Sunday, September 5, 2010

Exodus during Hari Raya holidays

On 10 September Muslims all over the world will be celebrating Ied Ul Fitr a.k.a Hari Raya Lebaran after completing 30 days of fasting in the month of Ramadhan.

In Indonesia, people celebrate Hari Raya Lebaran with their families in their home town. Millions of people city dwellers originating from out of town would spend the holidays in their home town. For which purpose offices, schools, and many factories, shops, would be closed for a long holiday i.e. one week before and several days after Hari Raya.

The exodus of many people from city/town would bring positive and negative effects for those who remain. The positive side is that the city/town would not be as crowded as the way it used to be and the roads would be very convenient, free of traffic jam.
The negative side is that security in the city/town would be quite risky as described in the article below that I have quoted from Kompas..

This Should be Warning for Indonesians on The Brink of Lebaran
Jumat, 3 September 2010 | 14:43 WIB
CILEGON, KOMPAS.com - Residents are called on to reactivate neighborhood security system (Siskamling) in Cilegon, Banten, as thefts have begun to increase in the runup to the post-fasting Lebaran festivities, police said.
    
"We have just arrested a thief who stole properties in the house of a resident in Jombang Wetan village in Cilegon," Head of Cilegon Police Precinct Adjunct Snr Com Dadang Rahardja said here on Friday.
    
He said that without waiting, police speedily took actions to hunt the thief as soon as they had received a report from a local resident named Lalan Marlina. Dadang said that the theft was carried out by four thieves but only one of them was arrested. Police were still hunting three others.
    
The thieves succeeded in making off a cash of Rp4 million and a computer’s CPU and LCD. In the face of Idul Fitri holidays, many houses are often left vacant by their owners who returned to their home town to have reunions with relatives or families.

Millions of seasonal passengers travel to their home town to have family reunions during the annual post-fasting Lebaran holidays. During the Idul Fitri holiday season last year,  the number of home-bound travelers reached  about  27.25 million, of which 16.2 million used various public transportation modes while the remaining 11.2 million used private cars and motorcycles.

6 comments:

Passionate Blogger said...

A Timely reminder. I'm thinking about the same too since I'll be celebrating Hari Raya @ kampung. Btw, Selamat Hari Raya Harry, May ALLAH‘s Blessings Fill your Heart & Home with Peace, Happiness and Prosperity.pu

Unknown said...

Ismail/Passionate Blogger,
So you'll be celebrating Hari Raya @ kampung. I'll be in Jakarta because my parents and elderly relatives live here.
Glad to see you on my blog. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing a bit of interesting information about your culture. ~Ron

Yari NK said...

I will be celebrating the eid in Jakarta too. But I'll leave on the first day of the eid. I don't have any place which I can call "kampung" either, since most of my relatives and both my parents will all come to Jakarta to share the festiveness. But no matter where we will be celebrating the eid, as long as we can take the eid festivals properly and remember that it is supposed to be also a spiritual occasion... at least a balance between the mundane and the spiritual occasion.

colson said...

Well, it's a great occasion. The risk of burglars and pickpockets is small in comparison to the spiritual gains and the joy of family ties.

And on top of that a 'long weekend' which lasts ten days! Wow.

Unknown said...

@Ron/The Old Geezer,
You are welcome.

@Yari,
I'll be in Jakarta on 10 and 11 Sept
and back to work on 15 Sept. I also don't have a place called kampung although my parents originated from West Java. The kampung that I would probably visit would be Kampung Sampireun in Garut ... lol.

@Colson,
Yes you are right the risks of burglar and pick pocket would be smaller that the spiritual gain.