It sure has been a while since I spent Ramadhan back here in Indonesia. For the past 3 years, I have spent Ramadhan elsewhere. In December 2002, I remember I was in HongKong, praying Ied with some of the moslems there. In November 2003, I was at Schlumberger Eng-1 school in Houston, where I prayed with my Qatar friend, Ibrahim (how are you buddy??!). At those places, there were no other ceremonies after the prayer. We all went straight back to the hotel, or back to class.
However, Iedul Fitri 2004 was the most miserable… I was in Bombay at that time. I was sent out to the rig 2 days before Ied. I went with my all-time Egyptian best friend Mohamed Soliman. After staying up the night before (working!), we woke up on Ied morning. We just said “Happy Ied, man..” to each other and there were no prayers nothing. :P
I really miss Ramadhan atmosphere here in Indonesia: people apologizing to each other (since even before Ramadhan started), the noise people make at Sahur (morning meal at 3 a.m), eating together with friends or family at iftar (fasting break at 6 p.m). You see banners greeting Indonesian Moslems to have a pleasant Ramadhan. TV shows are filled with Ramadhan-themed soaps. And on Iedul Fitri, mass prayer in all cities all over the nation, lontong opor, people apologizing to each other for all mistakes they might’ve done for the past year.
Unfortunately, Ramadhan is also welcomed by the rise of fuel prices, which will trigger the rise of everything else (food, public transport, etc). The poor are suffering even more, due to the ridiculous prices (not balanced by increased income). Hopefully, we could all be patient, and at the same time work harder, while the government try to fix the country’s economy. And hopefully this Ramadhan will make it easier for us to live our daily lives.

Happy fasting! ;)
“Selamat puasa teman2ku… teman2 space98, divtek05-bni, postel, schlumberger, dan semuanya…”