Indonesians feel grateful to celebrate Aidilfitri at their hometowns

JAKARTA: Muslims in Indonesia celebrated Aidilfitri on Monday in a joyful atmosphere, after the government for the first time in two years allowed them to return to their respective hometowns to celebrate.

For most Indonesians, this is the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 there is real joy in celebrating Aidilfitri. For once, they are able to get back with the tradition of exchanging forgiveness and greetings on the morning of the auspicious day with their family members who they missed for the last two years.

As Aidilfitri seemed very special for most this time, President Joko Widodo, also known in short Jokowi, in his speech said he is grateful for the fact people could now get back together with their families and relatives.

A short clip from the Cabinet Secretariat in YouTube showed Jokowi and wife exchanging forgiveness and greetings. Jokowi joined the Aidilfitri morning prayers in Yogyakarta.

While there was an air of festivities outskirts, the cacaphony and the traffic congestion in Jakarta's city centre is evidently missing today, as city dwellers had returned to their hometowns to celebrate the occasion.

The Aidilfitri festivities here began on Sunday night with the congregations in mosques and suraus reciting the takbir, with the rhytm only to be punctuated by the sound of the firecrackers.

At 7.00 am Western Indonesian time, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin and government leaders joined the Aidilfitri prayers at the Istiqlal mosque where a congregation of 100,000 allowed.

Nonetheless, the government has reminded the citizens not to let their guard down and encouraged them to wear masks, sanitize hands and observe social distancing even when praying in mosques.

Meanwhile, Malaysians in Jakarta joined the Aidilfitri prayers at the Malaysian Embassy's multipurpose hall in Kuningan, with religious attache Ustaz Muhammad Naqzrul Azraf Mhd Nazarludin leading the congregation.

About 200 guests, with the men donning the traditional Malay attire complete with sampin songket at the waist and the women in colourful baju kurung, later had a taste of the Malaysian traditional delicacies synonymous with Aidlilfitri - lemang dan rendang, kuih and teh tarik.

At the event, Education Malaysia Indonesia, Higher Education Ministry under the flagship EM4U@Care also distributed food to 100 Malaysian students and children around Jakarta donated by Malaysian Airlines and cooking condiment producer, Adabi.

-- BERNAMA