Chinese New Year is always marked by celebrations, festivities, and special rituals in the hope of experiencing a brighter future throughout the coming year.
The Lunar New Year celebrations will start on Feb. 3 this year (Sin Cia), and will last up to 15 days (Cap Go Meh).
As one fifth of the world’s inhabitants are Chinese, the Year of the Rabbit, or the year 2562 in the Chinese calendar, will be celebrated throughout the world including in Jakarta, where there is a large Chinese-Indonesian community.
The vast scale of the celebration and its 15-day span make intense, international communication an important part of the occasion.
People always want to communicate with families, relatives, friends, or colleagues, especially during festive occasions. Family gatherings might be the most convenient place to exchange greetings. But when those family visits and meetings are impossible, overseas communication may be the only option.
This is where a Telecommunication Service Provider (TSP) comes in. As a mobile phone or a handset is an inseparable part of people’s lives in this digital era, TSPs assist international communication and make them easier, cheaper and more convenient than ever before.
TSPs offer various services to attract regular overseas callers. Axis, for instance, offers an international promo tariff to countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, the US and Canada. People can call relatives, families and friends in Singapore for only Rp 188 per minute. For calls to China, Hong Kong, and Thailand, you pay only Rp 288 a minute. And for calling loved ones in Canada or the US, you pay even less: Rp 99 per minute. This special program, which started in October, has been successful in attracting new Axis customers especially during the holiday season throughout December 2010. It is scheduled to last through the high season until March this year.
Debbie Hertiani, a retired medical practitioner, said she makes regular overseas calls because her two sons are attending college in New Zealand. Debbie said she used “3” as her overseas communication TSP simply because “it’s the cheapest,” adding that clear and fast connections are also on her list of consideration before choosing a telecommunication provider.
She uses other means of overseas communication with her sons, such as the Internet. By contrast, for a regular overseas telephone to her sons, Samuel and Thomas in New Zealand, Debbie has to pay Rp 2,000 per minute. “But, at certain times, telephone calls are more convenient, like during the (new year) occasion like this,” she said.
Another regular is Marina, an executive at the largest state-owned bank, at its branch in Alam Sutera housing estate in Tangerang. She has used Matrix of Indosat for her mobile phone communication, including the overseas ones, for quite some time now.
Rates are never really an issue for Marina but she claims the TSP she uses is not expensive.
Though she no longer celebrates Chinese New Year, she still exchanges greetings with relatives and business associates abroad, especially because some of them still observe it as a religious occasion.
Every Imlek, she calls an uncle and aunt in Singapore, and another couple in China. “We exchange new year greetings, the usual, like wishing them all the happiness, health and wealth for the coming year,” Marina said.
Another attractive international communication service is provided by Simpati and KartuAs of Telkomsel. For a one-minute SLI (International Call) 01017 to Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, the US and Canada, Simpati and KartuAs users need only pay Rp 540. While for an inexpensive, clear, and high quality phone connection to Malaysia, Brunei, India, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and Australia, you would have to pay Rp 880 a minute using Simpati, and Rp 780 a minute using KartuAs.
For Budianto Rusli, a loyal Telkomsel customer, overseas calls should be clear and inexpensive, otherwise no one would want to use the service. “Why should we? Just use another TSP which can provide a better service,” he said.
While acknowledging that he would have to make a few overseas calls, mostly to his colleagues for the occasion, medical doctor Tan Hok Liang believes Chinese New Year would always be about family gatherings with his wife Dianti Satya or The Siok Wan, his sons Gunar and Elmar, and his daughter Keisha.
“It’s all about family. It’s where the young show respect to the elders. It’s where all members of the extended family meet, greet, and pray for each others’ welfare.”
He said every Imlek, he and his family look forward to visiting his mother who is 85 this year, to have the family dinner, give away ang pao, meet brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews and nieces.
While for his mother, Imlek is always a great moment to thank God for the “treasure” of sons, daughters, in-laws, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
“It’s her yearly chance to cook about 40 chickens, God knows how many fish and other dishes for about 100 of us. Also a chance to cheer us up with abundant fruit, desserts, and sweets,” Budianto said, adding that all these symbolize our hopes of a good future.
So, may God shower us with abundant blessings. We really need them.
Gong Xi Fa Cai.
