BATAM - RIAU ISLANDS

Batam is an island and city in Riau Islands Province of Indonesia, known for its free trade zone area as part of the Sijori Growth Triangle, is located 20 km (12.5 miles) off Singapore's south coast. The 715 km² (276 miles²) island has a population of 1,025,044 (June 2010).

Batam is located east of Karimun and Bulan Island, west of Bintan, north of Rempang, and south of Singapore. The Riau Strait (Selat Riau) separates Batam and Bintan. The biggest community on the island is Nagoya. Other main communities include Sekupang, Jodoh, Sungai Panas, Batam Centre, Baloi, Batu Ampar, and Bengkong.

The official language on the island is Indonesian, and due to the sizeable Chinese population, Chinese languages including Teochew, Hokkien and Mandarin are also spoken.

The indigenous community of Batam are ethnic Malays and they speak Malay in the Riau-Lingga accent which is also the accent of the Malays in Singapore and the Malaysian states of Pahang, Johor and Selangor.

The island is connected by several ferry services to nearby cities, including Bintan, Karimun, Singapore and Johor Bahru (Malaysia); the trip to Singapore takes less than one hour.

Hang Nadim Airport is the island's airport, and has the longest runway in Indonesia; Jakarta is the most important destination.

The "Barelang" bridges are a major landmark on Batam. The name is an abbreviation of Batam-Rempang-Galang, the three major islands connected by the bridges, and 3 more smaller islands. The bridges were constructed under Habibie as the Minister for Research and Technology with funding from the German government.

From Wikipedia

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BAGANSIAPIAPI - RIAU

Bagansiapiapi (also known as Bagan 峇眼 (Pinyin : Bayan) or Baganapi 峇眼亞比 (Pinyin : Bayanyabi)) is a small town near Dumai, Riau, Indonesia. The town is the capital of Rokan Hilir Regency in the Riau Province and is located on the east coast of Sumatra, on the Rokan River delta across the strait west of Malacca.

The town was originally populated mainly by Chinese immigrants who arrived at the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th century. Initially eighteen Chinese nationals sailed to Bagansiapiapi around 200 years ago and settled on the delta.

All were from the family named Ang / Hong. More followed, searching for a new life and seeking to avoid the economic hardships prevalent in Hokkian Province in China (Pinyin : Fujian) at that time.

Most of the Chinese population are Hokkianese, originating from Tang-Ua (Pinyin : Tong'an) now part of E-Meng (Pinyin : Xiamen), Kim-Mng (also known as Kinmen or Quemoy) (Pinyin : Jinmen), and Cin-Kang (Pinyin : Jinjiang). Some Teochew (Pinyin : Chaozhou), living mainly in the southern part, and a minority of Khek/Hakka also populated the town. Most of Chinese population communicate using the Tang-Ua dialect of Hokkianese.

Bagansiapiapi was one of the largest fish producers in the world during the late 1980s and early 1990s, ranking third in the world. Bagansiapiapi is also famous for swallow nest farming. Indonesia's bird's nests are famous for their quality and are well liked by consumers. This industry has lead Bagansiapiapi into a new era of economic growth, involving investment, high activity in building construction and export growth.

Every year, the Chinese community celebrates the anniversary of Bagansiapiapi, on the 16th day, of the 5th month of the Lunar year, believing that the initial immigrant group landed at Bagansiapiapi on that day, known as "Bakar Tongkang" or Barge Burning.

The ceremony is also to respect Kie Ong Ya (The Gods of Sea) and held with very wonderful ritual attraction & parade. They had brought these statues from China mainland. They believed that those gods had guaranteed them with safety during their sailing to Bagansiapi-api. To show their gratefulness for the safety and prosperity they had received from the sea, as well as honoring the gods, this Chinese ethnic of Bagansiapi-api, then carries out the ritual of Barge Burning, which is conducted every year.

The praying process is conducted on days 15, 16 of the 5th month of Chinese calendar. Thousand peoples are coming from various cities in Indonesia and countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong etc to attend this ceremony. One interesting section during this ceremony is when the barge’s mast broken down, the direction of its falling is shown which subject will have lucky in the next year.

This event has been done since 1920. During this event it is not surprising that most of the hotel in the city has been fully booked by the Chinese people who arrive from all districts to attend this attraction.

Some sources say that this ritual of Barge Burning is actually carried out to commemorate the birthday of Sea Gods called Kie Ong Ya. This ritual has some specific characteristics that can not be found in other parts of Indonesia. Now this ritual has become one of the national's tourism attraction.

In recent years, urbanization has been an issue. Most of the youth leave the town after high school to pursue a better life, or higher education in larger cities. They normally return for the traditional family reunion during the Lunar New Year celebrations.

Fishing Town
In the 1980s Bagansiapiapi was one of the largest fish producing towns in Indonesia, and the second highest producer of fish in the world, after Norway.

The fishing industry started with the first wave of Chinese immigrants, attracted to the area by the availability of abundant fishing. The town's heyday came under the jurisdiction of the Dutch East Indies, around 1930, when the fisheries produced 300,000 tons of fish per year. The annual production has fallen since, being particularly affected by a collapse of fish numbers since the 1970's, by which time over 800 trawlers based in the town were fishing the Shunda Shelf. The trawling ban in Indonesian waters, introduced in 1980, has had a significant effect on the economy of the town.

TransportationTransportation has been an area of concern for the government, as there is currently no airport. Bagansiapiapi is reached by road, being some 6 hours from Pekanbaru, capital of Riau, and 2.5 hours from Dumai. From North Sumatra and Medan the travel time by road is about 11 hours.

The local government has an ongoing policy of improving the town infrastructure, including the widening of roads and improving street lighting.

In June 2008, a new ferry line opened from Port Dickson, Malaysia, with a travel time of three hours.

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Payday Loan

Payday loans are not only meant for emergency financial needs in-between paydays. These are not only for hospitalizations and unplanned car or house repairs. These can be used for extra expenses that are likely to occur during holidays. Some of these holidays are Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Thanksgiving is usually celebrated with a turkey, and Christmas means gifts to be given. But these two holidays are too near each other. And these can easily drain a person's finances.

To help the beleaguered pockets of persons celebrating the holidays, and to prevent spoiling the cheerful seasons because of a lack of funds, a few lenders offer holiday payday loan. Like the usual payday loans, these holiday loans can be obtained by submitting an online application. The processing is also as quick. That is, the loaned amount can be obtained the next day.

If you need cash and you need it fast, then a no fax payday loans may be the best option for you.

For example, when a person does not have enough money to buy food for the Christmas Eve, he may file for a loan on the day before Christmas Eve and get the needed money in the morning, with enough time to shop. Cash advance loans are a great way to meet your unexpected needs like car repairs, hospital emergencies, and maybe that unexpected traffic ticket.

Holiday payday loans, like the regular payday loans, can be obtained if a person meets the usual minimum requirements. There will be no credit checks and often, no faxing of documents. But what makes holiday loans different from regular payday loans is the main purpose of the loan, which is to meet extra expenses.

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