A "spectacular pyrotechnic show," including a simulated volcanic eruption, lit up the Jakarta skyline on Saturday night as Indonesia "rolled out the red carpet" for the continent's elite athletes in the opening ceremony for the 18th Asian Games, according to Amlan Chakraborty of REUTERS. Indonesian President Joko Widodo "made an unorthodox and dramatic entrance" to the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, riding a motorbike onto a stage before officially opening the Asiad. Widodo said to the crowd of 50,000, "During the 18th Asian Games we, the nations of Asia, want to show that we are one in brotherhood." The North and South Korean athletes illustrated that sentiment at a localized level by "marching together under a common flag featuring a map of the divided peninsula." There was a "huge cheer" for the Palestine contingent and Kuwait's team was also able to march after a ban from the Olympic movement, imposed nearly three years ago for government interference in sport, was "provisionally lifted on Thursday." The climax of the ceremony came when former Olympic badminton champion Susi Susanti carried the Games’ torch to the summit of the volcano and "set off a spectacular display of fireworks" (REUTERS, 8/18).
TICKETING ISSUES: In Jakarta, Amal Ganesha reported the Asian Games organizing committee confirmed that Kiostix, its online ticketing partner, "no longer manages its core online service after encountering difficulties with the distribution of tickets for the multisport event." People have reportedly been "struggling to purchase tickets from the company's website ahead of the opening ceremony." On Kiostix's 2018 Asian Games landing page, which has reportedly been offline for several days already, visitors are "greeted with a message instructing them to purchase tickets from other outlets instead." Asian Games Organizing Committee Ticketing Dir Sarman Simanjorang said, "We've received public criticism about Kiostix, whose website is often down, and also about other operational issues. So, from now on, Kiostix will only sell tickets offline, while the online ticketing system will be taken over by Blibli.com" (JAKARTA GLOBE, 8/18).
