JAKARTA: Muslims in Indonesia are shopping for sweets and new clothes and taking part in traditional festivities as millions observe the holy month of Ramadan, which started on Saturday.
Celebrations in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country range from colorful nighttime parades and cleaning family graves to preparing food for predawn breakfasts and elaborate post-sundown meals known as “iftars.”
Each region in the vast archipelago nation of 17,000 islands has its own way to mark the start of Ramadan, when Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual intercourse from sunrise until sunset for the whole month.
Even a tiny sip of water or a puff of smoke is enough to invalidate the fast. At night, family and friends gather and feast in a festive atmosphere.
Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar announced on Friday that Ramadan will begin on Saturday, after the sighting of the crescent moon was confirmed by Islamic astronomy observers in Indonesia’s westernmost province of Aceh.
Shortly after the announcement, mosques flooded with devotees offering evening prayers known as “tarawih” on the first eve of Ramadan. In Jakarta’s Istiqlal Grand Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia, tens of thousands of worshippers crammed together shoulder-to-shoulder.
The daylong fasting is aimed at bringing the faithful closer to God and reminding them of the suffering of the poor. Muslims are expected to strictly observe daily prayers and engage in heightened religious contemplation. They are also urged to refrain from gossip, fighting or cursing during the holy month.
Flares, drums and tradition
Samsul Anwar, his wife and their 8-year-old nephew were among hundreds of people taking part in a torchlight parade along the streets of their neighborhood in Tangerang, a city just outside the capital of Jakarta, on Wednesday after evening prayers.
They carried torches, lit flares and played Islamic songs accompanied by the beat of rebana, the Arabic handheld percussion instrument, as they walked along the cramped streets of the densely populated neighborhood.
“Every year we welcome Ramadan with a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation,” said Anwar.
Chinese Indonesian communities also participated in the parade by performing the vibrant “barongsai” or “lion dance,” a prominent part of Chinese New Year celebration, to the sound of drums and trumpets.
The barongsai performance “was also held to show unity between the religious communities of Chinese and Muslim, aiming to increase religious tolerance,” Anwar said.
Cost of living anxieties
It’s also an exciting time for business. Hotels, restaurants and cafes all prepare special Ramadan promotions, and shoppers flock to shopping centers for new clothes and home decorations for the holiday of Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan. Children often receive new clothes and gifts.
However, some Muslims worry how they will cope financially during Ramadan this year amid soaring prices.
“Everything to do with cooking is rising (in cost) day by day,” said Asih Mulyawati, a mother of two who lives in Jakarta’s outskirt of Tangerang. “I worry this situation will impact Ramadan celebrations.”
Despite soaring food prices in the past month, popular markets such as Tanah Abang in Jakarta were teeming with shoppers buying clothes, shoes, cookies and sweets before the holiday.
Indonesia’s Trade Ministry has said prices of imported staple foods including wheat, sugar, beef and soybeans have increased sharply this year as a result of rising global commodity prices and supply chain disruptions.
But many people say the rise in prices not only impacts imported foods but also local commodities like rice, eggs, chili, palm oil and onions. Many also blame the government for rising gas and electricity prices.
“The current gloomy economic situation and extreme weather recently also contribute to the soaring prices and the weakening of people’s purchasing power,” said Heru Tatok, a trader in Jakarta’s Pasar Senen market.
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Millions of Muslims in Indonesia mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan
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Millions of Muslims in Indonesia mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan
- Each region in the vast archipelago nation of 17,000 islands has its own way to mark the start of Ramadan
Thai villagers stay behind to guard empty homes as border clashes force mass evacuations
SURIN: Fighting that has flared along the Thai-Cambodian border has sent hundreds of thousands of Thai villagers fleeing from their homes close to the frontier since Monday. Their once-bustling communities have fallen largely silent except for the distant rumble of firing across the fields.
Yet in several of these villages, where normally a few hundred people live, a few dozen residents have chosen to stay behind despite the constant sounds of danger.
In a village in Buriram province, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the border, Somjai Kraiprakon and roughly 20 of her neighbors gathered around a roadside house, keeping watch over nearby homes. Appointed by the local administration as Village Security Volunteers, they guarded the empty homes after many residents were forced to flee and with fewer security officials stationed nearby than usual.
The latest large-scale fighting derailed a ceasefire pushed by US President Donald Trump, which halted five days of clashes in July triggered by longstanding territorial disputes. As of Saturday, around two dozen people had been reported killed in the renewed violence.
At a house on the village’s main intersection, now a meeting point, kitchen and sleeping area, explosions were a regular backdrop, with the constant risk of stray ammunition landing nearby. Somjai rarely flinched, but when the blasts came too close, she would sprint to a makeshift bunker beside the house, built on an empty plot from large precast concrete drainage pipes reinforced with dirt, sandbags and car tires.
She volunteered shortly after the July fighting. The 52-year-old completed a three-day training course with the district administration that included gun training and patrol techniques before she was appointed in November. The volunteer village guards are permitted to carry firearms provided by relevant authorities.
The army has emphasized the importance of volunteers like Somjai in this new phase of fighting, saying they help “provide the highest possible confidence and safety for the public.”
According to the army, volunteers “conduct patrols, establish checkpoints, stand guard inside villages, protect the property of local people, and monitor suspicious individuals who may attempt to infiltrate the area to gather intelligence.”
Somjai said the volunteer team performs all these duties, keeping close watch on strangers and patrolling at night to discourage thieves from entering abandoned homes. Her main responsibility, however, is not monitoring threats but caring for about 70 dogs left behind in the community.
“This is my priority. The other things I let the men take care of them. I’m not good at going out patrolling at night. Fortunately I’m good with dogs,” she said, adding that she first fed a few using her own money, but as donations began coming in, she was able to expand her feeding efforts.
In a nearby village, chief Praden Prajuabsook sat with about a dozen members of his village security team along a roadside in front of a local school. Around there, most shops were already closed and few cars could be seen passing once in a while.
Wearing navy blue uniforms and striped purple and blue scarves, the men and women chatted casually while keeping shotguns close and watching strangers carefully. Praden said the team stationed at different spots during the day, then started patrolling when night fell.
He noted that their guard duty is around the clock, and it comes with no compensation and relies entirely on volunteers. “We do it with our own will, for the brothers and sisters in our village,” he said.
Beyond guarding empty homes, Praden’s team, like Somjai, also ensures pets, cattle and other animals are fed. During the day, some members ride motorbikes from house to house to feed pigs, chickens and dogs left behind by their owners.
Although his village is close to the battlegrounds, Praden said he is not afraid of the sounds of fighting.
“We want our people to be safe… we are willing to safeguard the village for the people who have evacuated,” he said.
Yet in several of these villages, where normally a few hundred people live, a few dozen residents have chosen to stay behind despite the constant sounds of danger.
In a village in Buriram province, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the border, Somjai Kraiprakon and roughly 20 of her neighbors gathered around a roadside house, keeping watch over nearby homes. Appointed by the local administration as Village Security Volunteers, they guarded the empty homes after many residents were forced to flee and with fewer security officials stationed nearby than usual.
The latest large-scale fighting derailed a ceasefire pushed by US President Donald Trump, which halted five days of clashes in July triggered by longstanding territorial disputes. As of Saturday, around two dozen people had been reported killed in the renewed violence.
At a house on the village’s main intersection, now a meeting point, kitchen and sleeping area, explosions were a regular backdrop, with the constant risk of stray ammunition landing nearby. Somjai rarely flinched, but when the blasts came too close, she would sprint to a makeshift bunker beside the house, built on an empty plot from large precast concrete drainage pipes reinforced with dirt, sandbags and car tires.
She volunteered shortly after the July fighting. The 52-year-old completed a three-day training course with the district administration that included gun training and patrol techniques before she was appointed in November. The volunteer village guards are permitted to carry firearms provided by relevant authorities.
The army has emphasized the importance of volunteers like Somjai in this new phase of fighting, saying they help “provide the highest possible confidence and safety for the public.”
According to the army, volunteers “conduct patrols, establish checkpoints, stand guard inside villages, protect the property of local people, and monitor suspicious individuals who may attempt to infiltrate the area to gather intelligence.”
Somjai said the volunteer team performs all these duties, keeping close watch on strangers and patrolling at night to discourage thieves from entering abandoned homes. Her main responsibility, however, is not monitoring threats but caring for about 70 dogs left behind in the community.
“This is my priority. The other things I let the men take care of them. I’m not good at going out patrolling at night. Fortunately I’m good with dogs,” she said, adding that she first fed a few using her own money, but as donations began coming in, she was able to expand her feeding efforts.
In a nearby village, chief Praden Prajuabsook sat with about a dozen members of his village security team along a roadside in front of a local school. Around there, most shops were already closed and few cars could be seen passing once in a while.
Wearing navy blue uniforms and striped purple and blue scarves, the men and women chatted casually while keeping shotguns close and watching strangers carefully. Praden said the team stationed at different spots during the day, then started patrolling when night fell.
He noted that their guard duty is around the clock, and it comes with no compensation and relies entirely on volunteers. “We do it with our own will, for the brothers and sisters in our village,” he said.
Beyond guarding empty homes, Praden’s team, like Somjai, also ensures pets, cattle and other animals are fed. During the day, some members ride motorbikes from house to house to feed pigs, chickens and dogs left behind by their owners.
Although his village is close to the battlegrounds, Praden said he is not afraid of the sounds of fighting.
“We want our people to be safe… we are willing to safeguard the village for the people who have evacuated,” he said.
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