Hard-up vendors say Idul Fitri will be spent far for home

JAKARTA (JP): With business still bad for many sidewalk vendors, they are looking at the probability of not spending the post-fasting month holiday of Idul Fitri in their hometowns.

Several vendors said on Wednesday that the trip home would be too expensive.

For some, it is their second consecutive Idul Fitri far from their villages.

"I did not join the exodus for Idul Fitri last year and I think it will remain the same this year," said Rumi, a cigarette vendor at Bendungan Hilir market in Central Jakarta.

The 51-year-old woman from Jamblang in West Java said she borrowed Rp 500,000 (about US$71) from a neighbor in her hometown last June.

"If I cannot return the money on time (during Idul Fitri), I prefer to stay here during the holiday," the mother of two said.

"It's difficult to collect such an amount of money, as my daily income of about Rp 15,000 always ends up being used for daily expenses."

She said she might continue working during the two-day holiday, predicted to fall on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9. Fasting began on Thursday.

It is a frenetic tradition for the city's residents, most of whom are migrants, to return to their hometowns to celebrate Idul Fitri with their families.

Almost one third of Jakarta's population, now numbering about 10 million, join the exodus annually. For several days before and after Idul Fitri, the capital's deserted streets and markets give it the appearance of a ghost town.

A gado-gado mixed vegetable vendor on Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta, Dedi, also complained about the expense of returning home.

"I always spent the entire Ramadhan in my hometown in the past, but this year it is not possible. Earning money is more difficult now," said the 25-year-old native of the small West Java town of Luragung.

Saving

A vendor at Jatinegara Market in East Jakarta, Amril, said he considered saving money to be more important than celebrating Idul Fitri in his hometown in Lampung.

"I should sacrifice that wish because my three grown-up children need money for their studies, and earning money has become more difficult recently," he said.

The city's traditional markets were busier than usual in recent days as people purchased special food to mark the first breaking-of-the-fast meal at sunset on Thursday.

Business was brisk at Jatinegara market, as well as Bendungan Hilir and Tanah Abang markets in Central Jakarta, until late afternoon.

People flocked to Jatinegara Market well past 3 p.m.

Special fasting month dishes, including kurma (dates) and kolang-kaling (sugar palm fruit), were available in almost every traditional market.

A vendor at Jatinegara, Sari, said he would temporarily quit selling vegetables and turn to hawking sugar palm fruit during the fasting month.

"It's like a once-a-year good business. After Ramadhan, I will return to being a vegetable trader again," he said.

At Tanah Abang Market, people surrounded a date vendor, who claimed to provide the dried fruit from Tunisia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The fruit sold for Rp 9,000 to Rp 13,000 per kilogram.

A housewife, Maryam, from nearby Kebon Melati subdistrict said Ramadhan without dates would be "incomplete".

People were also observed buying new clothes and shoes, although Idul Fitri, when new clothes are donned for visits to relatives and friends, is still a month away. (ind)