Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Brunei
Indonesia comprises the largest Muslim population in the world, so it is very common to see people celebrating Eid in virtually every part of Indonesia. Eid is known in Indonesia as
Idul Fitri (or more informally as
Lebaran). It is a
national holiday, with the exact date determined by local lunar observation. Generally speaking, in the
Gregorian calendar,
Idul Fitri "moves forwards" 11 days per year. For example, in 2009
Idul Fitri occurred on September 21 and 22, while for 2010 it fell on September 10 and 11 with possible variance of two to three days either side.
Additionally, in Indonesia
Idul Fitri has a legally mandated salary bonus for all employees, known as
Tunjangan Hari Raya (
THR) as enforced by Indonesia's Department of Labour, Employment and Society ("Departemen Pengawasan Dinas Tenaga Kerja dan Sosial"). The mandated amount of this salary bonus differs by region. For example, within the
Jakarta region the
THR bonus must be at least
Rp 1 million but not less than one month's full salary paid in advance of
Idul Fitri, in addition to the employee's regular salary. Thus, Idul Fitri is also a paid holiday. Breaching or withholding THR is a very serious labour law infraction and punished severely, regardless of employer status or position.
In
Malaysia,
Singapore, and
Brunei, Eid is more commonly known as
Hari Raya Aidilfitri,
Hari Raya Idul Fitri or
Hari Raya Puasa.
Hari Raya, which literally means 'Celebration Day'.
Eid ul-Fitr is the biggest holiday in Indonesia and Brunei; and one of the biggest in Malaysia and Singapore. Shopping malls and bazaars are usually filled with people days ahead of Idul Fitri, which creates a distinctive festive atmosphere throughout the country, along with traffic mayhem. Many banks, government and private offices are closed for the duration of the Lebaran festivities.
In Indonesia, it is common during this period for people to engage in "
mudik" activity. It is an annual tradition that people in big cities such as
Jakarta,
Surabaya, or elsewhere, travel to their hometowns or other cities to visit relatives, to request forgiveness, or just to celebrate Eid with the whole family. The government of Indonesia has prepared the transportation infrastructures to accommodate a huge amount of travellers by repairing damaged roads and bridges. However, the impact is still tremendous as millions of cars and motorcycles jam the roads and highways, causing kilometres of traffic jams each year.
[13]Additionally, the wealthier classes often "escape" to local hotels, or commonly Singapore and
Australia to avoid not having domestic servants, drivers or sometimes, security personnel. Singaporean, Malaysian and Indonesian hotels have been particularly successful marketing lucrative
Lebaran or
Idul Fitri "escape package".
One of the largest temporary human migrations globally, is the prevailing custom of the Lebaran where workers, particularly unskilled migrants labourers such as maids and construction labourers return to one's home town or city and ask forgiveness from ones' parents, in-laws and elders. This is known as mudik, pulang kampung or in Malaysian balik kampung.
The night before Idul Fitri is filled with the sounds of many
muezzin chanting the takbir in the mosques or musallahs. In many parts of Indonesia and Malaysia, especially in the rural areas,
pelita or
panjut or
lampu colok (as known by Malay-Singaporeans) (oil lamps, similar to tiki torches) are lit up and placed outside and around homes. Special dishes like
ketupat,
dodol,
lemang (a type of
glutinous rice cake cooked in bamboo) and other Indo-Malay (and in the case of Malaysia, also Nyonya) delicacies are served during this day.
The lively or alternatively very emotional devotional music blended with Qur'anic verses associated with Ramadan and Eid - known as
Kaisidah or more correctly,
Qasida - can be heard throughout the country. These are commonly performed by famous musicians, some of whom may be international stars, and televised nationwide.
It is common to greet people with "Selamat Idul Fitri" or "Salam Aidilfitri" or "Selamat Hari Raya"(in Malaysia) which means "Happy Eid". Muslims also greet one another with "mohon maaf lahir dan batin" in Indonesia and "maaf zahir dan batin" in Malaysia, which means "Forgive my physical and emotional (wrongdoings)", because Idul Fitri is not only for celebrations but a time for atonement: to ask for forgiveness for sins which they may have committed but was cleansed as a result of the fasting in the Muslim month of Ramadan.
It is customary for
Muslim-Indonesians and
Muslim-Malaysians to wear a traditional cultural clothing on Eid ul-Fitr. The Indonesian male outfit is known as
baju koko: a collarless long or short-sleeve shirt with traditional embroidered designs with a "kilt"
sarung of
songket,
ikat or similar woven, plaid-cloth. Alternatively, men may wear either Western-style business suits or more traditional loose-fitting trousers with colour-matched shirts, and either a
peci hat or regional cultural headwear and songkok. The
Malay variant (worn in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei,
Southern Thailand and parts of Indonesia (particularly in parts of
Sumatera and
Kalimantan) ) is known as the
Baju Melayu, shirt worn with a
sarong known as
kain samping or songket and a headwear known as
songkok.
Traditional female dress is known as
kebaya krudung. It consists of, normally, a loose-fitting blouse (which may be enhanced with
brocadeand
embroidery), a long
skirt both of which may be
batik, or the
sarung skirt made of batik, ikat or songket and either the
jilbab (
hijab) or its variant the stiffened
krudung. Malaysian clothing is referred to as
Baju Kurung and
baju kebaya. It is a common practice however for the Muslim-Malaysians in Singapore to refer to the
baju kurung in reference to the type of outfit, worn by men. It should be noted this term is not used in Indonesia, as it is an example of humorous poor translation between Malaysian and Indonesian dialects, as
kurung means a cage, parentheses, or a sack, depending on the context.
For non-
Austronesian Muslims, or even non-Muslims they may don costumes of their respective culture and tradition, or wear
Islamic clothesto show respect to their relatives' or friends' differing religious beliefs for the occasion. This is particularly common in Indonesia, where many families have close friends or relatives of differing faiths, namely
Catholic, some
Protestant and Muslim.
Once the prayer is completed, it is common for many Muslims in both Indonesia and Malaysia to visit the graves of loved ones. During this visit, they will clean the grave, recite
Ya-Seen, a chapter (
sura) from the Qur'an and also perform the
tahlil ceremony. All these are done as a means to ask God to forgive both the dead and the living for their sins.
The Javanese majority of Indonesia are known for their pre-Islamic
Kejawen traditions of washing the headstone using scented water from the traditional
terracotta water-jug, the
kendi, and sprinkling hyacinth and jasmine over the graves.
In Indonesia there is a special ritual called
halal bi-halal. During this, Muslim-Indonesians visit their elders, in the family, the neighbourhood, or their work, and show respect to them. They will also seek reconciliation (if needed), and preserve or restore harmonious relations.
[14]The rest of the day is spent visiting relatives or serving visitors. Idul Fitri is a very joyous day for children as the adults give them money. They also celebrate by lighting traditional
bamboo cannon firecrackers known as
meriam bambu Ramadhan, using
kerosene in large hollow
bamboo tubes or Chinese imported crackers. The traditional bamboo cannon,
meriam bambu are notoriously loud and can be very dangerous to operator, bystander and even nearby buildings.
These are usually bamboo tubes 5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in) in diameter and 4–7 m (13–23 ft) long, filled with either: water and several hundred grams of
calcium carbide, or heated kerosene, then ignited by match.
Celebrating with firecrackers in the early morning during Ramadan is now banned in many areas - though many rascals evade the law and disturb the neighbourhood.
[citation needed]In Malaysia, children will be given token sums of money, also known as "duit raya" (literally "celebration money"), from their parents or elders.
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