JABARTODAY.COM-BANDUNG. Bandung mayor Ridwan Kamil has decided that the celebration of New Year’s Eve in Bandung, West Java, will go ahead without a fireworks display as Indonesia is mourning AirAsia flight QZ8501, which crashed into Pangkalan Bun waters, Central Kalimantan, on Sunday.
He said it would be better for Bandung residents to celebrate New Year’s Eve with a mass prayer at the Alun Alun Park or by attending a musical performance on Jl. Ir. H. Juanda.
“We are experiencing a lot of calamities. Bandung residents have shared their aspirations that during this moment of grief, there should be no firework fiesta. So, we decided to cancel it. We want to express our sympathy, but it doesn’t mean that we are sad. We have to be happy welcoming a new thing,” Ridwan said.
The mayor said that chief among the moments of grief that Indonesian people were sharing were the loss of AirAsia flight QZ8501 in the Karimata Strait and the recent landslide disaster in Banjarnegara, Central Java.
Earlier, the Bandung administration had said it had received a contribution from a donor who agreed to hold a 30-minute firework fiesta with around 2,500 projectiles during New Year’s Eve on Wednesday.
Ridwan said even without the fireworks, Bandung’s residents could still enjoy a lively New Year’s Eve celebration in the city by attending musical performances in the Car Free Day area on J. Ir. H. Djuanda. (ebf/Arya Dipa/The Jakarta Post)
