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

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)