Indonesian customs

Indonesian customs

When I read your article and editorial on Expats need to learn
Indonesian customs in The Jakarta Post of Oct. 1, 1994, I laughed
so much, I fell off my chair. Now that I am able to sit again,
please let me explain why.

I am an expat and I have been living in Indonesia for four
years. I am a Westerner. Like most expats, I informed myself well
about customs and culture through books and publications before
arriving here. I don't know the habits of Asian expats i.e. South
Koreans but I am pretty sure most Western people provide
themselves with information about the country they intend to live
in (or want to visit) to make a stay abroad successful.

When I came to this wonderful country I decided to stay in a
small provincial town to quickly accustom myself to local habits
and be forced to learn Indonesian quickly. In the four years I
have so far lived here I learned that being `sopan' (polite) is
very important, which is not so difficult for someone who has a
normal education and a sense for good relations.

I used my right hand to eat and give and take. My left hand is
for the bathroom, which drives my old mother back home crazy
after all her efforts to teach me good manners. I ask for `permisi'
(permission) when I want to enter someone's house and take off my
shoes before entering. When I am given food or a drink I wait
till I am invited to have them before I take them.

I appreciate these customs because they make good sense to me.
But outside the private atmosphere of Indonesian households, life
is like entering a jungle where people tend to forget all their
good manners and life becomes the survival of the fittest. People
will not line up anywhere. In post and airline offices, train and
bus stations there is an unwritten rule that the first who is
able to get his money or question closest to the person in charge
will be served. When entering trains etc. the only thought is how
to get in without paying attention to the ones who want to get
off.

To make things more complicated, people here love to travel
with many and often awkward packages. I am not astonished anymore
when someone has taken my reserved seat on a train or plane and
pretends not to understand my `bahasa.' Very funny are the chaotic
scenes that occur before the words ..."plane comes to a complete
standstill," are spoken.

The bus and train trips where the person beside you is using
your shoulder as his cushion because it's so fleshy and at the
right height.

What about buying a few things at a `warung' and an another
customer arrives and places his order in a loud voice and gets
served immediately. These are just a few examples of what I
experience everyday. Before being branded as a person with too
negative a view, I'll keep it short.

After four years I am quite used to it, but I won't give up
giving my comments, in a loud voice, on the above mentioned
behavior which many people over here consider `kasar' (rude). I
live here, but what about tourists who are visiting this country
for a few weeks? They will return home with stories about the
unpleasant atmosphere in public places. Isn't it time to organize
a seminar on behavior of local people in public places, or air
some TV spots to show how to behave in lines, traffic and public
transport? Film them in Western countries so Indonesians can see
most Westerners don't drive around in fast cars the whole day,
change partners like people over here change clothes, or pick
money out of the trees in their backyards.

LIONEL SLUITER

Tasikmalaya

West Java