Slimmer pickings this Ramadhan

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): It's a tradition for Muslims to break their fast at dusk with sweet drinks or snacks before getting into their main meals.

The appetizers include kolak (sweet compote stewed in coconut milk and brown sugar), cendol (glutinous rice balls stewed in coconut milk and brown sugar), dates, serabi (sweetened rice cake), klepon (glutinous rice balls filled with brown sugar) and lupis (glutinous rice cakes covered with brown sugar).

But these days, only a lucky few can afford these appetizers, due to the climbing prices of the ingredients.

Ida, a mother of two, is one of the many poor people who have to skip the tradition in this year's Ramadhan. Still, she feels something is missing.

In the past, she was always busy preparing food and snacks to break the fast for the entire family, including her sisters-in- law living with the family.

"This is the first Ramadhan when I can't afford to make kolak and other things to break the fast... Now, my family goes straight to the main meal," the 30-year-old woman said.

But there's nothing she can do about it.

"Everything is very expensive and we don't have enough money," said Ida, a native of Padang, West Sumatra, living in the Blok A area, South Jakarta.

She reckoned that she would need around Rp 5,000 to buy the brown sugar, bananas and coconut just to prepare kolak pisang for the family for one day.

Previously, she had no problems serving special foods for her family, as the Ramadhan used to be a very busy month for her husband, who works as a tailor in Blok M, South Jakarta. During this time, many people would come to have new clothes made for the Idul Fitri celebrations, meaning more income for Ida's family.

"Last year, my husband still had lots of orders. But this year, my husband did not earn as much... maybe because people nowadays can no longer afford new clothes," Ida said.

And there are times now, she said, when her husband comes home empty handed.

Her daily expenses now depend on her savings and the extra money she can keep from her husband's earnings.

"Now my family have to be satisfied with anything that I can put on the table," said Ida, who said that tempeh and tofu were now the family's staple foods.

Sometimes, she said, she could not help feeling sad for her children: "My children love fried chicken, but it's impossible to buy it. Now, were lucky when I can serve eggs," Ida said.

Chickens are now sold for around Rp 14,000 each, while a kilogram of eggs cost Rp 8,000.

Another housewife, Wahyuni, managed to serve sweet snacks and drinks for her family during the first week of this year's Ramadhan. But instead of making them herself, she bought them at the market for Rp 2,000, and shared the food out for the entire family of four.

At first, she said, her husband, who earns Rp 350,000 per month, complained about her decision. But when she told him about the unreasonably high prices for the ingredients, he could understand.

"Now, I can't serve kolak anymore as prices are already impossible," Wahyuni said while shopping at the Bendungan Hilir market.

Every year in the few days before the Idul Fitri celebrations, food prices, especially for meat and chicken, double, leaving customers without much choice.

Fortune

Some food vendors see the tradition of Ramadhan as the time to make their fortunes. Traders can be seen well before dusk in markets and along some of the city's streets.

Competition is stiff among the sellers, mostly women, as most snacks on offer are identical from one stall to another.

In some stalls, the sweet drinks are packed individually in small plastic bags, selling for around Rp 1,000 each, while snacks are sold for Rp 500 each. When dusk falls, most of the food stalls are usually crowded with customers.

Imah, a 48-year-old snack seller in Bendungan Hilir market, said that this year business was very much slower compared to last year's Ramadhan.

She said that in the past, she could make at least Rp 100,000 profit in a day, and snacks were usually sold out.

These days her daily profit reaches Rp 50,000 at the most. "But that's not often," said Imah, who buys all her snacks at the Senen market in Central Jakarta.

Imah blames the reduced income on high prices.

If people have to choose between main meals and snacks, most will take the first choice. Although less people are buying the sweet drinks and snacks, food stalls selling main meals still enjoy good business.

Slamet, a sidewalk food vendor offering nasi rames, steamed rice and side dishes outside the Bendungan Hilir market, claims that more people pack his small kiosk in the evening to break their fast than before.

He said he managed to lure more customers to his kiosk after examining his customers' habits over many months.

"I have found that many of my customers can no longer afford to buy dishes like chicken, meat, or even eggs. So I prepare more food made of tempeh, tofu and noodles," Slamet said.