The real story
The custom of salam tempel, pressing a small envelope of money into a child's hand during the Eid handshake, is everywhere in Indonesia. Before every Lebaran, Bank Indonesia runs a nationwide exchange service and banks set up special counters, because families queue for fresh, uncreased notes in small denominations to fill the envelopes.
Grown-ups get their own version: THR, the holiday allowance, which by law must be paid to workers before Eid. It began as an advance on civil servants' pay in the early 1950s under Prime Minister Soekiman Wirjosandjojo, and workers later campaigned to extend it to everyone. And the line every Indonesian kid knows, 'Mama simpan dulu ya,' is the oldest joke of the season.
