Why is the Warung Empty??

I recently stopped into my favorite lunchtime place to eat. It's a little warung called KKN. It's actually a funny name. This little acronym stands for korupsi (corruption), kolusi (collusion), and nepotisma (nepotism). Many Indonesians say these things are what keep the country functioning, but that's a different story...

I got there at about 12:30pm, and I was the only person there. Usually there are not open tables at that time. However, this is the month of Ramadhan, the month of fasting for all Muslims around the world. Even though Bali is about 85% Balinese Hindus, there are still lots of Muslims here from the other islands of Indonesia. They fast from sunrise to sunset during this month. Every morning on the news they post the exact times for starting and stopping the fast. They are not allowed to eat or drink anything during daylight hours.

It has been interesting to see all the ads on TV, songs on the radio, etc that mention Ramadhan. There's a special ad for Panadol (tylenol) this month that says, "Aman diminum dengan perut kosong." Which basically means that it is safe to take with an absolutely empty stomach... There's also a song called "Ramadhan Datang", which would basically be like singing "Here comes Ramadhan, here comes Ramadhan" to the tune of Here comes Santa Claus...