'I must fast and carry on working'
Some people admit that fasting could adversely affect their health, but this does not imply that they should be less productive. The Jakarta Post talked to several people about the challenge:
Wahab, 40, is a street sweeper for the City Sanitation Agency. He lives in Pejompongan, Central Jakarta, with his wife and two children:
I keep on fasting even though my job is tough. I believe a duty is something we must do. Fasting and working are my duties.
My family's survival and my responsibility have motivated me to perform my job daily regardless of the hardship.
I thank God for having this job, because being jobless in the city is something that frightens me. I feel grateful to be able to earn Rp 13,000 a day.
The hardest part of my job is when I have to clean the area under the Slipi flyover in West Jakarta, as many sidewalk vendors dispose their garbage there. You have seen it yourself, right?
Fortunately, many vendors are kind as they give us some money for us to clean their areas. Sometimes we can get an extra Rp 10,000 a day. If I work with a friend, we usually split the extra income fifty-fifty.
Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to sort through the garbage (to find recyclable items), because it provides the income of other colleagues.
Abdul, 42, has been a pushcart scavenger for almost 12 years in Pancoran, South Jakarta. He lives in Buncit, South Jakarta, with his wife. His two children live in East Java with his family:
To tell the truth, I don't fast because I have to move around the southern part of the city.
Look, you can see the things in my cart. Do you think I would have enough energy to swing such a big hammer and use a hoe if I don't eat? These are my tools to search for re-sellable items in the debris at construction sites.
After I load my cart with the recyclables, I go back to Buncit to sell them to my boss. If I'm lucky I can earn Rp 40,000 a day.
Should I fast, I wouldn't be able to stand the thirst during the hot day when I have to drag my cart around.
Well, it's better for me not to fast so I can earn my living, rather than to fast and make no money for me to get by.
Wawan, is a teacher at the Lab School in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta. He resides in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, with his wife:
Physically I'm fine, even though I fast. For me it's just a change in our daily mealtimes.
The most challenging thing is that I have to control my emotion during lessons. It's not an easy job to manage the classroom.
Many times my students make me upset, but I have to control myself and hold my tongue so as not to hurt others. At least, I have learned to be less strict towards my students than on non- fasting days.
I agree that working hours should be slightly reduced during the fasting month. I guess it's normal, as we are not as fit as we are during the rest of the year.
I would disagree, though, with having a long holiday for the duration of the fasting month. I think it's unreasonable, and just an excuse to be unproductive.
Ita, 30, is a manager at a private company on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, South Jakarta. She lives in Buncit, South Jakarta, with her colleagues:
I feel fine about fasting during working days. It doesn't even dent my productivity, so it's okay.
I think fasting while working normally is a good idea. When I am busy working, I don't even realize that I'm hungry and thirsty because of fasting. In other words, having nothing to do during the fasting month would surely bother me.
I think the idea to reduce the working hours slightly is quite good, as long as it doesn't affect productivity. My colleagues and I have agreed to cut short our working hours, but only so that we can avoid the traffic congestion during peak hours after work. We usually go home at 7 p.m., but now we leave earlier, at 4 p.m., so we can also break the fast with our families. In order to balance this out, though, we also start working earlier at 7 a.m. so we still work the required eight working hours.
-- Leo Wahyudi S