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Jakarta Post

Voters enjoy discounts after casting ballots

Voting day deals: Shoppers visit a Body Shop outlet in Ciputra Mall, Cibubur, East Jakarta, on Wednesday

Vela Andapita (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, April 18, 2019

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Voters enjoy discounts after casting ballots

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oting day deals: Shoppers visit a Body Shop outlet in Ciputra Mall, Cibubur, East Jakarta, on Wednesday. The store, like many other retailers in Greater Jakarta, offered special discounts on election day for buyers who could prove that they voted by showing their inked pinky finger.(Photo Courtesy of Ita Cindy Tania)

For many Indonesians, Wednesday was a special day when they took the opportunity to exercise their right to vote and participated in the national celebration of democracy.

And for many who voted, the day was made even more special by the wide range of discounts offered by a variety of retailers.

Weeks prior to polling day, numerous business owners announced that they would offer discounts on polling day. All the customers would have to do to get the special prices was to show their purple-inked fingers as proof they had voted in Wednesday’s election.

In Greater Jakarta, voters seized the opportunity to buy their favorite food and beverages or other products, as well as obtain free admission to many of the city’s tourist sites.

Kalibata City Apartment resident in South Jakarta Tristania said she did not want to miss the chance.

“My apartment is located just above a shopping mall. It would be a waste if I let the chance slip through my fingers,” she told The Jakarta Post.

The special prices included discounts of up to 50 percent, buy-one-get-one promotions, or associating the price of certain products to coincide with the date, such as Rp 17,000 (US$1.20) to mark April 17.

A steak chain restaurant even offered free rice bowls to customers with the same names as the president and vice-president candidates — Joko, Amin, Bowo or Sandi.

In Bogor, West Java, only a few hours after she voted, 25-year-old Nelly Rachmi went to a small shopping mall with her family and enjoyed a discounted lunch in its food court from several outlets.

She took a picture of her mother slurping noodles from a bowl, posted it on her Instagram account with a caption saying, “After voting, let’s hunt for discounts.”

“The shopping mall itself was not too crowded. But the food court was rather busy, some tenants stopped taking orders during lunch time. It looks like they received too many orders,” Nelly said.

South Jakarta resident Rizka Laksmi also took advantage of the voting day promotions, buying herself a pack of donuts with 60 percent cash back on the way to her friend’s house.

“We talked about the election as we enjoyed the donuts. [...] Whatever our choices are, our friendships should stay strong,” she said.

Yogyakarta native Danuta Pradnya, however, was not able to take advantage of the discounts. As a visitor in the capital city, she could not get an A5 permit letter to allow her to vote in Jakarta. Moreover, she also had to go to work in the morning so she would not have been able to vote anyway in a polling station near her rooming house.

The city administration also joined in the fun, offering free admission for residents to a number of tourist destinations and museums in the city. Residents could enter the facilities for free by simply showing their ink-dipped fingers to the ticket counter personnel.

The city-run sites included Ragunan zoo and Setu Babakan Betawi cultural village in South Jakarta, the National Monument (Monas) and the Planetarium in Central Jakarta.

The museums that were included in the program were the Puppet Museum, Jakarta History Museum, Joang 45 Museum, Textile Museum, Ceramic Museum, Taman Prasasti Museum, MH Thamrin Museum, Marine Archeology Museum and the Maritime Museum.

Taman Impian Jaya Ancol (Ancol Dreamland Park) in North Jakarta also offered 50 percent off the entrance admission to its facilities including Dunia Fantasi, Atlantis Water Adventure, Ocean Dream Samudra and Putri Duyung Resort.

Promotions were also held by online marketplaces like Shopee, Tokopedia and Blanja.com. To get the discounts customers were required to post a photo of their ink-dipped fingers to prove that they had voted.

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