ST Picks Thousands of rural folk seek jobs in Jakarta after Hari Raya

JAKARTA – Mr Andri Prihatin has been patiently unloading sacks of rice and bottled water in the past week at a neighbourhood grocery store in Jakarta, leaving behind his wife and two toddlers nearly 300km away, in search of a better life for his family.

The former worker at a tofu factory in Tegal in Central Java province aims to find a permanent job as a shop assistant, and perhaps further down the road, open a roadside stall selling fried catfish.

“At the tofu factory, I was paid daily, so the money never lasted. But in Jakarta, I usually get paid monthly, so I can actually save,” Mr Andri, 30, told The Straits Times. He was paid 70,000 rupiah daily (S$5.50) in his home town, while in Jakarta he could earn 1.5 million rupiah for 20 days of work a month, or 75,000 rupiah a day.

Mr Andri is one of thousands of “perantau” – newcomers – from rural areas looking for jobs in the capital city and its surrounding cities. They typically head into Jakarta after Lebaran, as Hari Raya Aidilfitri is known in Indonesia, by hitching a ride with their relatives who are returning to Greater Jakarta.

The rural-to-city movements are closely monitored by the authorities in the Big Durian – what Jakarta is affectionately called by its residents – as officials need to plan for the annual arrivals, which could strain housing and job availability.

The Jakarta provincial government has recorded a decreasing trend in post-Raya holiday arrivals for the past three years, with 27,478 people in 2022, 25,918 in 2023, and 16,207 in 2024. The 2025 figure for the reverse-flow of people returning from Raya celebrations in their home town outside the capital has not been tallied.

The drop in reported arrivals stems from low public