Aman Trisabdo Utomo, 50, wiped beads of sweat of his face after a penghulu (Muslim wedding official) officiated his marriage with Ipah, 39.

Aman had to repeat the ijab kabul (wedding vow) four times as he repeatedly failed to pronounce the vow properly.

“I was a bit nervous. I felt like everyone was looking at me,” said Aman on Sunday evening, who has an adolescent son with Ipah, whom he married around two decades ago through nikah siri (unofficial, unregistered marriage).

“Hopefully things will get better after this, particularly concerning administrative matters for my son,” said Aman, who lives in Bendungan Hilir, Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta.

Four hundred and thirty-seven couples from 276 subdistricts were registered to take part in the mass wedding event organized by the Jakarta provincial government as part of the administration’s New Year’s Eve celebration.

Each subdistrict was encouraged to register at least two unmarried couples for the event.

“I hope to build a happy family,” said 19-year-old Saputro, who married his lover Nur Hikmah, 17. Both are residents of Kalibaru in Cilincing, North Jakarta.

Taking place at Thamrin park-and-ride in Central Jakarta, the 8,710-square-meter area was heavily decorated and infused with Islamic and Betawi adornments.

Music and ondel-ondel (giant Betawi effigies) performances entertained the newlywed couples and their families.

“This is an opportunity for us to fulfil one of our responsibilities in ensuring that their marriage statuses are acknowledged by the state. Many of them are economically challenged, which affects and complicates the family’s civil registration,” Governor Anies Baswedan said in his speech.

Couples whose marriages are not recognized by the state, a problem believed to be pervasive in the country, often face difficulties when dealing with administrative matters, which can lead to complications such as their children’s basic rights being denied.

“There are more than 540 couples who were registered for the mass wedding event. However, after undergoing administrative verification, only 437 couples met the requirements,” said Hendra Hidayat, the head of Jakarta’s Mental and Spiritual Education Bureau.

“Some of them failed to meet the requirements because they were either still underage or could not prove that they had divorced their previous spouses. We want to avoid any kind of dispute in the future,” he added.

The 1974 Marriage Law sets a minimum age of 21, but with parental consent, boys are allowed to marry from age 19 and girls from 16.

The administration received support from sponsors in holding the event. State-owned mining company PT Aneka Tambang provided 1 gram of gold to each couple, while the Jakarta Muslim Charitable Donations Board assisted them with a set of prayer materials as a dowry. Bank Mandiri Syariah, meanwhile, opened a bank account for each of the 874 participants.

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