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Toned down celebrations in Aceh, Yogya
High handedness: Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) officials and sharia police take away several women in a van in Banda Aceh, Aceh, on early Wednesday
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High handedness: Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) officials and sharia police take away several women in a van in Banda Aceh, Aceh, on early Wednesday. The women were detained at entertainment spots on New Yearâs Eve. The authorities imposed a ban on New Year celebrations in Aceh. More than 90 percent of Indonesian Muslims celebrated New Yearâs Eve joyfully throughout the archipelago, including in many places in Aceh, without any problems. (Antara/Irwansyah Putra) (Satpol PP) officials and sharia police take away several women in a van in Banda Aceh, Aceh, on early Wednesday. The women were detained at entertainment spots on New Yearâs Eve. The authorities imposed a ban on New Year celebrations in Aceh. More than 90 percent of Indonesian Muslims celebrated New Yearâs Eve joyfully throughout the archipelago, including in many places in Aceh, without any problems. (Antara/Irwansyah Putra)
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span class="inline inline-none">High handedness: Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) officials and sharia police take away several women in a van in Banda Aceh, Aceh, on early Wednesday. The women were detained at entertainment spots on New Year's Eve. The authorities imposed a ban on New Year celebrations in Aceh. More than 90 percent of Indonesian Muslims celebrated New Year's Eve joyfully throughout the archipelago, including in many places in Aceh, without any problems. (Antara/Irwansyah Putra)
New Year's Eve celebrations in Aceh and Yogyakarta were subdued while celebrations in other regions across the archipelago were merrier.
In Banda Aceh, thousands of people crowded a number of spots in the provincial capital to celebrate New Year's Eve despite a ban to do so in the sharia-based province.
To enforce the ban, hundreds of Banda Aceh Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) officers as well as sharia police officers and regular police officers were deployed to crowded areas.
'I partake in New Year's Eve festivities every year but thanks to the ban, there were no fireworks here,' said Muhammad Ridarma of Ulee Kareng.
The officers seized firecrackers and trumpets from vendors in several areas across the city.
'No New Year festivities are allowed in Aceh. We will disperse gatherings of any form,' Banda Aceh Satpol PP officer Reza Kamili said.
However, officers were clearly outnumbered by the amount of people that packed the streets.
In Yogyakarta, the tone at Alun-alun Utara square was quiet with the news of the death of Gusti Bendara Pangeran Haryo Joyokusumo, who died on Tuesday.
Joyokusumo was the younger brother of Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, who is also the governor of Yogyakarta.
The organizing committee of the Sekaten night market at the square lowered the volume of speakers and cancelled a fireworks display out of respect.
In villages, people celebrated the New Year with mass prayers and simple barbecues.
In Semarang, Central Java, New Year revelers left piles of garbage at various sites. The Semarang City Sanitation and Park Agency deployed 12 members of its cleaning staff on Wednesday to clean up the waste.
'We were initially going to deploy 20 of them but some workers opted out of working due to the rain,' said the head of the agency's city decoration section, Wiwoho, estimating that 80 tons of garbage were collected on Wednesday.
In Jakarta, some 150 tons of waste were collected from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle and its surrounding streets. In total, some 7,000 tons of waste were collected.
In Gorontalo, people celebrated the New Year in various ways, ranging from mass prayers, poetry readings to street dance parties.
A mass prayer organized by the provincial administration was held at Baiturrahim Grand Mosque. Thousands of civil servants and locals took part.
'The mass prayer was held as a way for the Gorontalo people to reflect on what was achieved in 2013 and to wish for the best in the coming year,' said organizing committee member Asri Banteng.
Fireworks were lit in almost every corner of Gorontalo province on New Year's Eve.
In Batam, Riau Islands, the main celebration was held at Engku Puteri Square, Batam Centre, and was marked with the lighting of 2,100 fireworks that reached as high as 250 meters.
Many foreign tourists spending New Year's Eve on the island also joined the Rp 1 billion (US$82,162) celebration. Batam City Tourism Agency head Yusfa Hendri said the fireworks display was put on every year to mark the New Year.
'We designed this to entertain tourists spending their New Year holiday here in Batam,' Yusfa said.
Ainur Rohmah in Semarang, Syamsul Huda M Suhari in Gorontalo and Fadli in Batam contributed to this story.
