In Jakarta
TODAY, September 1, is the start of the fasting month in many parts of the Muslim world. (Some countries will begin fasting on Sept 2)
In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, daily work schedules are adjusted accordingly, and things move at a slower pace. Muslims wake up very early to have their meals, usually an hour before dawn. They then fast from dawn to dusk - no food, drinks or sex please!
The following are some of the once-a-year sights and sounds that accompany the month of Ramadan in Jakarta.
- Around lunch time and in the early afternoon, Muslims crowd the many stalls that sprout during Ramadan to buy food to take home, or to eat in the office, later.
Unlike other months, many, many more roadside stalls spring up and they sell anything from hot food to cold drinks to kuih (local cakes) for breaking fast.
A top favourite is kolak - a sweet porridge similar to bubur chacha, but filled with sliced bananas. These are packed in plastic bags that costs 4,000 rupiah each (about 50 Singapore cents).
- Workers usually leave office at 4pm (Jakarta time), but during the fasting month, people begin streaming out of their offices at 3pm.
As everybody want to break fast at home with families (at around 6pm), the daily traffic congestion thus begins one hour earlier. The earlier crush also means that the roads are clear by 6pm, when most people are sitting around the dinner table!
- The upper middle class tend to congregate at top hotels and restaurants to break their fast. These are mostly done buffet style which costs around 150,000 rupiah (S$30) per person.
- For the pious, there are special prayers held in mosques in the evenings during the month. And, at the end of the prayers, many people usually gravitate towards food stalls and restaurants for snacking. The prayers thus become social events in themselves.
- The annual balik kampung (return to one's hometown) migration will occur one week before Lebaran (the end of the fasting month which Singaporeans call Hari Raya Puasa).
With millions of people expected to return to their hometowns and villages, the rush has started to buy bus and train tickets.
The day population of Jakarta is 12 million and the night population 9 million (the other 3 million are day workers who return to the neighbouring districts after work). So even if a quarter of those 9 million people decide to visit their hometowns during Lebaran, that would mean 2.25 million people on the move.
Time to break fast soon. I'd better make a move now!