FOLLOWING the mass exodus of people travelling to their hometowns ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, those who chose to stay in Jakarta during the holiday have been able to enjoy the luxury of traffic-free streets in the city, seeing it as a welcome, rare occurrence.

Some used the opportunity to freely ride their bikes and jog along the empty streets without having to worry about passing traffic.

Others, meanwhile, took their excitement for the near-complete absence of traffic to a whole new level, as the empty city stimulated creativity and a sense of humor.

An Instagram user, @fredneust, used the opportunity to take photos of himself doing everyday routines in the middle of the empty business districts.

His comical poses included grilling satay on a barbecue and sleeping in pajamas in the middle of the usually congested streets.

Fred, who arrived in Jakarta three years ago, said he took the photos spontaneously, out of his affinity for “Indonesian humour”.

“My main mission here is to always see the positive side of Indonesia,” he said. “We have problems here, but we have improved a lot thanks to the government and the people of Jakarta.”

He was not alone in his enjoyment of the empty Jakarta streets.

Danang Dwi, a university student in Jakarta, snapped a photo of him and his friends lounging lazily on folding chairs against the backdrop of an empty bridge that links Kuningan with Menteng, South Jakarta.

“We did it just for fun,” he said. “We got quite bored spending our holiday at home. We could not afford to go out of town, so we decided to have fun on the empty streets of Jakarta.”

He added that his fondness for travelling and hiking drove him to use a tent, a travel bag and folding chairs as props in his photo.

The photos taken by Fred and Danang have since gone viral and received thousands of likes on Instagram.

—The Jakarta Post / Indonesia

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2018