Up to 365 Singaporeans who celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival at the Batam View Beach Resort in Batam, Riau Islands, on Sept. 30 reportedly documented the event by posting photos and talked about their experience on social media.

“We ask all of the Singaporeans, expats and permanent residents of Singapore and Malaysia to take a selfie and upload it on their Instagram. We encourage them to share their experience to other internet users,” said Tourism Ministry's archipelago tourism marketing development deputy Esthy Reko Astuti.

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The festival featured interesting activities, such as lantern-release, Mandarin music performances, fireworks and fundraising.

The event was also being live streamed on www.parkirmusik.com. 

“The popularity of Nongsa area in Batam is increasing rapidly […] This is an extremely effective promotion,” she added.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya praised the foreign tourists who promoted Wonderful Indonesia on their social media through the Mid-Autumn Festival in Batam.

“[Thanks to the posts, those who didn't visit the festival] can still enjoy the celebration and consider how fun it is to take a vacation in the crossborder area that’s only 30 minutes from Singapore,” said Arief. (kes)