It's Idul Fitri tomorrow, and being as it the last day of Ramadan, today would be a good time to engage in self-contemplation before the big celebration. In the next few days, it is most likely that we will all be too preoccupied and consumed by endless meetings with relatives and friends and big feasts and banquets to remember that there are many people amongst us in Indonesia who are far less fortunate than we are, and who, for whatever reason, cannot partake in the celebration to mark the day of victory over evil.

Islam also mandates that Muslims pay the obligatory alms for the poor, zakat fitrah, before Ramadan ends. With this almsgiving comes self-contemplation.

Many people in this country are still living in abject poverty. Using the international definition of living on less than US$2 per day, more than half of Indonesia's population is considered poor or nearly poor. Using government statistics, the poverty rate is around 15 percent of the population. Whichever definition we use, we are talking about millions of people -- that's millions too many. Muslims fasted for 30 days during Ramadan to purify themselves, at least spiritually speaking. For the poor, going hungry is an all-year affair, not by choice but rather forced upon them by circumstances.

The deadly stampede in the East Java town of Pasuruan at the beginning of Ramadan is the strongest reminder about the true state of poverty in this country. Forget the UN or government statistics, and ignore the chest-beating, self-congratulatory bluster of government officials announcing that the poverty rate is declining.

The fact that thousands of people, women and children, flocked to the house of a local wealthy person as soon as they learned he was giving out alms money, only to be caught in the stampede, serves as a warning as to how desperate the situation really is on the ground. The tragic episode was caught by some TV news cameras, but it's not so much the vision of the tragedy as the eerie sound of screaming women and children trapped in the stampede that continues to haunt us throughout the remaining days of Ramadan. Why a graceful act such as almsgiving should end in tragedy baffles the mind.

Poverty, a deadly one at that, in times of plenty? Isn't the economy supposed to have rebounded with gross domestic product growing by more than 6 percent annually these past four years? Aren't government officials going around telling everybody that things have gotten a lot better in the last four years? They are probably telling the truth as far as aggregate economic figures are concerned, but isn't this an indication that the poverty gap, which is the disparity between the wealthy few and the massive numbers of the poor, has been widening?

Millions of people have obviously been excluded from the stories about Indonesia's economic recovery that we read or see in newspapers and television headlines every day. Many high school and even college graduates find an unwelcoming if not hostile labor market already filled to the brim with millions of other equally anxious or desperate job seekers who have waited several years for their turn.

With a global economic recession just around the corner, we have not heard any warning from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Jusuf Kalla and financial and monetary authorities about what awaits the nation in the months to come. Instead, we keep getting assurances that our economic fundamentals are fine, that our budget is safe and that Indonesia is pretty much insulated from the volatility of international financial markets.

Reassuring words or election posturing? The government should really come down and take a look for themselves at the situation on the ground, and we don't mean going on the presidential Safari Ramadan, with the schedule announced beforehand so local officials can show that everything is all right and hence hide poverty from the President's eyes and the eyes of the accompanying reporters. The President is leading the rest of the nation in a state of denial about the reality of the extent of poverty in the country.

Now that we are coming to the end of Ramadan, we should all show some humility and be honest with ourselves, acknowledging that there is still a large section in our society who has been excluded from the economic recovery some politicians are touting for whatever reason. It is not the intent of this editorial to be a party pooper. The celebration, and the feast, is also mandatory at the end of the month-long Ramadan fasting month. But self-contemplation, especially about our failings, should also be part and parcel of Idul Fitri.

And as tradition also mandates, we sign off this editorial sincerely begging for forgiveness from everyone. Happy Idul Fitri.

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