Ramadhan grace for 193 Mataram inmates

Panca Nugraha, The Jakarta Post, Mataram

Some 193 inmates in the main jail in Mataram, Lombok island have found it a blessing in disguise as they gain additional meals each time they break their daily fast during Ramadhan.

The additional food consists of kolak singkong (cassava-based sweet compote), mung bean porridge and other snacks.

"The additional meals are presented to all inmates to help them enter a new life during the fasting month," prison chief A.A.G. Mayun told The Jakarta Post here on Thursday.

He said the inmates needed sweet meals with high calories to enable them to reflect on their lives from one day to another during the holy month.

Mayun said the correctional institution also allowed prisoners to stay out of their cells longer from 07:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. to pay a massive Tarawih prayer and attend Koran-reading activities at the mosque inside the prison compound.

Burhanuddin, an inmate, expressed his joy with all the "privileges" he had gained during the fasting month.

"This Ramadhan is a month of pardon. With more time for reading Koran, maybe Allah will forgive our sins," he said.