Saturday, September 4, 2010

Ramadan in Bahrain vs Ramadan in Indonesia

First of all, I would like to wish you Ramadan Kareem, a very Happy Ramadan.

I have been experiencing couple of Ramadan in Bahrain but never wrote anything about it. I am interested in comparing how life is during the month of Ramadan in Bahrain and Indonesia. Check it out…

Greetings
In Bahrain, people greet each other (no mater religion and nationality) with "Ramadan Kareem" or "Ramadan Mubarak". In Indonesia, people say "Marhaban ya Romadhon" or "Selamat Menunaikan Ibadah Puasa."

Temperature
In Bahrain, the highest temperature during this Ramadan so far reached 44 degree Celsius and extremely humid. In Indonesia, it's just 32.

Road/Street
In Bahrain, road and streets are very quiet during the day of Ramadan. No traffic jam, No Saudi cars, few vehicles. Driving car is a peaceful of mind. In Indonesia, particularly Jakarta, day and night are the same, hells of traffic jam.

Shopping Malls
In Bahrain all shopping malls are quiet in the day time, but starting from 9.30pm it's getting busier. People are going to malls after evening prayer (shalat tarawih). In Indonesia, day or night malls are packed with people roaming around and particularly a week before Eid, you can't even move when you walk through a shopping arcade.

Evening Prayer (Shalat Tarawih)
In Bahrain, people spend 1.5 to 2 hours for evening prayer, reciting at least 1 Juz of holy Quran during the prayer. In Indonesia, most mosques are racing to finish the prayer as soon as possible, reciting short verses of Juz 'Amma. The fastest mosque is usually packed with Jemaah.

Restaurants/Food Courts
In Bahrain, except in 5-star hotels, not a single restaurant opens in the day time. In Indonesia, who cares?

Zakat
In Bahrain, I pay zakat with BHD1. In Indonesia, I used to pay with a 2.5 Kg of rice.

Celebration/Lebaran
In Bahrain, you don’t find Lebaran and Eid Fitr is not a kind of major celebration. In Indonesia, Lebaran is the greatest public holiday ever!

Working Hours
In Bahrain, moslems and fasting people enjoy a privilege of 6-hours working time. In Indonesia, no exceptions apply.

Ramadan Tent
In Bahrain, Ramadan is about feast and culinary art in the evening time. Hotels are offering Ghabga Buffet in their Ramadan Tents. In Indonesia, if you ask people about "Ramadan Tent", they will ask you back, "Which camping ground would you like to go?

Sinetron
In Bahrain, you can barely find religious Cinetron (Cinema Electronic..?). In Indonesia, most tv stations are commercialized by religious shows/series and I feel dizzy whenever watching them.

So far, those are the comparison I notice. If you have some, please write in the comments and I will add it. Thanks.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mo,

It is really a very nice article…..great job!!!!!...... When compared with Indonesia, I felt it is much more similar to Mumbai.

Diana D'mello

Anonymous said...

Interesting. I wonder I could experience Ramadan in both countries.

mike.

Anonymous said...

mgk msh ada satu lg perbedaan idul fitri di bahrain dg di negara kita.
MUDIK! di indonesia slalu ada budaya mudik saat lebaran.
bagi sebagian besar orang di indonesia, meski kondisi keuangan lg mepet, apapun akan dilakukan utk mudik trmasuk dg moda transportasi motor (antar propinsi pun diterjang pake motor), berdesakan di kereta ekonomi, tergencet di kapal laut.
bgm dg di bahrain?

Umi

Erica said...

Great Its Really nice article...