Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday joined a celebration for the grand-opening of a medical center at Taiwan's Compassionate Relief Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation's (
In addition to joining the ceremony, Megawati also visited several residents at the center.
PHOTO: JIMMY CHUANG, TAIPEI TIMES
"I am glad that the Tzu Chi Foundation helped these residents to relocate from both sides of the shores of the Angke River to where they are now. However, I had been planning to make this visit when I was still the vice president," Megawati said.
Megawati said she hoped that what Tzu Chi did could inspire more government officials and residents to work hand-in-hand to make Jakarta a better place.
In addition to Megawati and several government officials, the ceremony was joined by a crowd of more than 3,000 people, including government officials, foundation members, sponsors, residents and friends to celebrate the completion of the construction and the grand-opening of the medical center.
The "Perumahan Cinta Kasih" is also a village composed of shelter homes for homeless people whose houses along the Angke River were flooded or destroyed during a flood on Jan. 29 last year. The construction of the village and the medical center began on July 8 last year and was completed on July 5 this year.
"The main reason for the flood was that our residents always throw their garbage into the river. This not only polluted the environment but also blocked the drains," Megawati said.
"We have to show Indonesian people the importance of keeping the environment clean," she said.
Prior to the ceremony which began at 3pm, the foundation's members held a Muslim prayer ceremony for the residents at 10:30am. Ninety percent of the residents in the village are Muslim.
"This is a Muslim country after all. We want to do as the Romans do because we respect the local residents' religion, although the foundation is actually a Buddhist organization," said Rachel Lee (李瑞華), a senior member of the foundation.
"Showing our love toward those who are in need is our priority. Races, religions, nationalities and politics do not matter at all." In addition to the ceremony at the shelter home yesterday afternoon, nearly 50 foundation members arrived in Senen, which is also one of the poorest areas in Jakarta, around 7am to give away 1,000 pieces of free bread which were originally shipped from Taiwan.
Lee said that the bread giveaway was just an initial food supply to the residents who are too poor to maintain and fulfill the needs for basic daily life. The foundation is also planning on donating rice to the residents.
"Each piece of bread costs NT$1.2. It means nothing to us but it means everything to them," said James Lo (
According to Lo, the Senen area has more than 2,400 residents.
Most of them are originally from Java and are making their living by picking up trash and selling useful items from the trash to those who buy them back for recycling.
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