As the old saying goes: the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Does this mean the key to a woman’s heart is providing cooking oil amid its national-level scarcity? Perhaps that is the case for this Indonesian man, whose dowry for his bride has become an apt snapshot of the country’s early 2022 cooking oil shortage.
Supadi (60) and Sumariati (54) from Sooko District in Ponorogo, East Java tied the knot on Twosday (that’s 2/22/2022 for those who haven’t been keeping up) in a quiet ceremony at the local KUA (Religious Affairs Office). But the newlywed couple is having their 15 minutes of fame online thanks to Supadi’s dowry for Sumariati: 1 liter of cooking oil in a pouch.
“The groom’s philosophy [behind the dowry] was simple. He said cooking oil is now rare and expensive, so it’s all the more valuable for the family,” Sooko KUA Head Meki Hasan Tachtarudin said after the wedding.
Other than the cooking oil, Supadi’s dowry also consisted of IDR1 million (US$69.64) in cash.
“It so happens that this couple comprises a widower and a widow, whose respective partners passed away,” Meki said.
Indonesia, the world’s largest producer of palm oil, is ironically in the midst of a cooking oil shortage. Retail prices for what is now seen as liquid gold have nearly doubled in recent weeks, and Indonesians have rushed to get their hands on government-subsidized cooking oil as they disappear from traditional markets and supermarkets.
Rising domestic consumption and skyrocketing palm oil prices are likely the main causes of the crisis, but Indonesian police are also cracking down on alleged hoarders of cooking oil who aim to manipulate the market and sell the product later at a higher cost.
