People snap up cloth for Idul Fitri

JAKARTA (JP): In the midst of the country's economic woes due to the weakened local currency, many Jakartans were still flocking to stores over the weekend to buy up new cloth for Idul Fitri which is two weeks away.

Shoppers, most of whom were in the low-income group, told The Jakarta Post that they would continue the tradition of wearing new clothes at Idul Fitri even though they were facing financial problems.

"(Monetary) crisis is crisis. But we still need to respect the Idul Fitri tradition of wearing good clothes," a university student, Melati, said.

"I believe that our future, faith and fortune is a gift from Allah, not from anyone else," she explained as she was looking for a new Moslem outfit in the heated Blok M shopping center in South Jakarta.

Farida, a housemaid who works in the well-to-do Pondok Indah housing estate, said: "I find nothing different this year. My boss still gives me a good THR (Idul Fitri allowance). So, why should I keep my money and forgo new clothes this Idul Fitri. No way, hi... hi..."

Among the packed stores Saturday and yesterday were those in the Blok M shopping area in South Jakarta, such as Melawai Plaza, Aldiron Plaza, Blok M Plaza, the Ramayana department store, Robinson department store and Matahari department store.

Thousands of other shoppers piled into stores in the Pasar Baru shopping complex in Central Jakarta and the Pasar Mangga Dua shopping district in West Jakarta in their quest for textile products.

Similar chaotic scenes were also to be seen at the Mega-M supercenter at Lippo supermall in Karawaci, Tangerang.

Although it was very crowded, shoppers were selecting their goods in a purposeful way.

"I could only buy cheap shirts and pants for my two kids. In other words, we just bought these because they were cheap. Just as long as they look new to the children," said Arham, who had just lost his job as a tailor at a Tangerang factory.

"Otherwise, you'll see them crying for the whole two weeks. What else could we do? They are just kids who know nothing about the current economic situation," he said.

It seemed that many stores knew exactly what to do to rake in good earnings. Many of them were cutting their prices to attract buyers.

"The market has been good since Saturday even though it was not as good as in previous years. But, it's still better than we expected," said a cashier at a Matahari department store in Blok M. (bsr)