Hundreds Of Beggars Throng Jakarta's Monasteries

Jakarta, Jan 29 (Antara) - Hundreds of beggars hailing from various areas began queuing up at Jakarta`s monasteries ahead of the 2565 Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations. "This is a regular thing ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, wherein beggars start lining up at the monasteries," noted Dharma Bakti Monastery Security Coordinator Heng Halim in Glodok, West Jakarta, on Thursday. Heng added that these beggars come from different regions, but most of them hail from the areas surrounding the monasteries. "The monastery does not offer "ang pao" or fortune money to these beggars. Yet, the visitors usually give some money to the beggars," Heng pointed out. Hayati, a 56-year-old beggar, who was seen in the queue, remarked that she has been queuing up at the temple for the past two days. Hayati, who belongs to Serang, Banten, came to the monastery along with her friends. "A lot of people have not yet come here, but I could only collect Rp two thousand since yesterday," claimed Hayati. Hayati`s daily income usually comes from selling fried food items in Serang, but ahead of the Chinese New Year, she expects to get more fortune money or Ang Pao at the monastery. Hayati has been collecting Chinese fortune money for the past three years, where in 2013, she was able to collect up Rp400 thousand from the people visiting the monastery. Most of these beggars are reluctant to confess that they have gathered for collecting the fortune money, but instead, they only say that they are going for a walk around the monastery. In 2014, the Chinese Lunar New Year 2565 falls on January 31. A number of temples and shopping malls in the region have already stocked up on Lunar red trinkets.