The 28-year-old girl, Tia Hasanah from North Jakarta said that she arrived at the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex on Sunday at 9 a.m. and have been waiting for 7 hours to enter the Official Merchandise SuperStore, located in front of the Bhin-Bhin Zone of the Asian Festival in the Sports Complex in Jakarta.
There were still around 50 people in front of her, queueing, meanwhile, the Store staff had yet to re-open the store door as it was very crowded inside.
"I have been here since 9 a.m., some people even arrived at 7 a.m., but we cannot come in yet because there are so many people inside," she said.
In the fourteenth day of the 2018 Asian Games, she suggested for the committee to be more anticipative in facing the enthusiasm of the visitors. There had been many people who wanted to buy the souvenirs in the last few days, but the sales are still being concentrated in one spot.
She wished that the committee would open a few stores within the GBK area, so that the masses can be separated, instead of going to one spot at the same time.
"It is a shame that they only have one store, as there are a lot of people here. It would be more convenient if it can be spread," she said.
The queue of visitors who want to enter the official gift shop is indeed very long. The official souvenir shop is located near the entrance of the Bhin-Bhin Zone, but the queue of visitors snaps up to the front of the Pavilion Zone entrance.
The length of the queue reaches more than 500 meters and many visitors are forced to sit in the streets while waiting in line.
A visitor from Bekasi, Caesar (22) asked the committee to ensure the availability of souvenir stocks, as he was still lining up at a distance of 500 meters from the shop entrance and has been standing in line since 11 a.m.
He was reluctant to buy the items online or at souvenir shops outside of the GBK because he wanted to experience the atmosphere of the 2018 Asian Games.
"I wish they had more souvenir shops, I could spend so much time just queueing up here. The Sports Complex is wide, maybe it is better to have some other official souvenir shops," he said.
Souvenirs hunted by Caesar and Tia included the stuffed animals of three 2018 Asian Games mascots namely Atung, Kaka and Bhin-Bhin.
The 2018 Asian Games has entered its final day. A total of 75,000 festival tickets were prepared by the 2018 Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC) this Sunday.
Reported by Indra Arief Pribadi
Edited by Aria Cindyara, Suharto
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
