Street workers remain faithful to Ramadhan fast

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

This year's Ramadhan fasting month is a particularly challenging test of faith, as the scorching sun makes the days lethargically long and hot.

More so, for those who work outside in the sun's full glare and still commit themselves to the Islamic practice of shunning food, drink, and other worldly desires from dawn to dusk.

Karsim, 29, a street sweeper, said nothing had changed in his daily schedule during the fasting month.

While talking to The Jakarta Post recently, Karsim diligently swept fallen leaves on Jl. Sultan Hasanudin in Melawai, South Jakarta.

"If we have set our hearts on it, then God willing, we will be strong enough to last (the fasting)," he said. Karsim said he had to take regular breaks because he risked exhaustion from the heat and passing vehicle fumes.

"I only drink some water and say a prayer of gratefulness to break the fast," he said.

Street sweepers employed by the City Sanitation Agency work in three daily shifts, earning roughly Rp 315,000 (US$34.61) a month and receiving a Idul Fitri holiday stipend of Rp 200,000.

Karsim, who has worked as a street sweeper for seven years, hoped the agency would raise the stipend this year and that more passing motorists would give him alms so he could celebrate Idul Fitri in his hometown of Brebes, Central Java.

A gardener, Roy, 29, who was weeding and tending some flower beds on the greenbelts of Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said in Kuningan, also in South Jakarta, said the key to passing the fasting month was commitment and keeping busy with your job.

"Moreover, don't they say our fasting will be more blessed if we work under harder conditions?" Roy said.

Roy said it was understandable for outdoor workers to occasionally end up breaking the fast before time.

"I usually skip three or four days because I cannot stand the heat," he said. "Perhaps only two or three of us ever complete a full month's fasting."

Roy, who has been a gardener at the City Park Agency for twelve years, said the agency had also adjusted their working hours from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the fasting month, from the usual 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., to let the workers avoid the midday sun's heat.

Like street sweepers, Roy also said he and his colleagues often received alms from passing motorists, sometimes up to Rp 20,000, adding a considerable amount to their monthly salary of Rp 650,000.

"It's really helpful for buying snacks when breaking the fast, early morning cirri meals, and celebrating Idul Fitri," he said.

However, not all who worked on the streets said they would fast during Ramadhan.

Anto, 25, a scavenger from Ciledug, Tangerang, who usually walks 50 kilometers a day under the blistering sun in search of discarded things to recycle, said he took the pragmatic approach of not fasting at all.

"It's quite impossible for us scavengers to fast when our work involves real physical strength," he said.

"Please don't compare us with office workers or other employees who don't actually work on the streets for a day's living."