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Jakarta celebrates 487th anniversary in style
Morning exercise: Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu (left) and Netherlands Ambassador to Indonesia Tjeerd de Zwaan cycle together in Old Town, West Jakarta, on Sunday
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span class="inline inline-center">Morning exercise: Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu (left) and Netherlands Ambassador to Indonesia Tjeerd de Zwaan cycle together in Old Town, West Jakarta, on Sunday. The two attended the Kota Tua Creative Festival 2014, which was held on June 21 and 22 to commemorate the city's anniversary. JP/P. J. Leo
The events held to celebrate Jakarta's 487th anniversary ended with a bang over the weekend.
Tens of thousands of people swarmed the streets between the National Monument (Monas) and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Saturday night to attend the Jakarta Night Festival 2014, which featured music and art aplenty.
Hundreds listened to music near the traffic circle, while others were engrossed in conversation or were taking 'selfies' with their friends.
Reza Alamsyah from Slipi, West Jakarta, said that he had gone to the festival to take photos with his new SLR camera. 'I think there will be plenty of opportunities to take photographs here,' he said.
The event committee had scheduled dozens of performances across nine stages set up along the main drag from Monas to the traffic circle.
Matthew Buckley from Australia, said that he especially enjoyed the traditional percussion.
The Jakarta Night Festival is an annual event held in June every year in celebration of Jakarta's anniversary, which falls on June 22. It was held this year on June 21 from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. and the security of revellers was guaranteed by 5,000 officers deployed by the Jakarta Police.
The festival marked the culmination of a string of events since June 1, including the Jakarta Great Sale, the Palang Pintu Festival and two fairs: the Jakarta Fair and the Jakarta Folk Fair.
Acting Jakarta governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama, who opened the festival on the main stage at the National Museum, emphasized that the administration was trying to make Jakarta a more organized, modern city.
'I thank Jakarta's citizens for being patient while we modernize this city. I hope you can contribute by not littering,' he said.
Ahok said that the Jakarta Night Festival should be an annual event because it offered Jakartans a night of free entertainment
Resident Ade Irawan said he had to park his motorcycle some distance from the activity because the police had made the area motorized-vehicle free.
'Parking quite far away was fine because my wife and son were excited to attend,' Ade said.
On Sunday, Jakarta was further enlivened by the Jakarnaval, which was in the same area as the Jakarta Night Festival.
Besides the events organized by the administration, there were also other events organized by private entities like the Kota Tua Creative Festival held in Old Town in West Jakarta.
Ancol Dreamland and Ragunan Zoo also marked the anniversary by not applying an entrance free for
the day.
On Sunday, however, Ahok's anniversary speech was heavy with bitterness. He said the city had failed to win Adipura, the government's cleanliness award, and its financial reports had been downgraded by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).
Ahok also said that Jakarta had left Musabaqah Tilawatil Quran (MTQ), a Koran recital competition, in Batam, Riau Islands, earlier this month without securing first place.
He acknowledged all those shortcomings but was quick to defend the shortcomings as being 'the real Jakarta'.
For example, he said, he had asked the MTQ committee to ensure the Koran recital team were actually from Jakarta, even though this would mean Jakarta would likely fail to win first place.
'Jakarta used to get the grand prize. But this year, we had to swallow a bitter pill because we only got sixth place. However, this time the participants were real Jakartans. So, don't be ashamed if it is the reality,' he said as quoted by kompas.com.
'I have also always wondered why Jakarta always won Adipura. It's probably because the jury only judge Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin. But look at our rivers, they are full of garbage,' he went on. (idb)
