Bishop of the Jakarta Archdiocese, Cardinal Suharyo, believes that the message of “living as friends to everyone” aims to thwart the rise in hatred stemming from a depleting sense of togetherness among Indonesians.

Suharyo pointed to three indications of hatred, intolerance, and identity politics marking the start of diminishing togetherness in society and often observed in friendships and relations.

"Those are the signs that the sense of togetherness is diminishing among the people as citizens of a country. Such words did not exist 10 years back, thereby translating to the fact that the problem was not as prevalent as it is now," he stated at Jakarta's Cathedral Church, Wednesday.

He highlighted the need for a way out and was optimistic that the 2019 Christmas celebrations would offer a momentum to trounce over hate speeches, intolerance, and identity politics.

This year's Christmas celebration themed, "Live as Friends to Everyone," serves as the initial steps to restore optimism and togetherness among the people.

"Live as friends for everyone to fight the flow of hate speech, the current of intolerance, and the surge in identity politics," he emphasized.

In light of the Christmas celebrations, the Jakarta Cathedral Church held four mass services at 7 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m., and lastly at 5 p.m. local time.

Jakarta's Cathedral Church Archdiocese Public Relations division has projected that some eight thousand people in total had participated in all four mass services. (ANTARA. (ANTARA)

Illustration: A Christmas carol was performed in Jakarta.(ANTARA)

Communication and Informatics Minister Johnny G. Plate is upbeat about peaceful and harmonious Christmas celebrations for the entire nation.

Plate made the statement as minister during his first open house event marked by varying Christmas nuances, featuring arts from Flores, East Nusa Tenggara.

"It is time for us to share our feelings and excitement with others. Strengthen life in harmony as a nation," he stated at his private residence in Jakarta, Wednesday.

He organized an open house to receive invited guests and media reporters on Christmas Day. He expressed hope that Christmas would offer an opportunity to reflect upon ways to build harmony and kinship.

"Concurrently, we hope that the momentum offered by this Christmas would be used for self-reflection and to build harmony and kinship," he noted.

This year's Christmas is the first one for Plate as a minister, as he was sworn in to office in last October. Instead of featuring the typical Christmas songs, Plate chose to introduce arts from Manggarai, Flores, since the area is where he was originally from and to also introduce local creations to his guests.

Moreover, Labuan Bajo, located in Flores, has become one of the tourism destinations prioritized by the government.

"Raising local values and local prowess is part of the efforts to boost the people’s participation in the tourism industry that is currently being developed," he stated.

The minister held a Christmas open house on Wednesday from afternoon until 4 p.m. local time. (ANTARA)

The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.(ANTARA)

Christmas provides people with the moment to reflect on what has transpired in the past year, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has said.

On the sidelines of the 2019 Open House Christmas at his official residence, the Widya Chandra Complex, Jakarta Wednesday, he said the moment was also meant to gather with family.

"We gathered last night with our children and grandchildren, so we certainly reflect for a year on what we have made. My wife and I also reflect. We are also human beings who are full of mistakes," Pandjaitan said.

He also shared his experiences with his grandchildren, he said. He did that while advising them not to repeat their mistakes.

Christmas Day was a moment to also share feelings, including difficulty and happiness, Pandjaitan said.

"That is the essence of life. Life is about sharing our happiness so that we can be comfortable in our environment. I think that is the message of Christmas," he said.

He also mentioned that the message of Christmas around the world was not much different, namely to bring a message of peace and provide happiness. Likewise, was the message carried by other religions, of bringing a message of peace.

Communication and Informatics Minister Johnny G. Plate earlier said he was optimistic about peaceful and harmonious Christmas celebrations for the entire nation.

Plate made the statement as a minister during his first open house event marked by various Christmas nuances, featuring arts from Flores, East Nusa Tenggara.

"It is time for us to share our feelings and excitement with others. Strengthen life in harmony as a nation," he stated at his private residence in Jakarta.

At the open house where he had guests and reporters, he expressed hope that Christmas would offer an opportunity to reflect upon ways to build harmony and kinship.

"Concurrently, we hope that the moment offered by this Christmas would be used for self-reflection and build harmony and kinship," he noted.

This year's Christmas is the first one for Plate as a minister, as he was sworn into office last October. Instead of featuring the typical Christmas songs, Plate chose to introduce arts from Manggarai, Flores, since the area is where he was originally from and to also introduce local creations to his guests.  (ANTARA)

Search and rescue workers will continue to conduct their search and evacuation operations on Wednesday morning, as death toll in the Sriwijaya Bus accident rose, from 24 to 28, Tuesday, at 8 p.m. local time.

"The death toll possibly goes up since the evacuation process will be continued on Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. local time," Head of the Palembang Search and Rescue Agency's Operational and Preparedness Division Benteng Telau stated.

The ill-fated passenger bus plying on the Bengkulu-Palembang route plunged into an 80-meter-deep ravine and crashed in the Lematang River, Pagaralam City, South Sumatra, on Monday evening.

Consequently, no less than 28 people lost their lives, while 13 others survived the accident. The survivors were largely residents of the provinces of Bengkulu and South Sumatra, Telau remarked.

Among the dead passengers were children named Rayhan Ghani (3), Ayu Intan (9), and Fadhil (10), as well as the bus driver, Fery, and his assistant, Yuda Sanjaya. So far, 25 of the 28 bodies could have been identified, he stated.

As reported earlier, the Sriwijaya Bus that crashed into the ravine carried onboard 37 passengers. However, the actual passenger count was yet to be precisely known in the absence of an official manifest.

According to Telau, those surviving this accident generally suffered injuries. The survivors included Basarudin, Hepriadi, Hasanah, Sukiyem, Aisyah Awaliah Putri, Ariri, Lukman, Aldi, Riduan, Darusalam, Riki, Haris Krisyanto, and Khadijah.

The real causes of this fatal accident have yet to be publicly disclosed since the local police's investigation is still underway.

In the past fortnight, Indonesia has borne witness to several fatal traffic accidents.

On Saturday evening (Dec 21), for instance, the Agro Parahyangan passenger train hit a van that was making its way at a railway crossing on Bosih Road in Wanasari Village, Cibitung Sub-district, Bekasi District, West Java Province, killing seven passengers in the car.

"All of them died at the site of the accident," Bekasi Metropolitan Police spokesman Adjunct Commissioner Sunardi stated.

According to eye witnesses, the ill-fated van's driver, Bahrudin, crossed the railway line despite being warned by local residents of the shortly arriving Agro Parahyangan train heading to Jakarta, he remarked.

The traffic accident resulted in the deaths of the 51-year-old driver and six other people in the van: Watinah (50), Santi (30), Didit (12), Yanto, Syarufudin (49), and Yanda (32).

They were residents of the Utan Kayu Selatan Village, Matraman Sub-district, East Jakarta