PREMIUM Feb. 17, p. 1

It was a cloudy day in January as I passed by the Kota area in West Jakarta. I looked around and thought, “what a change from yesteryear — the shops are now selling items like food and decor openly for Chinese New Year celebrations”.

I suddenly remembered my heyday 30-years-ago in another Asian city, where our celebrations had to be contained. (By Aruna Harjani)<...