyderabad on January 1, 2018. Rangolis are drawn in front of homes early in the morning to welcome relatives and friends to mark the New Year. AFP/Noah Seelam
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Revellers take part in the traditional 'Bain de Givres' as part of the New Year's celebrations on January 1, 2018 at Malo-Les-Bains beach in Dunkirk, northern France. AFP/Philippe Huguen
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A Balinese girl takes part in a traditional dance during in a cultural parade at a festival to mark the New Year in Denpasar on Bali island on December 31, 2017. AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka
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On alert: Police peronnel monitor the area during New Year celebrations in Thamrin, Central Jakarta. JP/Jerry Adiguna

For many, 2017 was too much to bear. Sectarianism, which reached a fever pitch this year during the last leg of the Jakarta gubernatorial election, led many to believe that it would be a harbinger of things to come in 2018. In other parts of the world, things were not much different.

In the United States, President Donald Trump practically sucked the oxygen out of the room by dominating the news cycle with his defense of white supremacists and his threats to unleash fire and fury against North Korea.

Even Germany, a beacon of stability in Europe, underwent a political crisis with Chancellor Angela Merkel finding it hard to build a coalition government.

For too many people, the New Year’s celebration was more about bidding farewell to a terrible year than welcoming a new one. And for that purpose, revelers decided to party hard on New Year’s Eve.

Our photographers captured some of those moments in these photographs.