Idul Fitri exodus smaller, but it's still a tradition
Bambang Nurbianto and Novan Imam Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Munirah, 28, sat on a mat taking care of her four-year-old boy while her husband, Mat Nur, and her two other children, dozed on the same mat rolled out at the waiting room of Pasar Senen railway station, Central Jakarta.
They had been there for four hours, waiting for an economy- class train that would take them and thousands of others to Pasar Turi station in the East Java capital of Surabaya.
"We have been here since 10 this morning and my train will depart at five in the afternoon. You can see that my husband and children are very tired," Munirah, a resident of Rawa Badak subdistrict, North Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Surabaya is not the end of their journey, though, as they must then cross the Madura Strait before reaching Munirah's hometown in Bangkalan regency, Madura island.
For Munirah and many other migrants, Idul Fitri is a semi- obligatory tradition to get together with their parents and relatives. Therefore, they have always put in a special effort so that they can celebrate Idul Fitri at their hometowns.
Last year, Munirah missed celebrating Idul Fitri with her parents in Bangkalan. Financial limitations forced her to celebrate Idul Fitri at her husband's hometown of Serang in Banten province instead.
It seems that prolonged economic hardship has forced others to cancel their plans for visiting relatives during Idul Fitri.
"I can only go back to my hometown of Wonosobo, Central Java, every other year after I've saved enough money," said another passenger, Slamet.
"Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God), this year I have enough money to return to my hometown," he added.
The authorities expect that nearly two million residents will take part in the Idul Fitri exodus, slightly up on last year.
Records and observation at several bus terminals and train stations, however, have revealed that the number of holidaymakers this year has declined in comparison with last year's total.
"Compared with last year, there has been a 10 percent decline in the number of train passengers so far counted from seven days before Idul Fitri, on Dec. 6," spokesman of state railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) Zainal Abidin told the Post on Tuesday.
"Today the Idul Fitri exodus should have peaked, but we have not yet seen a drastic explosion of passengers until now. I do not know if they will come here tonight. But it is unlikely," he added.
Hasanuddin, an official at Pulogadung bus terminal, East Jakarta, confirmed that the number of travelers had dropped by Tuesday.
"We recorded that Sunday had the highest number of passengers so far -- some 29,965 people, carried on 616 buses," he said.
A similar situation also existed at Kalideres bus station in West Jakarta, according to an official, Mawardian. "There are still so many buses waiting for passengers," he said.
There are a number of reasons why bus and railway stations did not appear as crowded as last year.
Hasanuddin pointed to the fact that this year many companies and factories had chartered buses to carry their employees and workers to their hometowns.
"Such an arrangement provides better and more convenient transport for them," he said.
A well-known producer of instant noodles and jamu (traditional herbal medicine) chartered hundreds of buses to transport vendors of their products to their hometowns.
Hasanuddin also said that the government's decision to extend the Idul Fitri holiday had contributed to the apparently low number of holidaymakers.
"Not to mention that the government has urged companies to pay the THR (Idul Fitri allowance) earlier. These factors enabled employees and workers to go home earlier," he said.
If Munirah and Slamet have to fight and struggle to simply go home, others have the privilege of choosing their mode of transportation by taking airplanes.
This is not to show that they have more money than the likes of Munirah and Slamet but simply to buy more time to spend with beloved members of their family.
"If I take a bus to my hometown, I will have to spend 8 days traveling there and back. I only have 9 days of vacation. It means that I only have one day to spend with my family," said Narvita Sinaga, who was waiting to fly to Medan, North Sumatra at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta Airport.
Meanwhile, Trisni, who works for state-owned insurance company PT Jasindo in Bandung, said that she chose air transportation in order to stay longer with her parents in Padang, West Sumatra.
"If I take the bus to Padang, the Sumatra highway is severely damaged. I think it would take longer than the normal 40 hours for the trip to Padang from Bandung. At the very least, I would waste five days just traveling," she said, adding that she had only 12 days of leave anyway.