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.