JAKARTA - There are 1.5 million homecoming people in Lebaran 2021. The authority claims this to be a success of the no-go policy, including the restrictions. After all, 1.5 million is the number of people, the potential for COVID-19 transmission. Exploring this phenomenon, exactly why do people have such a great appetite for homecoming?
Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi called directly the figure of 1.5 million as a success. The conclusion of Budi's version was seen from the far away number of travelers with predictions made through mitigation surveys and anticipation of the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) before the homecoming season.
"In our survey, if left unchecked, 33 percent will go home. If it's banned it drops to 11 percent. At the time of the ban, when the campaign was conducted, it dropped again to 7 percent," he said at BNPB's virtual press conference on Saturday, May 15.
That's seven percent of the 18 million people. Actions, campaigns, and other efforts from the authorities that Budi said reduce the number of travelers to 1.5 million.
"After that we do the actions carried out by ministries and institutions, including by the National Police, then down again. According to our records, 1.5 million travelers," said Budi.
Homecoming as a social phenomenon
In terms of sociological studies, travelers are social actors who build their own social systems. This can be seen from a variety of field facts.
For example, how the local government compact improves the means of supporting the smooth homecoming, ranging from roads, tourist destinations, to rest areas. There is even a local government that welcomes the travelers.
They are often considered as hometown heroes "because when they are traveling in the city or when they go home, these travelers never give up their socioeconomic concerns to the people who can not or do not want to wander," said UIN Jakarta sociologist Tantan Hermanshah, quoted by VOI, Monday, May 17.
From the private side, they are also affected by the social system created by the travelers. Transportation companies, for example, are making big profits when the homecoming season arrives.
Yes, although this year is a bit different. What is clear, in general, is a social system that has been built for decades. Seeing why Indonesians are so attached to the homecoming phenomenon, we need to look back at the history of homecoming in the archipelago.
As Tantan explains about the nomads as heroes, homecoming is indeed related to those values: romanticism and social recognition.
[MEMORY: History of Mudik Nusantara]
The homecoming tradition is basically the tradition of the people of the city. Homecoming comes along with the emergence of modern cities in Indonesia and the symptoms of urbanization in the 19th century. "There is a distance from the city to the village which is often called udik. Be the moment when you return to the village called 'homecoming'," said historian, JJ Rizal.
It is closely related to Jakarta which since its name is Batavia and the status of Colonial Capital has become a magnet for people from various regions to fight fate. "No doubt, the large amount of urbanization makes Batavia, especially Jakarta, so synonymous with homecoming," said Rizal.
If you look back, the term homecoming was actually only popular around the 1970s. Homecoming is not just a matter of longing. Since history, homecoming has become a symbol of social recognition.
In the past, homecoming was always done by convoying. In the homecoming moment, the nomads are like heroes. Vehicles of travelers affixed with stickers will be greeted at the provincial border by voorijders.
'That's when a cultural scene is on display.' Let's go to the region to change fate,' approximately that's the message they conveyed along the way," explained in the book Maria van Engels: Son-in-law Habib Kwitang (2006)
So popular homecoming, Komaruddin Hidayat in writing in the e-book titled Indahnya Mudik Lebaran (2015) describes the romanticism of homecoming as nostalgia and trail trail as a teenager. Homecoming, for him is a beautiful emotional recreation and melancholy that is able to penetrate a long time.
Not only that. Komaruddin also reveals the reasons why someone likes homecoming. The reason is none other than because there is a classic expression that humans are 'homo festivus', which is a festival-happy creature.
Therefore, Komaruddin said, "... with so many festivals, including religious ones. Many people celebrating Eid al-Fitr can also be classified as a festival. At every festival, there's a pattern that, done massively over and over again at certain moments, buzzes in an atmosphere of excitement."
"There are others who say, man is a pilgrim creature. Wanderer or traveler being, i.e. happy to travel or sightseeing. Every holiday comes, the main agenda is sightseeing, recreation," he added.
*Read more information about HISTORY or read other interesting writings from Detha Arya Tifada, Nailin In Saroh and Yudhistira Mahabharata.
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