Idul Fitri 'losing its color' in Jakarta

Idul Fitri 'losing its color' in Jakarta

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The fasting month of Ramadhan and Idul Fitri celebrations in
Jakarta have lost much of their colorful cultural traditions, a
senior citizen says.

Republika daily newspaper writer Alwi Shahab remembers that
Idul Fitri Eve in the 1940s and 1950s was a special time for
Betawi (native Jakarta) women. Unlike on ordinary days, they were
allowed to spend the evening outside their houses, tasked with
buying flowers for the Lebaran decorations, Alwi said.

Young men used the opportunity to quietly observe the girls by
gathering near flower shops, which were found on all corners of
Jakarta.

"Parents of Betawi girls hoped that some young men would court
their daughters in the days after Lebaran," said Alwi, who has
written about Betawi culture for the newspaper since 1995.

This tradition, however, has vanished along with many others,
including slaughtering cows or buffaloes, baking traditional
Betawi cakes and riding around the city on becak (pedicab).

According to Alwi, who worked as a journalist for state news
agency Antara from 1965 to 1993, a traditional Betawi Ramadhan
used to begin a day before the fasting started, when people
including women, took a bath in the rivers.

"Adults and young women took baths with their clothes on,
sitting on bamboo rafts in the rivers near their houses, washing
their hair with merang (burned rice straw) and kelerak (a fruit
producing soapy foam), while boys peeped at them," he said.

Meanwhile, housewives cooked from a special menu that included
favorites like semur daging (a meat dish with black sauce) for
the first day's saur (pre-dawn meal), which all the members of
the family ate.

During the fasting month, people intensified religious
activities, including tadarus (reading the Koran) and the sholat
taraweh and sholat lil (evening and night prayers).

Alwi said Ramadhan was the peak of religious ritual for
Muslims including the Betawi people, who up until the 1970s put
religion first before holidays and meeting family and friends.

"That explains why there were many people who could read the
whole contents of the Koran three times during the fasting
month," he said, adding that many people in Jakarta's suburbs
still practiced the tradition.

A few days into the fasting month, Betawi men began collecting
sums of money, locally known as andilan (participation fees),
which were used to buy buffaloes and cows.

Families banded together into groups of around 30 to buy a cow
or buffalo to be butchered the day before Idul Fitri, with the
meat distributed to all members of the community. Often, one
kampung (village) managed to buy some 50 animals.

Mothers stayed busy in the kitchen, working for up to 15 days
before Lebaran day, preparing traditional cakes mostly made from
rice, locally known as dodol, kue lapis, kue satu, tape uli,
geplak, wajit and rengginang.

On Lebaran Eve, most residents gathered in mosques for
takbiran (praising God) throughout the night. Meanwhile, young
men banging drums rode around the cities on becak.

On Idul Fitri morning, all families were ready with their
cakes, including ketupat (rice cakes), which were eaten with
semur daging and young papaya after the Idul Fitri prayers.

"Children were very happy during Idul Fitri, not only because
various kinds of foods were available, but also because they got
a lot of money from their parents, adult relatives and
neighbors," Alwi said.