Mudik

 The annual Muslim return to the family home, called Mudik, has been cancelled this year in Indonesia, as it was last year, due to COVID. The last thing the government wants is for people to be travelling back and forth from one area to another, and through all the areas in between, exposing themselves or others throughout the journey. As I have noted, Indonesia has a long, slow road ahead to nationwide vaccination.

There are those who have gotten around this travel ban simply by beginning the journey early, before the official start date, and there are those for whom the restriction is no big deal, but for most, the ban is a keen disappointment. Mudik ends the long month of Ramadan fasting. It is a time for celebrating, feasting, reuniting with family. Nonetheless, as things are, such celebrations can only end in a steep rise in illness and death.

Here in Indonesia, people will need to carry on masking and social distancing restrictions far beyond what has been necessary in America--so stop complaining folks. For you the end is in easy sight. For us it remains distant.