May Day 2026 Workers' Crowd at Monas Receives Groceries from Presidential Palace

Thousands of people took part in the International Labour Day or May Day 2026 commemoration in the Monas area, Central Jakarta, on Friday, receiving free grocery packages from the Presidential Palace of the Republic of Indonesia. Quoting Antara, around 11:54 WIB, dozens of box trucks lined up towards Monas from the Horse Statue Gate. Barricades were installed along the line of trucks, so recipients could only enter through the prepared gate. The crowd joining the May Day celebration with Prabowo at Monas queued up from the gate to receive their share of the grocery distribution. At the gate entrance, workers registered by dipping their fingers into ink solution. The ink on the finger served as a marker that the worker had received a grocery package and could not queue again. Each truck had its own person in charge tasked with distributing the grocery packages. Police and military personnel were also seen escorting the distribution. Generally, each truck contained 1,000 grocery packages. However, large box trucks could hold up to 1,400 packages. The packages were white and blue with the inscription “Presidential Palace of the Republic of Indonesia”. Each package contained rice, cooking oil, coffee, margarine, tea, sugar, and other grocery items. Some commotion occurred during the distribution process, one of which was due to the number of people queuing. Some of them pushed each other to compete in the queue, while others jostled to exit the Monas area through the Horse Statue Gate. Until 12:00 WIB, the distribution was still ongoing with queues that showed no sign of thinning. A factory worker from Tangerang named Dani joined the queue and received a grocery package. “I came here with a group earlier. I got it, though,” said Dani while showing his grocery package. Dani, who is part of the Indonesian Workers’ Confederation (KSPI), admitted he was quite overwhelmed while queuing due to the many workers who also wanted to get their share of groceries. “It was really packed earlier, but I got it. Not sure about the others in the group,” said Dani.