It's spend, spend and spend (almost) as usual

It's spend, spend and spend (almost) as usual

Religious traditions do not die even in times of acute
economic crisis. As Christians marked Christmas, and Muslims will
be observing Idul Fitri this month, we asked respondents in this
survey how they planned to celebrate these festivities when the
going is rough for just about everybody.

JAKARTA (JP): While almost no one is spared the impact of the
economic crisis, most people in this country say they are
celebrating the religious festivities the best they can.

A new survey conducted just before the Christmas holiday found
that nearly 37 percent of 1,250 people questioned said they were
celebrating either Christmas or Idul Fitri, which falls on Jan.
19, the way they have always done in the past.

Others said they would cut down on some frills; new clothes
top the list for the axe for many people, followed by food,
gifts, greeting cards, and even traveling.

This explains why shops selling clothes have seen sales
slacken and why you have received fewer than usual greetings
cards.

The result also confirms the suggestion that fewer people will
likely be joining the annual exodus to the rural areas this
coming Idul Fitri holiday.

The survey, commissioned jointly by The Jakarta Post and the
D&R newsweekly, questioned 250 people in each of the five cities
selected: Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, and Medan.

They comprised 64 percent men and 36 percent women, and 72
percent Muslims, 19 percent Protestants and Catholics, and 9
percent Hindus and Buddhists.

The survey asked respondents how much increase in spending
over their normal daily expenditures they would tolerate in order
to celebrate the religious festivities, and 33 percent said they
were prepared for up to 25 percent, and another 30 percent said
they were prepared to spend up to 50 percent more than usual.

Given the soaring prices of basic food items these past few
weeks, most people have no option but to increase their spending,
that is unless the government succeeds in stabilizing the prices
of such goods as eggs, beef and chicken.

The respondents said that in any case they have had to fork
out more from their purse in the past year to spend their way out
of the crisis, while nominal income, for the majority at least,
has remained unchanged.

More than 7 percent of the respondents said their average
spending has increased by 25 percent, 28 percent of the
respondents said expenditures have gone up by 50 percent, and 19
percent said they have been spending up to 75 percent more just
to maintain their standard of living. Another 27 percent of the
respondents said their spending has doubled over the past year.

When it comes to their nominal income, nearly half of the
respondents said theirs had remained unchanged, 27 percent said
theirs had dropped, and nearly 10 percent said they have lost all
permanent income. Only 13.5 percent of the respondents have been
fortunate enough to see their income rising during this past year
of economic crisis.

But unless one is earning in American dollars or other foreign
currencies, the real value of rupiah-denominated income has
plummeted considering that inflation in the whole of 1998 was
officially put at 77 percent.

Many respondents appeared to be more pessimistic than
government officials or even the most pessimistic economists when
it comes to predicting when the current crisis will end.

More than 33 percent expected the crisis to last more than
three years, 27 percent said it would last up to three years, and
29 percent said it would continue for between one and two years
more.

Most respondents (59 percent) were at a loss as to what they
would do if conditions deteriorate, saying that they would make
do with whatever they had. More than 38 percent showed some
entrepreneurial spirit, saying they would start a small business.
Other answers include drawing on savings, returning to their home
villages, or moving in with their parents or relatives.

Only 1.8 percent put down emigrating as an option.

The survey's answers have a five percent margin of error.