Thanksgiving Everyday? Count me in!

Can you imagine celebrating a Thanksgiving feast every single day for a month? That’s how it felt like during my first month in Jakarta for my internship at The Habibie Center. My arrival in Jakarta coincided with the holy month of Ramadan. The first thing that most non-Muslims, I included, associate with Ramadan is fasting. Fasting is a customary practice during Ramadan. Muslims begin fasting from dawn to sunset, wherein they abstain from eating and drinking, even water. During my stay in Indonesia, that some Muslims participate in the fasting for various reasons. Some participate in the fast to practice self-discipline and self-control. There are some who do it to empathize with the less fortunate which allows them to be more generous to charity, another pillar of Islam. Others, on the other hand, do it cleanse their souls so that they could be pure from worldly desires. However, if fasting is the most significant aspect of Ramadan it begs to ask the question: why do I associate it with Thanksgiving?

During the month of Ramadan, business hours are shortened to ensure that everybody is able to go home and break fast with their families. During my internship, some of my co-workers started leaving at three o’clock so that they would be able to get home in time for sunset. Muslims mark the end of the day’s fast with iftar. This is the evening meal ending the fast after sunset. In Indonesia, buka puasa (tr. to open the fast) as it is locally called, breaking the fast involves either families lining up at restaurants just before sunset, or families holding buka puasa at their homes. Some people, especially among group of friends, take turns hosting buka puasa. For some, buka puasa is also a chance for people to reconnect or meet up with friends they haven’t seen in a long time.


What I found very surprising is that non-Muslims also take part in buka puasa. For example, Muslims invite non-Muslims to buka puasas that they are hosting. And some non-Muslims host their own buka puasa. Case in point, my Airbnb host (who also happened to be close friends with our Executive Director at The Habibie Center, small world, right?), a non-Muslim, hosted buka puasa for her friends. Which brings me back to the idea of Thanksgiving. For Indonesians, buka puasa is more than just a component of religious obligation. The fact that even non-Muslims partake in it symbolizes that buka puasa is also about community—one of the main reasons we celebrate Thanksgiving (aside from food, of course).

--Chris Cunanan, MA EPGA '18

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