Indonesian customs<\/p>\n
When I read your article and editorial on Expats need to learn
\nIndonesian customs in The Jakarta Post of Oct. 1, 1994, I laughed
\nso much, I fell off my chair. Now that I am able to sit again,
\nplease let me explain why.<\/p>\n
I am an expat and I have been living in Indonesia for four
\nyears. I am a Westerner. Like most expats, I informed myself well
\nabout customs and culture through books and publications before
\narriving here. I don't know the habits of Asian expats i.e. South
\nKoreans but I am pretty sure most Western people provide
\nthemselves with information about the country they intend to live
\nin (or want to visit) to make a stay abroad successful.<\/p>\n
When I came to this wonderful country I decided to stay in a
\nsmall provincial town to quickly accustom myself to local habits
\nand be forced to learn Indonesian quickly. In the four years I
\nhave so far lived here I learned that being `sopan' (polite) is
\nvery important, which is not so difficult for someone who has a
\nnormal education and a sense for good relations.<\/p>\n
I used my right hand to eat and give and take. My left hand is
\nfor the bathroom, which drives my old mother back home crazy
\nafter all her efforts to teach me good manners. I ask for `permisi'
\n(permission) when I want to enter someone's house and take off my
\nshoes before entering. When I am given food or a drink I wait
\ntill I am invited to have them before I take them.<\/p>\n
I appreciate these customs because they make good sense to me.
\nBut outside the private atmosphere of Indonesian households, life
\nis like entering a jungle where people tend to forget all their
\ngood manners and life becomes the survival of the fittest. People
\nwill not line up anywhere. In post and airline offices, train and
\nbus stations there is an unwritten rule that the first who is
\nable to get his money or question closest to the person in charge
\nwill be served. When entering trains etc. the only thought is how
\nto get in without paying attention to the ones who want to get
\noff.<\/p>\n
To make things more complicated, people here love to travel
\nwith many and often awkward packages. I am not astonished anymore
\nwhen someone has taken my reserved seat on a train or plane and
\npretends not to understand my `bahasa.' Very funny are the chaotic
\nscenes that occur before the words ...\"plane comes to a complete
\nstandstill,\" are spoken.<\/p>\n
The bus and train trips where the person beside you is using
\nyour shoulder as his cushion because it's so fleshy and at the
\nright height.<\/p>\n
What about buying a few things at a `warung' and an another
\ncustomer arrives and places his order in a loud voice and gets
\nserved immediately. These are just a few examples of what I
\nexperience everyday. Before being branded as a person with too
\nnegative a view, I'll keep it short.<\/p>\n
After four years I am quite used to it, but I won't give up
\ngiving my comments, in a loud voice, on the above mentioned
\nbehavior which many people over here consider `kasar' (rude). I
\nlive here, but what about tourists who are visiting this country
\nfor a few weeks? They will return home with stories about the
\nunpleasant atmosphere in public places. Isn't it time to organize
\na seminar on behavior of local people in public places, or air
\nsome TV spots to show how to behave in lines, traffic and public
\ntransport? Film them in Western countries so Indonesians can see
\nmost Westerners don't drive around in fast cars the whole day,
\nchange partners like people over here change clothes, or pick
\nmoney out of the trees in their backyards.<\/p>\n
LIONEL SLUITER<\/p>\n
Tasikmalaya<\/p>\n
West Java<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesian-customs-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }