Asia Symbol Helps Chinese Soldiers Celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival

Asia Symbol Pulp & Paper Co., Ltd., one of the companies operating under the RGE
Group established by Indonesian entrepreneur Sukanto Tanoto, regularly demonstrates its commitment to local communities. The company conducts business in numerous countries and among people who represent a variety of cultures, and its leadership strives to maintain cultural sensitivity by fostering holiday observances that are meaningful in each locality.

Asia Symbol, which maintains operations in Guangdong and Shandong, China, has been a manufacturing presence in the country since 2005. In celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2014, the company brought traditional mooncakes and holiday greetings to the soldiers stationed near the border in Rizhao, a port city on the Yellow Sea in southeastern Shandong. The soldiers, who might have experienced greater loneliness while being away from their families at such a festive season, benefited from an increased positive connection with the company.

The Mid-Autumn Festival, a joyous event celebrated among people in China and Vietnam, as well as ethnic Chinese living around the world, is also known as the Moon Festival because it falls during the time of year when the moon takes on its most brilliant and roundest form. The second most important of the traditional Chinese festivals after the Spring Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival falls during the eighth month, on the 15th day, according to the Chinese lunar calendar.

A family-oriented holiday, the Mid-Autumn Festival includes the consumption of the traditional mooncakes in a variety of flavors whose roundness symbolizes the reuniting of loved ones. While most people who observe the ancient festival do so at home surrounded by family and friends, others celebrate by enjoying the bright light from the full moon outdoors, in settings of natural beauty or among the tall buildings of today’s industrialized cities.

In addition to its celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, Asia Symbol works to foster community spirit in Indonesia, where it recognizes the traditional Muslim holiday of Puasa, and in other countries in which it does business.