No 'ketupat' for many Indonesian abroad<\/p>\n
By T. Sima Gunawan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Moslems across the world are busy with their
\nspiritual and physical preparations for Idul Fitri which falls on
\nFeb. 20 and Feb. 21 this year.<\/p>\n
The Idul Fitri atmosphere is strongly felt in every corner of
\nIndonesia. During Idul Fitri, family members gather and children
\nbow crawl on their knees to ask forgiveness from their parents. A
\ntouching moment which often brings tears of joy.<\/p>\n
Not all Indonesian Moslems, however, have the chance to
\ncelebrate Idul Fitri with their families and people they love
\nmost. Many will miss the takbir (recitation of God is great), and
\nketupat (rice cake).<\/p>\n
Yul Mutia Kassimidis, a college student in San Jose,
\nCalifornia, will even miss the shalat Ied or the Idul Fitri
\nprayer.<\/p>\n
"I won't be able to join the Ied prayer because I have a
\nsemester test," she told The Jakarta Post through the Internet.<\/p>\n
This is her first Idul Fitri in USA. She left for America last
\nyear following her marriage to an American who has converted to
\nIslam.<\/p>\n
"There is no Idul Fitri atmosphere on campus or in my
\nneighborhood. Everyday seems like the same, which is a big
\ntemptation to our faith," she said.<\/p>\n
Yul had to explain in detail to her friends on campus why she
\ndid not eat or drink during the day.<\/p>\n
"It was funny. At class breaks, I often sat with my friends in
\nthe cafe. And they kept asking why I would not eat or drink with
\nthem."<\/p>\n
She often called her family in Jakarta when they were having
\npre-dawn meals, just to know what the menu was.<\/p>\n
"I really miss the meal my mother cooks. We don't have kolak
\n(compote and palm sugar in coconut milk) or asinan bangkoang
\n(salted tuber) for the breaking of the fast. And I will surely
\nmiss my mother's ketupat and opor ayam (seasoned chicken) I used
\nto eat during the Idul Fitri celebrations," she said.<\/p>\n
Rully Nasrullah has been in the U.S. for almost two years. He
\nis a college student in Beloit, Wisconsin and majors in economics
\nand management.<\/p>\n
Beloit is a small city with a population of about 35,000.
\nRully has several Indonesian friends on campus, but none of them
\nare Moslems.<\/p>\n
"This is my second Idul Fitri. The first time was very
\ndifficult for me because only a few people here celebrated Idul
\nFitri. But the hardest thing was the fact that my parents were
\nnot here. I couldn't see them to say minal aidin wal faizin
\n(congratulations on Idul Fitri)," he said.<\/p>\n
The most he could do was to call home.<\/p>\n
"I missed the ketupat a lot. I'm really sick of American
\nfood," he said.<\/p>\n
Last year, he said the Idul Fitri prayer with about 25 other
\nMoslems in a small mosque, the only one in Beloit.<\/p>\n
"I went there with several Moslem students from my school, two
\nexchange students from Turkey and two Americans. We started
\npraying at about 10 a.m. Before that, we did the same thing
\npeople in Jakarta do, saying the takbir. We recited Allahu Akbar
\nfor about half an hour, and that was it," Rully said.<\/p>\n
"After the prayer, I went back to school and ate in the
\ncommons. The school provides us with a small room where we can
\ninvite friends over for lunch."<\/p>\n
As Rully has gotten used to being far away from home, he is
\nsure that he can handle the situation better this coming Idul
\nFitri.<\/p>\n
"For sure, I know the meaning of family when they get together
\nafter I 'buzz' in here," he said.<\/p>\n
Unlike Beloit and San Jose, Washington D.C. has a big
\nIndonesian Moslem community. Last year, about 800 people joined
\nthe prayer at the Indonesian embassy, according to Adi Prajitno,
\nwho has been living in the city for nine years.<\/p>\n
Some Indonesian Moslems who lived far from the embassy said
\ntheir Idul Fitri prayers in Islamic centers or mosques in the
\ncity.<\/p>\n
"Like the previous Idul Fitri celebrations, last year we shook
\nhands with Pak Arifin Siregar, the ambassador, and had some
\nsnacks and soda," Prajitno said.<\/p>\n
"After the Idul Fitri prayer, several families went over to my
\nhouse to celebrate and ask for each other's forgiveness. We also
\nhad lunch together. Of course, we didn't have ketupat, but we
\nstill maintained the custom of eating together."<\/p>\n
"My children did not go to school. They celebrated Idul Fitri
\nwith us," Prajitno, a father of five children, said.<\/p>\n
He said on weekends he often received invitations to break the
\nfast or for the tarawih prayer from other Indonesian families.<\/p>\n
Prajitno works for a private company and said that most of his
\nIndonesian friends are happy as their employers are very tolerant
\nwith the Islamic religious rituals.<\/p>\n
Indonesian housekeepers employed by Saudi Arabians living in
\nAmerica work harder during Ramadhan.<\/p>\n
"They told me they had to go to bed late in the evening
\nbecause their employers asked them to do this and that," Prajitno
\ntold the Post.<\/p>\n
Dutamardin Umar, president of the Washington D.C.-based
\nIndonesian Moslems Association in America, said every weekend the
\nIndonesian embassy in Washington D.C. invites Indonesian families
\nto break the fast together.<\/p>\n
Umar, vice president of The Golden Rabbit importer and
\nwholesaler of Indonesian handicrafts, began living in the U.S.
\nfive years ago. About 500 of the 2,000 Indonesians in the city
\nbelong to the Indonesian Moslems Association. The association was
\ninaugurated by Arifin Siregar in 1994.<\/p>\n
"As usual, the coming Idul Fitri celebration will be centered
\nin the Indonesian embassy compound," he said.<\/p>\n
After the prayer, the Indonesians will be invited to the
\nresidence of the ambassador, where they will have Indonesian
\nfood.<\/p>\n
"We will have good food. We can buy the spices and other
\ningredients in oriental food shops. They have bumbu pecel (salad
\ndressing), terasi (fish paste made from shrimp), kecap Bango (soy
\nsauce). If you want to make ketupat or lepat (sticky rice cake
\nwrapped in banana leaves), you can use aluminum foil or plastic
\nstrips instead of janur (coconut leaves) and banana leaves," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
A few days after Idul Fitri, Indonesians usually visit one and
\nanother to ask for forgiveness.<\/p>\n
"A gathering, scheduled to take place in an elementary school
\nin Bethesda, Maryland, on March 3, will end this year's Idul
\nFitri celebrations," Umar said.<\/p>\n
A bazaar will be held during the gathering to raise funds for
\nthe construction of an Indonesian mosque in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
Last year, Idul Fitri celebrations in Melbourne, Australia,
\nwere also joyful, but Widyastuti Purbani, a student at Deakin
\nUniversity, felt empty.<\/p>\n
"It was different from Idul Fitri at home," she said. "We
\ndidn't hear any sound of takbir and there was no beautiful sound
\nof bedug (drums), either," she said.<\/p>\n
It was her first Idul Fitri away from home. A teacher at the
\nInstitute of Teachers' Training in Yogyakarta, she left her
\nhusband and two daughters in February last year only two weeks
\nbefore Idul Fitri, to get her Master's degree.<\/p>\n
Last year she joined around 300 Moslems, mostly Indonesians,
\nfor a prayer at Monash University in Melbourne.<\/p>\n
"On the following day, we went to the Indonesian consulate.
\nNot only Moslems, but every Indonesian was invited. We had fun
\nand good traditional Indonesian cakes," she said.<\/p>\n
This Idul Fitri holiday, she will surely have more fun and
\nmore Indonesian food because she is now in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
"From late in November to early in March, I don't have any
\nclasses. This is a long holiday and I have made every effort to
\ngo home to celebrate Idul Fitri with my family," she said.<\/p>\n
Ari Nafril, a lecturer at Sriwijaya University in Palembang,
\nSouth Sumatra, has been in Saarbruecken, Germany for four years
\ndoing post-graduate studies in environmental toxicology. His wife
\nand children joined him two years ago.<\/p>\n
"Before my wife and children came over, whenever my friends
\nvisited me during Idul Fitri, I served them soda and instant
\nnoodles. After my wife came, they could enjoy pempek (traditional
\nPalembang snack) and tea or coffee," he said.<\/p>\n
There are only 10 Indonesian Moslems in Saarbruecken, some of
\nthem still single.<\/p>\n
Even though his wife and children are around, Nafril cannot
\nease his longing for his mother. He doesn't mind spending a lot
\nof money on long conversations with his 67-year-old mother.<\/p>\n
"If you print my Idul Fitri story, please send a copy to my
\nmother in Palembang," he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-ketupat-for-many-indonesian-abroad-1447893297",
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