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Weekly 5: Idul Fitri a la Jakarta

JPIdul Fitri has always been closely associated with being homeward bound from the big city to the small towns and villages

The Jakarta Post
Fri, July 10, 2015

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Weekly 5: Idul Fitri a la Jakarta

JP

Idul Fitri has always been closely associated with being homeward bound from the big city to the small towns and villages. However, although much deserted, Jakarta is still alive and kicking during the Idul Fitri holiday. Here are five features of Idul Fitri in Jakarta:

'€˜Ketupat'€™

Dining time over Idul Fitri is closely related to having ketupat (diamond-shaped rice cakes wrapped in woven palm leaf pouches). Served with other special foods, like opor ayam and sambel goreng, ketupat is a necessary side dish for breakfast, lunch and even dinner.

This tradition, therefore, boosts demand for empty ketupat pouches in traditional markets as more and more people prefer to buy them rather than make the pouches themselves.

The demand for ketupat pouches can grow tenfold, according to Burham, a 40-year-old seller in Palmerah, West Jakarta. '€œI can sell 20,000 pouches every day in Ramadhan. Meanwhile, only 2,000 pouches are traded daily in other months,'€ he said, adding that empty ketupat pouch orders would reach a peak two days prior to Idul Fitri.



Staying at hotels

Though a large number of Jakartans leave for mudik, the mass exodus tradition, some others '€” particularly those not celebrating Idul Fitri '€” prefer to spend their holidays by staying at hotels, where they don'€™t have to worry about household chores.

Cashing in on these people'€™s preferences, hotels in the city offer special promotions to ensure high occupancy.

The Pullman Hotel on Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta, for instance, offers a '€œLebaran Shopping Vacation'€ promotion through which customers staying at least two nights between July 11 and 26 will get dining and shopping vouchers, in addition to free daily laundry service for four pieces of clothing.

'€œDuring Idul Fitri holidays, we particularly target non-Muslim customers as usually they stay in the city, instead of going on mudik,'€ said Pullman Hotel public relations officer Intania Prionggo.

Idul Fitri hampers

Over Idul Fitri, Indonesians, including Jakartans, send hampers of cookies, snacks or dining wares as a long tradition.

In Jakarta, people can buy or request special hampers, locally known as parsel, from sellers who appear in several areas, like Jl. Cikini Raya in Central Jakarta, only during Ramadhan.

Adi is among the sellers on Jl. Cikini. In other months, Adi is a florist in the Cikini flower market, while during Ramadhan he sells hampers in front of the Cikini station. Offering the parcels at between Rp 200,000 and Rp 500,000 each, Adi can reap up to Rp 2 million in revenues per day.

'€œHowever, [revenues] decreased a few years ago when local officials were no longer allowed to receive gifts,'€ said Adi, who has been selling parcels on Jl. Cikini for 30 years. He added that currently most of his customers came from private companies, or as individuals.

JP/Don
JP/Don

'€˜Lebaran'€™ laundry

Instead of enjoying holidays, many families in Jakarta, especially those with kids, often have to face piles of domestic tasks over Idul Fitri as their domestic workers return to their hometowns. However, some laundromats remain open to help these families'€™ with their dirty clothes.

One of these laundry shops is D'€™Purple Laundry and Dry Cleaning on Jl. Kebon Jeruk Raya, West Jakarta. The shop, which charges Rp 15,000 per kilogram of dirty clothes, even provides pick-up service at their customers'€™ houses.

Henry, D'€™Purple manager, said that the laundry saw its revenues almost double during the holiday.

Open houses

Silahturrahmi, or visiting each other during Idul Fitri, has been a long tradition in the country, including in Jakarta. Some public figures, in particular top officials, open their houses to the public during Idul Fitri.

Some open-houses attract many people coming from many areas. This kind of open house is usually held by well-known officials, like presidents, governors, or city council members.

An open house held by President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo at Jakarta City Hall in 2014, for example, attracted thousands of people who lined up to pass through metal detectors that were guarded by two internal security officers and seven police officers.

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