Legal recognition: A newlywed couple wearing traditional wedding outfits poses between ondel-ondel (traditional Betawi effigies) during a mass wedding ceremony at Silang Monas in Central Jakarta on Sunday. The mass wedding, which married 349 couples and broke a national record for the largest wedding podium, was hosted by the National Alms Agency. (Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)
The government-sanctioned
National Alms Agency (Baznas) held a mass marriage of 349 underprivileged
couples at the Silang Monas area in Central Jakarta
on Sunday.
Baznas chairman
Didin Hafiduddin said that most of the couples had only conducted nikah siri (Islamic religious marriages
unregistered with the state) since they were unable to pay for wedding certificates.
The official
rate for wedding certificates is Rp 85,000 (US$8.99).
“We gathered as
many as 349 couples to perform legal marriages so they were able to get their wedding
documents,” he said as quoted by Antara news agency.
“With marriage
certificates, their children can enter schools and eventually increase the
family’s economic status. We consider this program a way to eradicate poverty.”
The youngest
participant was Liawati, 17, while the oldest was 70 years old.
Liawati actually
tied the knot two years ago with Ti’an, 28, a cardboard collector from Bekasi, West Java.
“At that time, I
didn’t have an ID card yet. Now there is this mass marriage ceremony, we wanted
to participate,” she said.
Law No. 1/1974
on marriage stipulates that a bride should be at least 16 years old and a groom
should be at least 19 years old to be legally married. Those under 21 years old
should also get permission from their parents.
Liawati expected
the wedding certificates would make it easier to get birth certificates for
their future children.
Parents who fail
to register their marriages with the state cannot apply for birth certificates
for their children, making it difficult for their children to get formal
education.
Endang and his
wife Juju face this exact problem. Married according to Islamic religious rules
in 1980, the couple now has 4 children who do not have birth certificates yet.
Juju said the
absence of wedding certificates had also prohibited her husband from being
promoted as a civil servant despite having worked for 30 years at the Animal
Husbandry Research Center in Bogor, West Java.
The mass wedding
ceremony was held by Baznas in cooperation with the Jakarta city administration, JakTV and BRI
Syariah to welcome the Islamic fasting month of Ramadhan, which will start next
weekend.
The ceremony was
recognized by the Indonesian Records Museum (MURI) for having the longest pelaminan (wedding podium) in national
history at 325 meters. (yps/nvn)
