Find Article by Date
Wed, 02 Nov 2005

JP/Sutiyoso invites Jakartans to Idul Fitri gathering

Sutiyoso invites Jakartans to Idul Fitri gathering

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Governor Sutiyoso is inviting Jakarta residents, including the poor, to come to his official residence in Central Jakarta to celebrate Idul Fitri with his family on Thursday.

"Everybody, including the poor, is invited. My residence will be open to the public (on Thursday)," Sutiyoso said at City Hall on Tuesday.

Idul Fitri celebrations, which mark the end of Ramadhan, will fall on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4 this year. High-ranking officials usually open their homes to their staff and the public at large.

Sutiyoso said that his home on Jl. Taman Suropati No. 7 in Menteng, Central Jakarta would be open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m..

"Before that, I will visit the residences of the President (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono), Vice President (Jusuf Kalla) and Minister of Home Affairs (Lt. Gen. (ret) Muh. Ma'aruf," he said.

As in the previous years, Sutiyoso said he would provide meals for his guests.

Aside from city officials, political party leaders, businesspeople and ambassadors of foreign countries often come to Sutiyoso's residence during Idul Fitri.

Sutiyoso said the open house would serve as an opportunity to ask for forgiveness from one another.

The governor, who is also known for his policy of preventing unskilled migrants from coming to the capital to seek work, is himself not a native of Jakarta.

Born in Semarang, Central Java in 1944, Sutiyoso will also visit his hometown on the second day of Idul Fitri, a tradition known here as mudik.

Around 2.5 million Jakarta residents will leave for their hometowns to celebrate Idul Fitri.

"But, I will only spend one day (in Semarang) to meet old friends and relatives there. I cannot take any more time since my heart remains here in Jakarta while I am there," he said half- jokingly.

During the trip to Semarang, he will be accompanied by his wife Setyorini and daughters Yessi Riana Dilliyanti and Renny Yosnita Ariyanti, and will drop by at the residence of his mother and father-in-law in Magelang, also in Central Java.