Indonesia’s Eid bonuses in spotlight after ‘thugs’ collect cash from street vendors

Name: Indonesia gears up for holy month of Ramadan amid devastating inflation
Uploaded: 2023-04-20T01:30:11.000Z
Duration: 2 min 18 s
Description: Indonesia gears up for holy month of Ramadan amid devastating inflation

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A vendor sells food for the fast-breaking Iftar meal in Labuhan Haji, Indonesia’s southern Aceh province. Photo: AFP

Johannes Nugroho

Published: 9:30am, 20 Apr 2023Updated: 2:16pm, 20 Apr 2023

Indonesian street vendor Nur Aisyah, 28, was delighted when she managed to sell all her food last week, after residents breaking their fast made a beeline for the snacks and desserts at her stall in central Java.

The mother of one took in 200,000 rupiah (US$15) that day instead of the usual 150,000 rupiah – giving her family a little extra cash to celebrate Eid-al-Fitr, the Muslim festival that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

But her joy turned to fury when a group of men she described as “thugs” appeared that night to demand 100,000 rupiah in “security money” from stall owners plying their trade in Slawi city, under the guise of an Eid bonus, known as Tunjangan Hari Raya (THR).

“I was actually quite chuffed that evening as I’d managed to sell all my snacks,” said Aisyah, who coughed up the fees out of fear for her safety. “That was all my profit for the day gone, and more.”

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Indonesia gears up for holy month of Ramadan amid devastating inflation

In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation where 87 per cent of 270 million people practise the religion, Eid is the most significant event of the year.