ttoilett: The Ramadhan Economic Beauty in Indonesia (Economic Re-Configuration)

The Ramadhan Economic Beauty in Indonesia (Economic Re-Configuration)

Ramadhan has its own beauties and we have to admit that. The beauties are existing in all level (individual, family, society, city, state) (cultural, economic, social and politic), all of these makes social and economical piety from the religious tendency. From many examples, we may take several like the family cohesion (when parents miss their sons and daughters vice versa and the trajectory is the back to home or a place called home or back to village phenomenon in the concept of togetherness and family affection).

Here, Ramadhan describes as the space that contains geographical and time dimension or in the other words consisting of spatio-temporal dimension. The context and implementation of Islamic values embedded in Ramadhan as the space. The religious piety increases during the space and the continuum phenomenon decreased when the Ramadhan as the space-time ended. That is the common cycles.

In 12 month a year, 1 month significantly change the normal order or common pattern. That 1 month gives a new breath, illustrating as the pause system that pausing the regular uncontrolled system. The month reveals the alternatives of the way of life as well as reconfiguration of daily order. We can portray the Ramadhan and its phenomenon from different side of angles (social, economic, political or in technology affected people as the contemporary phenomenon).

The reconfiguration as I stated above that occurs in all level. In the media, for example, we may see the frustrating programmers to choose when they have to put their prime/peak time. In normal months, the prime time scheduled in family time about 7pm – 10 pm, but now they have to change all the scheduled into several time (when before break the fasting, after tarwih and before sahur) and all of these in limited time. Moreover, after their hard efforts to reschedule, only a few muslim pay much attention to the television programs. In majority muslim populated country, we might say they failure to get significant market. From this phenomenon, if we saw from different angle we got the result people more productive in time by reducing time spending on watch the TV shows. Or in the other words, the time spending used more appropriate than ordinary month. The discipline of time and rescheduled daily life.

The television programs also try to be as religious as they can in order to sharp public perceptions. The another frustration also occurred in artists performances, their western behavior and attitude perforce transformed into muslim or muslimah values which is contrast to their daily normal habit (against personality). And for politician and key person of government who also not get much attention in Ramadhan is trying to appear in public before break the fasting time as good religious muslim-muslimah images and their wives collaborating into group with a minimum natural talent of singing and acting show after that with the new model of hijab and the display of their jewelry, a narcissism symptoms. The bad men/women turn into a good holy religious men/women instantly, as the Ibn Khaldun satire “corrupt humors in the bodies of domestic animals” (Khaldun 1958 ) .

Economic reconfiguration

Avoiding the social phenomenon repetition annually from Ustads statements in tarwih like earlier 1/3 month the mosque full, the last 1/3 month the Mall/fashion shop full, here we go fast forward to the economic matters. My attention here to focus the mobility, the circulation (quantity, direction and velocity) of money or in the other illustrating is the new economic sequences from mainstream condition. Here I am not supposed to write what the ideal is, or what the best concept to implement but only capture what phenomenon that occurring during the extraordinary month called ramadhan.

The amount of money circulation categorized into geographical spaces. The capital, big cities and regencies. The biggest percentage of money circulates in capital Jakarta and its support area and this called nationally or core or Centrum in terms of archipelagic administrative. The big money circulation only exists in its certain class of people (the big businessmen and their industries (manufacturing, services and so on), the national elites (government, state apparatus, politician) or in group circulates inside the middle – upper class of society. In regencies also have a same pattern the money only circulated in same group or class in society. The class is the agglomeration mode to recognize easily the money owners among society.

But the big amount of money circulation does not guarantee the welfare of people because like I stated above only occurred in certain class. What effects if big amount of money only operates in certain class especially inside the businesspersons or other rich persons with various occupations. The effects are the forming of the scheme of saving, property accumulation and the transformation of money into capital in the solid-fixed canals. In Jakarta or big cities, they inject their capital into several investments like banking and banking offers credits or in market stocks, currency trading or other business based on speculation. Thus becomes middle – upper business cycles model.

Middle class based on industrial workers mostly consume for the properties and sublime services supporting urban life style. So until here, we found a portrait of money mobility and direction, the upper class to the executive services and properties and so on, the middle class routes their money to the second executive services and properties. Therefore, the mobility and direction of money become the problems in order to make all society welfare or poverty reduction.

Ramadhan and its economic sequences

THR

We always hear about the THR (Tunjangan Hari Raya), this thing is the important for the workers. In normal month (outside Ramadhan) the THR rarely gave from its company/institutions to the workers. In Ramadhan space the THR becomes obligation. This is not the commitment of businesspersons pattern but the vertical instructional from state because the Ramadhan. After 11 months over exploitation and absorbing the surplus value from its worker, one month (Ramadhan) pushes the obligation to give the workers extra paid. This is the sequences, differ from 11 months of the uncontrolled system.

Small Scale Economic

From micro economic phenomenon, Ramadhan opens widely job opportunities to catch up in economic as the small seller or other small-scale services. In normal time and sequences the economic patterns are monopolistic and oligopolistic (only in a few number of economic players).

We cannot see this phenomenon outside the Ramadhan when the people from lower class feel energetic to the economic chances. Thus also supported by the daily reconfiguration (time managing or time order) that the fasting person only consumes when the fasting break time. In commonly, Indonesia as geographical economical modes provided raw materials and were at the same time market for industrial product but in Ramadhan the economic spirit is neither based on natural exploitation nor industrial products. The economic spirit comes from below from small scale economic to fulfill basic needs not tertiary one.

Meanwhile the sublime services like hotel occupancy and other “services” are lower than other months. That means quantity of money in the hand of middle – upper who always route their money in the sublime services (salon, travelling, hotel, karaoke, cinema and so on) can be transformed into small scale economic (culinary, cakes and so on). And for small food economic there is no speculation inside the business, we never found that the dadar from earlier price Rp.1500 offering by seller down to Rp.1000 as the buyer bidding.

Illustrating the quantity of money, The state budget is Rp.1500 Triliun. When this budget flows into various programs the quantitive of money is not reduced or lost but only the differences of dispersion of the money owners (where the money circulating).

The bank saving also decreased. People significantly take their deposits especially nearly the ramadhan ended. This illustrating that motives in saving such as money accumulation can be circulated into the consumption based on small-scale economic activities and direct to the other e.g bring money to the villages but banking.

In Bogor, the money transaction of the Takjil reached Rp.600 juta/night (muslimdaily.net). Bank Indonesia provided Rp.103 T cash money during Ramadhan and Idul Fitri 2013 increased 20% than previous year. The BI estimation around Jakarta cash money absorbing until Rp. 31 Triliun, Rp. 20 Triliun for Eastern Indonesia and Rp. 50 Triliun for western Indonesia (Neraca 2013). In Palembang estimated Rp.2.2 Triliun circulated during ramadhan (sumateraupdate 2013). In east Jawa estimated Rp.11,9 T, in Surabaya particularly reach Rp.3,6 T (RRI 2013). In SULAMPAPUA BI estimated Rp.4 T, in south Sulawesi particulary reach R.p.2.5 Triliun (rakyatsulsel 2013). We must consider that not only the currency quantitatively but also the velocity. Velocity is important to rate money in circulation is used for purchasing goods and services.

Mudik

The mudik phenomenon or back to village/hometown described the money mobility from urban to suburban and rurals. The “pemudik” person who back to his/her hometown brings some amount of money to their villages. Therefore, the ramadhan is not only giving the new breath to the city (from crowded, stressful to peaceful) but also transferred money circulation from big cities to the villages. As the consequences brightening the village up. If we illustrating the world as city-village, in this economic term we get remittances as the source of state devizen or foreign exchange that support economic.

Zakat

Islam principles : avoidance of riba (in the board sense of unjustified increase) and gharar (uncertainity, risk,speculation). In Islamic financed consist of risk sharing , promotion of economic and social development through zakat (almsgiving) (Warde 2000). Zakat is obligation for moslem who has capability and ability to do that.

Indonesia uses mainstream economic model (capitalism finance model) that contains riba (something prohibited in Islam) model. Zakat obliged the people to sharing their material happiness to others. Thus can be seen as poverty reduction scheme because only the Ramadhan forced people to think their rich condition must be shared to other. In Ramadhan we can easily see the philanthropist action and generosity from rich people to the poor. In Ramadhan, the poor placed as the important persons that must be helped by the rich people. Zakat, sadeqah, infaq and other schemes provide that aims. It illustrated the money circulation and direction increase significantly form up to lower. As I stated above the 11 ordinary months, money only flows upper-to-upper and middle to middle. This sequences give the example the social economic development that individualism reduced into collectivism.

The Contemplation

The Quran puts the definitive indicators “prayer focus, avoiding the unimportance action and statement, fulfill zakat and protect from self desire” (QS 23:2-6). The examples that I mentioned above sketch the patterns of economic configuration in Ramadhan beauty. The vertical and horizontal relation. Ramadhan expelled people from economic, social, political daily barbarism. The daily sin as the unproductive activities significantly reduced and the results are the new sequences of life that support and embrace all people. Ramadhan is a pause system.

for some mainstream economics, the Ramadhan only the particular one In term of the change of micro economic behavior. And maybe it is the trivial from the profound, no break new ground, no new. Maybe the people are fewer enthusiasts to portray the micro economic phenomenon but I treat it with enthusiasm. When we start from realities then concluded the thesis obtains the minimum discrepancy from models and realities, from theorem and what we saw

sFrom the horizontal is strengthening everything (human relations, family cohesion and so on). From the vertical dimension, Ramadhan appears as the self reflection mode. Despotic people, self correction by self blaming, the dialectical inside person feeling and mind in correlation to the vertical contemplation to the God, the annual self success measurement, all of these occur in the vertical dialectical. The contemplation from human to the creator of all living and things.

It is not about islam and the spirit of capitalism but the way of Islam as the alternatives of the capitalism dryness system. The capitalism has been dehumanizing people by individual motives as if the human life forever. Islam answered it that the world efforts are contemporary; it is only preparation for the eternal after life.