JAKARTA: Although relatively late compared to other Southeast Asian nations, Indonesia has finally taken serious measures against COVID-19 over the last week.
More tests have been undertaken. Coordination across local governments to stem the spread has started. The movement of people has been greatly reduced.
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But one thing threatens to rip apart this newfound momentum for action against the COVID-19 outbreak: The tradition of millions of Indonesian workers who make the journey from cities they work in to their hometowns in villages and other provinces across the archipelago during Ramadan or just before Hari Raya called “mudik”.
MUDIK COULD TURBO-CHARGE COVID-19 SPREAD IN INDONESIA
Mudik, the homecoming tradition practised by Indonesian Muslims, is a longstanding, time-honoured practice.
Roads are extremely busy during the season as millions of people leave big cities like Jakarta and Surabaya for home.
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The practice offers protected time for Indonesians who work in major urban centres to head back each year where they spend weeks engaged in fellowship with family and loved ones. They visit parents, old friends and the graves of close family members.
This years homecoming, however, has gained attention for a different set of reasons. The festivities inexorably clash with freshly imposed restrictions on movement amid a deadly COVID-19 outbreak.
READ: Movement of people into Jakarta set to tighten as surrounding satellite towns enact own social restrictions against COVID-19
READ: COVID-19 cases in Indonesia could cross 100,000 mark, says national taskforce expert
Large groups of people congregating to eat, visit each other and spend long swaths of time together fundamentally contravenes social distancing rules, a critical key to containing the pandemic that has expert consensus the world around.
The risk of spreading COVID-19 to remote places where healthcare systems are lacking should not be underestimated.
HALF-HEARTED EFFORTS
Pre-empting this disaster, the Indonesian government recently passed a regulation of a partial lockdown called Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar or PSBB.
Indonesian Muslims in protective masks are checked with thermal scanner before Friday prayers at a mosque, in Surabaya, East Java Province, Indonesia. (Photo: Reuters)
Social distancing rules have been slapped. Most workplaces and schools have been shuttered until Apr 23 and the gathering of more than five people has been prohibited, in addition to the suspension of travel since March.
As of this week, 18 local authorities have embraced these new curbs, including Jakarta, Sumatra Barat, Kota Bogor, Kabupaten Bogor, Kota Depok, Kota Bekasi, Kabupaten Bekasi, Kota Tangerang, Kabupaten Tangerang, Kota Tangerang Selatan, Kota Pekanbaru, Kota Makassar, Kota Bandung, Kota Cimahi, and Kabupaten Bandung.
The partial lockdown policy is expected to be implemented in more areas. But what those measures really translate into has been left to the whims and fancies of local authorities.
READ: Commentary: Lockdown and isolation sound simple – but keeping people at home is no easy answer
READ: Commentary: After four weeks, what New Zealand has learnt about the realities of COVID-19
Much of this hesitation to impose stricter measures on movements with enforcement to back those up stems from the Indonesian governments concerns about hurting the economy and the professed incompatibility with the populations culture. It has consequently largely relied on leaders urging people to stay put.
Civil servants, for instance, have been discouraged from heading home but no penalties have been imposed should they do so.
THE POLITICAL HOT POTATO OF BANNING MUDIK
Indonesia has seen 6,575 infections and 582 deaths as of Monday (Apr 20). These figures suggest the threat of a massive outbreak remains low for the 268 million-strong country but could also betray low numbers of testing.
Going against the grain of mudik presents an incredibly tricky challenge for the Indonesian government but must be tackled.
READ: Commentary: Three overlooked facts behind Indonesias high COVID-19 death rate
READ: Commentary: Indonesias COVID-19 fight has deeper challenges
It is easy to see why many Indonesians have huge reservations about being asked to refrain from traveling home and why President Joko Widodo is also not inclined to expend precious political capital to impose such restrictions.
First, this homecoming has long been a widely practised routine for most of Indonesian society, by both public sector and private sector workers, and the wealthy and poor.
In some instances, even non-Muslims also engage in mudik during this season to return home, given how much of the countrys business shuts down.
Second, mudik also fulfills practical purposes as it allows workers to pass on earned income to family members each year.
Returnees typically share a generous amount of the fortune they made in the big cities with close relatives. Without this journey, unbanked families in far flung provinces have few alternatives of receiving needed cash from loved ones.
Third, mudik has been seen as a historical tradition, even an obligation, which few would dare to entertain the thought of halting.
President Jokowi knows taking a firm stance to ban this travel could fuel confrontation with authorities, especially when the narrative that such curbs disenfranchise poorer communities has gained a foothold.
Indonesia President Joko Widodo poses for a photograph during an interview with CNA on Aug 6, 2019. (Photo: Timothy De Souza)
WHAT A BETTER RESPONSE COULD LOOK LIKE
Indonesia might lose the battle against COVID-19 if existing measures are loosened to allow the massive exodus but a series of steps could take the sting of such a move.
READ: Commentary: Restrictions on movements in some Southeast Asian countries to fight COVID-19 have been patchy, even scary
READ: Commentary: A home can heal in the time of coronavirus
A public education effort could help inform the public of the heightened risks of the spread of COVID-19 with such travel. Messages could also be reframed as a step to keep loved ones safe and preserve longstanding traditions for when the economy can reopen for business and Indonesian society can find a level of normalcy.
A campaign to link mudik to the potentially grave health repercussions involving religious and community leaders could help smooth over concerns about the erosion of longstanding religious and traditional values.
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