Jakarta, GIVnews.com – It's that time of the year again. Millions of people are coming back to their home towns or villages (mudik) for the Eid al-Fitr holiday, gathering with their extended family members to celebrate the holy day and get away from the hectic life for a while. From big metropolitan cities like Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, and Surabaya, people use various modes of transportation to travel to hundreds of smaller towns scattered all around Java.
The government, being used to the annual pattern of mudik, has made an especially commendable preparation this year. New toll roads are opened and existing roads are repaired, with street lamps added, holes filled, and road signs placed. The transportation service providers have also followed the government's pace closely. Garuda Indonesia, Citilink, and Lion Air, the three favorite carriers in Indonesia, have promised to add more flights to accommodate the spike in passenger count during the mudik period. PT Pelni and PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), the state-owned enterprises for sea transportation and trains respectively, have also begun selling tickets for the mudik-ers.
Mudik in itself provides several unique opportunities for economic growth.
Although it has been predicted that the number of people going on mudik will significantly fall this year due to the weakening economic growth, officers from Pelni and the Jakarta city officials are still confident that the tide of people would still be as strong as ever. Pelni is counting on the Indonesians working in Malaysia to snap the ship tickets from Nunukan, North Kalimantan to Java. Meanwhile, Jakarta government staffs has predicted that at least 6.5 million people would go on mudik from Jakarta alone, and they would bring approximately 70 thousand new people along with them when they go back to Jakarta.
(Read more: Significantly Less 'Mudik' Travellers Expected This Year)
Economic Opportunities and Social HazardsMudik in itself provides several unique opportunities for economic growth. The most obvious one comes from the extra salary paid to employees as the nation approaches Eid-al Fitr, called the tunjangan hari raya, or more commonly just as THR. Extra money is equal to a higher purchasing power, and the traditional culture and festive mood revolving around the holiday ensure that people would put their money to good use, buying special food and new clothes for their family. The transportation industry, of course, gets the lion's share of the boon. Millions of tickets are purchased for the trip, whether it's by airplane, ship, train, or bus. Some of these money would trickle to gas stations, drivers, crews, and mechanics, forming a mechanism for distribution of wealth in itself.
Another social phenomenon that happens together with mudik is the flow of technology and modern lifestyle into small towns and villages. The mudik-ers, used to the glitzy way of life in the big cities, would inevitably bring a certain portion of it to their hometowns. Smartphones is an obvious example, while other, more disadvantageous impacts such as drugs misuse, free sex culture, individualism, and hedonism also occurs. While this transfer of ideas is pretty much inevitable, filters can be prepared in the form of a strong ethics and morality education in the towns and villages' schools and society. Hopefully, the rural people would be able to selectively absorb the inflow of information, accepting only the beneficial ones and discarding the rest.
Artist's illustration by Koko Liem/ GIV
Finally, when the flow of mudik reverses at the end of holiday, there will inevitably be some people who are enticed by their relatives' apparent success in the cities, and decide to gamble their own livelihood by joining their siblings or cousins in the cities. However, over the years this has resulted in excessive urbanization, especially in the capital.
Jakarta is now hopelessly overcrowded, and is veering dangerously close to its population saturation point. Even worse, these newcomers frequently have only a very low level of education and no marketable skill, a combination that ultimately curses them to a dangerous life on the streets. Jakarta's governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama has declared that Jakarta does not wish to welcome any more newcomers this year, except if they are willing to work as house maids.
While these people's willingness to pursue a better life is very much noble, going into huge cities with no qualifications would only add to their misery. It is a much wiser option to move to Kalimantan or Sulawesi, where the population count is still low and opportunities are plenty. These newcomers would stand a much better chance of obtaining success there, rather than in Java's major cities. Moreover, it would also help the island of Java in general, which has a much, much higher population density relative to the other islands.
Crime on the RiseAmid all the festivities, a word of warning is necessary. Although Eid-al Fitr is a holy day in the Islamic belief, ironically the number of criminal acts is also known to significantly rise during the time period. Empty houses, left by their owners on mudik, have a much higher chance than usual of being robbed. The same goes with cars, motorcycles, and jewelry shops, a place which people would traditionally visit before going on mudik, either to make themselves look better or to obtain some extra cash for the coming trip.
Fortunately, the police force has enacted some steps to prevent these crimes from happening, although it remains to be seen whether those would be enough. Precinct and sub-precinct police offices would dedicate their parking lots for the people to store their private vehicles for free. Residents can also register their vacant houses to the police, who would then set up CCTVs, conduct scheduled patrols, and make temporary security posts in the area. As an added measure, regency and district heads' offices would also set their parking area for people to store their motorcycles when they are away on mudik.
In short, although mudik is clearly a happy occasion which should be celebrated accordingly, caution and due diligence are also needed. If you are going on mudik, please take steps to ensure your belongings would be where they are supposed to be when you come back to the city. And most important of all, remember to drive safe if you are using a personal vehicle!
Source: Homecoming: The Festivities and The Warnings
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