If You Don't Work, You Can't Celebrate Eid

JAKARTA — The moment of Eid al-Fitr is synonymous with the warmth of gathering with family at home. However, this is not the case for Mansur (46), a temporary cleaning staff member at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) in East Jakarta. Amidst tens of thousands of visitors crowding the tourist area during the Eid holiday, the man from Cilangkap, East Jakarta, instead has to toil away cleaning piles of rubbish with a broom and dustpan. Mansur admits he actually wants to celebrate Eid with his family. “I have to set aside my ego. If I don’t work, I can’t celebrate Eid either,” Mansur said. Although he now holds the status of temporary staff, Mansur is not new to TMII. He has worked as a cleaning staff member since 2011. However, in 2024, he was affected by staff reductions, so his contract was not renewed. “So now I’m not working, after being laid off before, but sometimes like this I’m called during the Eid season. All the temporary staff here were formerly TMII employees,” Mansur said. During this year’s Eid period, Mansur along with four of his colleagues were called back as temporary staff from the first day of Eid, 21 March to 30 March. During that working period, he works eight hours a day with a wage of Rp 150,000. “Insha’Allah, whatever is there, I’ll make do with it. Even like this, I’m very grateful to TMII for calling me back as temporary staff; at least I have income for Eid,” he said. Mansur describes this year’s Eid as one of the hardest for him.