Flying here for movies1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIndonesian movie buff Ratna Dewi flew twice to Singapore recently for the weekend – just to watch movies. She is among many Indonesians coming here to catch the latest flicks on the big screen.
That is because a tax dispute between the Indonesian government and film importers there has resulted in a five-month blackout of Hollywood films.
Ms Dewi managed to squeeze in eight movies such as Thor and Kung Fu Panda 2 during her two trips here in May and last month, with time for shopping and gambling at Marina Bay Sands.
The two trips cost her about $600 in total, including budget airfare, overnight hotel stay and movie tickets. She can easily buy 80 movie tickets with this amount in Jakarta, but she thinks it is money well-spent.
‘I watch movies almost every day in Jakarta to de-stress. When I could not watch the summer hits, I felt deprived and decided to come here,’ she says.
