By: Risyad Natadiningrat
A day after celebrating Indonesia’s 73rd independence anniversary, Indonesian President Joko Widodo commenced the opening of Asian Games 2018 at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium in Senayan, Jakarta. "I hereby declare the 18th Asian Games 2018 open," The president stated in front of a crowd of 50,000 audience members and a broadcast to millions more worldwide. Spanning from August 28th to September 2nd, the president vowed the event would be best Asian Games in recorded history, as he assured breathless sporting action from the continent’s best athletes.
1962 marked the first time Indonesia was assigned to host the Asian Games. Spanning from the 24th of August to 4th of September, the event was officially opened by Soekarno - Indonesia’s first ever president. This event was joined by 1,460 athletes from 17 NOC Asian Countries at the famous Gelora Bung Karno sports center. This multi-event highlights 13 disciplines; aquatic (swimming, water polo, jump), athletic, boxing, bicycle racing (street and track), table tennis, volleyball, basketball, football, hockey, shooting, and gulat. The 1962 Asian Games provides athletes with a total of 372 gold medals.
After a hallmark of 50 years, Indonesia returned to its position as host—this time attracting more than 10,000 athletes in 40 different sports and 67 disciplines. Athletes came from over 45 countries including an addition of new sports such as roller skating, jet skiing, and bridge in the biggest multi-sport extravaganza event outside the Olympics. This year will also be the first time in history to include both electronic sports and canoeing polo.
The opening ceremony of the 18th Asian Games at GBK in Jakarta generated hype for both national and international citizens and delegations. One of the most memorable moments of the night are President Jokowi’s grand motorcycle entrance towards GBK, which captured the attention of live audience members as well as populations from around the world. Prior to his extravagant entrance, a prerecorded video of the president was circulated in the arena. Amidst Jakarta traffic, Jokowi was stuck in gridlock on his way to the opening ceremony before he finally hopped behind a motorcycle to get through the traffic. After numerous stunts and gags, the video ended with the president revving through the stadium live in his motorcycle. After waving to the wildly cheering audience, he later appeared in the VIP box to officially open the event. Alongside Susi Susanti, who won the women’s singles gold at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics, the president lit a cauldron, marking the opening of the Games with the trademark fireworks.
5 interesting facts on the 2018 Asian Games Stage:
The stage covers an area of 1,350 square meters with an artificial mountain spanning 130 meters wide and 27 meters high.
350 people from both Bandung and Jakarta who worked on the mountain ornaments and decoration.
The mountain views are equipped with at least 12,775 of Indonesia’s traditional plants.
The mountain is also equipped with an artificial waterfall as high as 17 meters above the ground. The ornament was made from a 12-meter wide mound with a water load of up to 60 tons. In total, 140,000 liters of water irrigated the artificial waterfall.
3,000 meters of grass are stretched across the front of the mountain.
There are approximately 1,600 female students performing the traditional Saman dance as a prelude to the opening ceremony. This dance was choreographed by the famous Deny Malik, who ensured that the performance would be both rich in color and cultural history. Enhanced by costumes littered with Indonesian motifs and a musical composition by Ronald Steven, the performance articulated a signature blend of Indonesian traditional culture and broadcasted it in a manner which was still appealing to the masses. Energetic music from different performers across Indonesia accompanied the athletes from 45 Asian countries as they joyfully entered the stadium. Both male and female athletes in Garuda outfits filled the stadium as mascots of each country. Via Vallen performed her song entitled “Meraih Bintang” as a means to light up the fighting spirit of Indonesian athletes.
Most notably, this year’s Asian Games strengthened the dialogue between North and South Korea. Athletes of both countries paraded and marched together under the flag of Korean unification.
Out of the multitude of flags, decorations, and the thousands of athletes across the main stage, the color red still managed to stand out amidst the swamping action. As the dominant color, the color red represents strength, cultural diversity, power, and is ultimately symbolic of Indonesia as the energy of Asia. In all, we wish all Indonesian athletes the best of luck!
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