Chinese New Year and the magic behind it

The year of the dragon ended as fast as it came, and the year of the snake soon began. With my exams just around the corner, I thought staying in Jakarta would help me academic wise. Oh how wrong was that assumption.

My dad, being the socialite that he was, received a lot of invitations to parties and dinners from his colleagues. Of course this meant that we had to follow, else we wouldn't be able to receive our source of sustenance for the day. It was then that we had the chance to once again meet and see the lives of many of the richest people in Jakarta, as well as see the huge difference in wealth between the rich and the poor.

The main Jakartian thinking for many locals is that "If I'm going to throw a party, I must as well throw a big one". For the richest people in the country, this was yet another opportunity for the rich to display their wealth, as they so often did during any event that they celebrated. No party I went to came without catering and without servants to clean dirty plates and refill cups. All parties that I attended had at least 40 people, with everyone wearing formal clothing. Think of the best restaurant in your city and all the people dressed up for it. That would probably be what the parties that I attended looked like.

Twice I had to return to Jakarta's Chinatown to meet my dad's friends. The place was bustling with many having fun and having a good time. With Jakarta's lax laws, many were able to fire fireworks into the air which were probably smuggled into the city for cheaper prices. Despite what many people think, some of the ethnic Chinese people who have lived in Indonesia for generations are no different than the Betawi (Jakarta's original people) in wealth and were yet able to have a good time. One of the magical things I see living in a LEDC is that despite many people having no money, many of the people are happy. The trend to me seems to be that the less you have, the more happier you are. This makes sense to a certain extent as you no longer have anything more to lose. Of course, there is a limit of how much you need to be able to obtain monetary wise to gain financial security first before being able to release the stresses of your family expectations.

This is the magic I see in Jakarta, of which its people are probably one of the most happiest in the world. With good economic expectations despite its protectionism laws and positive expected change of the future, who can argue??

How about you my dear readers? Are any of you living in LEDC's? How are the people there?

Let me know.

This is the view from one of my dad's parties on a building of which the guy owns.

Chinatown is nearby here in the picture.

Have a happy Lunar New Year.
Matthew Tan