TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Indonesians gear up for Christmas
Booming sounds are familiar noises heard during evenings in villages in Manggarai regency, East Nusa Tenggara
Change Size
B
ooming sounds are familiar noises heard during evenings in villages in Manggarai regency, East Nusa Tenggara.
The sound of the explosions, coming from the traditional bamboo cannon, sound after dusk followed by cheers and laughter from children and teenagers.
Yosep Geong, a local leader in Manggarai Timur, explained that the bamboo cannon was a tradition of the local people.
'In the old times, it was used to relay messages that an important figure had died. But now, the bamboo cannon is also ignited during Advent and Christmas. The people of Flores and Manggarai use the cannon to joyfully welcome the birth of Jesus,' Yosep said.
People across the archipelago have gotten in the mood for the tropical Christmas festive season.
Sellers of nasi jahe (ginger rice) ingredients hailing from areas around the Central Sulawesi provincial capital of Palu have cropped up ahead of the holiday.
Marthen, 46, said she and a number of her friends from the Palolo district in Sigi regency had arrived in the city last week.
'Every year, ahead of the Christmas and New Year, we come to the city to sell ingredients and equipment for nasi jahe,' Marthen said Tuesday as quoted by Antara news agency.
Nasi jahe is made by putting a mix of rice, coconut milk, pandan leaf, shallot and ginger into a bamboo section wrapped in a banana leaf, before putting the bamboo section over a medium-strength fire to cook. The dish is used for celebratory meals during holidays and festivities.
'Everyone from children to adults love it. The holiday is incomplete without it,' said Rini, another seller.
A couple of days before Christmas, buyers were seen packing Sanggeng and Wosi markets in Manokwari regency in West Papua, jostling for cookies.
'Demand for various cookies doubles ahead of the holiday,' Warmin Saleh, one of the sellers in Sanggeng market said. A small plastic jar of cookies sells for between Rp 70,000 and 100,000 (US$8).
In Denpasar, the police employ hundreds of pecalang (traditional Balinese guards) to secure Christmas services at 22 churches in North Kuta.
North Kuta Police chief Ronny Riantoko Eppang said that the police had coordinated with the customary villages, which will deploy their pecalang.
'The involvement of the pecalang has become a local tradition where Balinese Hindus support Christians. The police, military, pecalang and each church's security personnel will cooperate to safeguard the services,' Ronny said.
Members of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) will also join the law enforcement personnel to safeguard Christmas celebrations in various regions.
More than 2,500 of NU's Ansor's civilian security guards (Banser) in Yogyakarta and Surabaya will participate in securing Christmas events across the cities.
'They are spread to churches, big and small, in downtown areas and suburbs. We will deploy 10 Banser members to each church,' said Muhammad Asrori, whose organization deployed 600 Banser members in Surabaya for last year's Christmas.
Earlier this week, the National Police launched Operasi Lilin (Operation Candle), a security operation to guard against security threats and traffic problems that could disrupt Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations. They deployed a total of 197,126 personnel.
Indra Harsaputra, Slamet Susanto and Rizal Harahap also contributed to this report
