The Idul Fitri holiday brought not only joy for most people in Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country, but also more work at home.

A pile of household chores awaited, from preparing for the big holiday feast to stacks of dirty dishes, and the fact that most housemaids were on leave all the while encouraged households to pay extra attention to their domestic management. But thanks to modern-day urban husbands, it is no longer a big deal.

Husband and father-of-one Romy Arifin, an IT consultant who lives in Bintaro, South Tangerang, said he had shared chores and parenting duties with his wife since their housemaid left three days prior to Idul Fitri, which fell on Friday last week.

'€œWe still had two days left of work when our housemaid left for her hometown so I decided to work from home for a day so I could watch our daughter. The next day, my wife took our daughter with her to the office,'€ he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Romy said he and his wife had agreed to share chores without making specific arrangements.

'€œEach of us just does whatever needs to be done, from dirty laundry to dishes and cleaning. As for cooking, we just cook whatever we can or is available in the refrigerator.'€

'€œI did 90 percent of the cooking for the three of us,'€ he added.

He was also anticipating issues as his household'€™s maid might not return from her hometown, leaving the family yet to find a replacement.

'€œOur daughter will return to school next week and as we have yet to find a new helper to watch her at home, my mother-in-law will temporarily lend us a hand,'€ he said.

Yusuf Waluyo Jati, an editor for a national news portal, said he decided to work from his hometown of Yogyakarta while taking care of his 4-year-old child throughout Idul Fitri.

'€œPart of my job is to update news, edit news reports from my field reporters and update the news portal, all of which can be done remotely so long as there'€™s an Internet connection.

'€œAs my job is more flexible than my wife'€™s, I left the capital earlier so I could work from home and take care of our child,'€ he said.

Yusuf pointed out that he could multitask as he got assistance from his parents and other relatives.

After the holiday, Yusuf shared domestic duties with his wife while waiting for their domestic helper to return from her hometown.

'€œMy wife usually prepares meals in the morning before leaving for work when I choose to work from home. When my workload is heavy and I have to go to my office, my wife takes our child to the office,'€ he said.

Household chores were probably not as demanding as in other homes for Tangerang-based husband Indradhi Nugroho, who lives only with his wife. However, domestic arrangements were still inevitable.

'€œI deliberately chose to do easy tasks like organizing clothes or doing laundry with the washing machine. I prefer to not do stuff like ironing because my wife has certain standards. If I failed to meet the standards, she would have to redo it,'€ he said.

Meanwhile, civil servant Ivand Sigiro preferred heavy work to ease his pregnant wife'€™s burden at home. '€œI also do the cooking,'€ he said.

Nur Hasyim, founder of the Alliance of New Men, a movement which promotes gender equality, attributed an increased awareness of equal roles in domestic issues to an extensive campaign on gender equality and social context.

'€œThe Idul Fitri holiday is merely momentum which encourages couples to arrange domestic duties due to the absence of domestic help. However, a massive campaign on gender equality has shed old perspectives on gender roles,'€ he told the Post, adding that, '€œtoday'€™s generation acknowledges women'€™s roles in the public sector and this affects perspectives on roles in domestic duties.'€

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