Reflection of heritage in grand opening

JAKARTA :  Indonesia's world-famous traffic problems were highlighted by none other than President Joko Widodo during a slick Opening Ceremony at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium. Widodo drove a motorcycle — or at least that’s what the montage on the screen showed — to the stadium after the presidential convoy was stuck in traffic. The clip, on two giant screens, showed Widodo as a helmet-clad biker whizzing through traffic. 

That act — the initial one in a two-hour function where the ceremony celebrated its rich heritage and culture — brought the roof down. Their shrieks were so loud that it resembled scenes from first-day-first-show Rajinikanth movie in Chennai. After Widodo declared the Games open, the four main tableaus — depicting the country’s long relationship with water, earth, wind and fire — was enacted amid a wave of pyrotechnics. While water not only represented the country’s natural beauty, it also showed the conflict it created with the early settlers.

Earth tried to capture the island nation’s diversity through various dance forms. Wind acted as baton as the passing of knowledge from one generation to the next while fire brought it with the climax to a fun-filled evening: former badminton champ Susi Susanti lighting the flame. The ceremony also witnessed two Koreas marched as one, a first at he Asian Games. It brought the biggest cheer and INASGOC president Erick Thohir also mentioned it. “We are all here to celebrate diversity, we are all here to celebrate differences, we are here to celebrate humanity.”