Jokowi's Cabinet Does Not Open House On Lebaran This Year

JAKARTA - Every Idul Fitri Celebration, officials in the government ranks routinely hold open houses and visit each other. This habit has been confirmed by the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menkopolhukam) Mahfud MD because there is COVID-19.

Thus, President Joko Widodo's Working Cabinet will not hold a similar ceremony as in previous years. Moreover, the discussion about open houses has not been discussed recently.

"The cabinet never talks about the open house. Cabinet members must know themselves not to do an open house. How long do cabinet members want an open house?" Mahfud said in a press conference after a limited meeting on preparation for the Idul Fitri, Tuesday, May 19.

According to him, in the current conditions of preventing the spread of COVID-19, there are already regulations that restrict yourself from visiting the crowd. So that to do an open house is something that is impossible so it has never been discussed.

"Gathering is very limited only with the nuclear family. That is from (different) because it is in a very, very limited area. So, no open house has ever been discussed," he said.

It was reported that the community seemed to have to be patient in facing the Eid Al-Fitr 1441 Hijriah. This is because a number of habits that are often carried out cannot be carried out in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, including visiting relatives' homes. This is done to prevent the spread of this virus.

"We ask the public not to carry out the event of visiting each other after the Eid prayers as we usually do. Because doing so during the COVID-19 period is clearly a very high risk," said Secretary General of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Anwar Abbas in a written statement, Friday, May 15th.

In addition, Anwar also asked the public not to shake hands or shake hands as is usually done when congratulating holidays. Moreover, shaking hands is the most effective way of spreading COVID-19 so far.

So as an alternative, he said, gathering and greeting each other could be done with other alternatives such as through short messages, telephone calls, or video calls.

"We urge people and society to put forward efforts to protect and protect themselves so they do not fall into things that endanger health," he said.

"Especially in religion, keeping oneself from falling into disasters and calamities is obligatory while shaking hands is only a sunnah," he concluded.