Indonesians vs. Jakarta Expats
Jul 14th, 2008, in Society, by Guest Writer
Hans takes a pictorial look at differences between Indonesians in Jakarta and their western guests.
East vs. West, Orang Indonesia vs. Orang Bule
Yang Liu is a Beijing-born artist residing in Germany. One of her works, Ost trifft West, depicts cultural differences between the Chinese and Germans through amusing infographics, which also hold true remarkably well for differences between the East and the West in general. Including our beloved country Indonesia? Yes, but not entirely either.
According to Geert Hofstede, an international authority on cultural differences, the Indonesian culture can be characterized by high levels of power inequality, low tolerance for uncertainty, and collectivism, while most Western cultures generally exhibit the opposite.
Inspired by Liu’s artwork, I’ve discovered the following, humorous differences between Indonesians and ‘foreigners’ (orang bule).
Skincare
Where to go in Jakarta?
Yes or no, atau tidak?
Daily newspaper
Favourite fruit
Can you think of any other differences between Indonesians and foreigners? Share them in the comments!
104 Comments on “Indonesians vs. Jakarta Expats”
-
tomaculum says:
“Ai, look at the pictures.., they’re for fun! ”
Hans, Indonesian doesn’t understand fun if something tangets their religion, “national pride”, tahu, tempe, durian and sambal. 🙂Ken,
the problem is in such studies, that the investigator often only living in a certain area for a certain time and they speak the local language usually bad.
Like Clifford Geertz or Thomas Schweizer, they lived in a small village/place in Middle/East Java and wrote about the Javanese culture.
But the Javanese culture has so many facettes you can’t bring them under one roof.
There is the Blambangan culture in the very east of Java, Ponorogo, Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Kebumen etc, etc.
Indonesian culture are at least similar various you cannot call it as “one” culture.
Surely there are some similarities beetwen the diversified Indonesian cultures: Korupsi, Sambal, Tahu, Tempe, Fanatism, intolerance etc, etc.
The same problem you will face if you wants to describe “the” Indian culture or “the” German culture etc.
You’re right, Hofstede isn’t (he still alive, isn’t he?) a racist. He is an inquisitive person.
The problem is that many Indonesian think they know their culture more than foreigners although they live in a coconut shell. -
Ai says:
Ai, look at the pictures.., they’re for fun! Hans, I did have a look through on the pictures. However, the notion of this whole article seems to generalize Indonesians and place the Expats into a better or exclusive level. Not all Indonesians prefer to use the whitening cream, like durian, read kompas and as timdog said that and according to Jakarta Post’s own statistics, 50% of its readership is Indonesian…
I am sure that you could present a different article such as the similarity of the Indonesians and the expats. although it may not be as easy as mentioning the difference, but at least we do not widen the gap. Like others have mentioned, I agree that this is just for fun and appreciate your points.Hans, Indonesian doesn’t understand fun if something tangets their religion, “national pride”, tahu, tempe, durian and sambal Tomaculum, there is no religion matter related on the pictures above. Also,The problem is that many Indonesian think they know their culture more than foreigners although they live in a coconut shell. This is true, but also please underline that some Indonesians appreciate foreigners with deeper and better knowledge of Indonesian cultures including those foreigners who are able to play Indonesian traditional musics, published a book about batik, do some Balinese dances, or simply speak in Bahasa. Altough some Indonesians still live in a coconut shell, but also many of them are open-minded.
-
Ai,
Honestly I don’t understand what you mean with your complain about my comment.
I wrote “The problem is that many Indonesian think they know their culture more than foreigners although they live in a coconut shell.” and not “all“. OK?
Ai, btw this comment “Hans, Indonesian doesn’t understand fun if something tangets their religion, “national pride”, tahu, tempe, durian and sambal” is meant as an ironical reaction to A. Sudarsonos and Aluangs comments which shows their inferiority complex, which caused their vulnerability. So what if there is no religion matter related to the pictures above?
Which part of those pictures place the expats into a better level?
What about this: many expats does read Jak Pos because they can not understand the bahasa Indonesia. Simple explanation, isn’t it? Isn’t it a negative reference if one cannot speak the language of the country where you live?
Isn’t it true that many Asian lubricate their skin with tones of such whitening cream and that many Indonesian (male and female) colour their hair into blonde? While the expats use sun oil Factor 30 because their skin haven’t enough pigments so that it is very sensitive?
Isn’t it true that Indonesians are crazy of shopping? While the expats wants to experience culture?
And about durian and tor simply speak in Bahasaor simply speak in Bahasahis clothespin. Isn’t it simply funny?
And Ai, as long as I remember, it is difficult to make a sure arrangement/deal with Indonesian. It is true that yes is no and no is yes. Or that yes is not really no but a sure no is sometimes a shaky not yes.
So why not just taking it from the funny side, won’t we? 🙂“….or simply speak in Bahasa.”
Which “Bahasa”? Bahasa Indonesia? Bahasa Jawa? Bahasa Inggris, Jerman, Bali or which one? 🙂 -
Aluang Anak Bayang says:
Here is another one:
Local Indonesians
Tan honey skinJakarta Expats
Burst sausage -
Odinius says:
It would be pretty funny if all the bules started wearing skin whitening cream though.
-
Dear Tomaculum,
I wasn’t complaining about your comments as I was actually clarifying your comments. And as you said, bro : “The problem is that many Indonesian think they know their culture more than foreigners although they live in a coconut shell.” and not “all“. So why not mentioning the words “not all” on your first original comments instead of saying “many”.
You gave your respond and comment related to religion issue for Sudarsono/Aluang but under Hans’s word which was “Ai, look at the pictures.., they’re for fun! ” you must be joking man…are you Ai? Or am I Tomaculum? 😛All questions you have asked previously, are able to be answered by all readers in this website which I believe many are Indonesians, therefore, the questions are completely redundant in my view.
If you are a foreigner, then you are probably part of those foreigners who are completely ignorant about the beauty culture of Indonesia (regardless it’s never endings problems: such as corruption/bad pollutions) including those foreigners who live more than 4 years in Indonesia but the only word they are able to memorize are “apa kabar? or “dari mana?” 😀But, if you are Indonesian and you are still holding the green passport then you should be able to view this ‘joke’ in this article from a different perspective (only if you do respect you country and proud of it) Unless, you are not pleased with being Indonesian, then revoke your Indonesian citizenship could be another option before you absolutely take this differences on the above pictures as a purely joke. But I do not think that you are foreigner who is living in Indonesia, because we often say ‘bahasa’ in a way of saying bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language) amongst other foreigner friends.
All the best for you. -
Farah says:
Tanned skin just “trend” for bule these days.
I think past time, in UK king and queen or other noble people there also prefer their skin white pale, also made their hair more light colors or even white….i think i read this somewhere. If they found whitening cream that time they might use it too.. hehehehe !Indonesian want to get lighter skin since past time i think… when they found lulur from mangir that made skin color yellowish and clean. Because its the same, yellowish, or fair skin described as rich people because they spent less time in the sun (??). Only worker class that work in rice field and peasant have dark skin…..
…am i say something wrong here ? hehehe….
-
dewaratugedeanom says:
Aluang
No pedophiles in Asia??? Then who are Japanese schoolgirls selling their dirty underware to?
Rainer said
In Bali i am told there is little or no child sexual abuse.
There has been a case of sexual abuse that got public and court attention. It involved a certain Mr. Brown who later committed suicide (or has been suicided?)
From what i have seen it is probably true, that there is little or no child sex abuse in Bali.
Because of the social structure (banjar) there is a high level of social control too over children. Most Balinese kids are never left alone or move and play in groups. However what goes on behind closed doors in sleezy back alleys from tourist places like Kuta and Sanur is difficult to assess. There are many chances you will be accosted there by local slimeballs offering ‘young girls or boys’.
-
Teng says:
No you are very right Farah.
In the old days white was considered wealthy too in the western world. It showed you didn’t have to work in the sun like peasants. When the west became industrialised and the agraric sector became small… it became a tan that showed your wealth. Because it meant (or means) you have time for holidays in far away places… instead of working in a factory.
-
Pena Budaya says:
Let me add further – with assumption that we are talking about European and North American expats (not Asian nor African nor South American expats)
Indonesians: Jam karet
Expats: PunctualI know some Indonesians in Europe and it appears that jam karet still exists within its community.
Indonesians: work, work, work, work
Expats: work, summer holiday, work, christmas/winter holidayIf we divided a year into 4 seasons as in Europe & North America, then we just realise how hardworking people Indonesians are! We are hardly taking long vacations – blame it on lousy labour law!
Indonesians: dangdut for dance
Expats: electronic music (trance/house) for dancejust for fun…hahaha..
-
Ai, I was proud to be an Indonesian, although I am a mixed blood man with chinese father and javanese mother. I was very, very proud of Indonesia.
But tell me a reason to be proud of Indonesia nowadays. Which beauty of culture of Indonesia do you mean? I think you mean the beauty of diversity (which threatened to be unified).
Should I be proud of a government which is powerless against such things like FPI?
Should I be proud of the corrupt mentality in Indonesia or of the Indonesians who abuse their language and culture (instead of Bahasa Indonesia you say Bahasa, instead of giving names like Sumantri, Supartono etc you give your children arabian or european names or even fantasy names like Febriantuny Kristantimah. Proud of Indonesia? I tell you: I’ve given my children European and Indonesian names. European because their mother is a white woman speaking better Indonesian than many of Indonesian born, Indonesian- javanese – because I am a javanese. Instead of selamatan with the whole village you destroy churchs and worship-houses of some Islam “sects”)?
Should I be proud of a country destroying their environment?
Should I be proud of a nation in which the word tolerance soon will be an unknown word?
Should we blindly be proud of our country though the many many sh*ts happening there?Btw: I have given up my Indonesian citizenship and I don’t regret it. 🙂
I am a javanese man, I am no more Indonesian. And I will see those pictures from some other perspectives than you mention.
Peace! 🙂 -
Mas Toma,
I may agree partially with you, but you are completely wrong about FPI. We should all be very proud of FPI; encourage them and give them financial and moral support. They are the ones who stopped immoral Bules sexually abusing our children and kept them in line. Indonesia’s FPI is akin to Australian’s AFP.
-
toma said:
Ai, I was proud to be an Indonesian, although I am a mixed blood man with chinese father and javanese mother. I was very, very proud of Indonesia.
But tell me a reason to be proud of Indonesia nowadays. Which beauty of culture of Indonesia do you mean? I think you mean the beauty of diversity (which threatened to be unified).
Should I be proud of a government which is powerless against such things like FPI?
Should I be proud of the corrupt mentality in Indonesia or of the Indonesians who abuse their language and culture (instead of Bahasa Indonesia you say Bahasa, instead of giving names like Sumantri, Supartono etc you give your children arabian or european names or even fantasy names like Febriantuny Kristantimah. Proud of Indonesia? I tell you: I’ve given my children European and Indonesian names. European because their mother is a white woman speaking better Indonesian than many of Indonesian born, Indonesian- javanese – because I am a javanese. Instead of selamatan with the whole village you destroy churchs and worship-houses of some Islam “sects”)?
Should I be proud of a country destroying their environment?
Should I be proud of a nation in which the word tolerance soon will be an unknown word?
Should we blindly be proud of our country though the many many sh*ts happening there?I totally agree. Real patriotism, to me, is not “my country right or wrong” but “if my country is wrong, i will do everything i can to fix it, because i love it too much not to.”
-
“They are the ones who stopped immoral Bules sexually abusing our children and kept them in line. ”
And who stops the “Baju-Koko-turban-wearer” abusing children and women? Polisi? FPI?
🙂 -
Mas Toma,
Just because a few Asian like smelly cheese doesn’t mean all Asian liked cheese.
As for FPI, no one liked them but we do need them to weed out immoral Bules predators.
-
Mach Jabber says:
Godwin’s law
“As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.”
Jabber’s law
“As an Indonesian internet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving FPI approaches one.”
-
Aluang,
but the FPI doesn’t weed out immoral “white” predators. They destroy Indonesian churches and attack brownie Ahmaddiyah followers. -
Mas Toma,
Countries like Thailand and the Philipines should have a vigilante group modeled on our FPI.
The FPI did their job way too well; now that they have nothing worthwhile to do, they are a nuisance. Didn’t I say ‘no one liked them’ but they have to stay?
-
aluang said:
We should all be very proud of FPI; encourage them and give them financial and moral support.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha….. FPI are a group of stinky dirty rotten pigs!!!! They smell like pig farms!!!!
-
Yup gOObers, the Bules better think twice before touching our kids.
-
aluang, kulo iki asli Indonesia lho!
And I warn you to stay away from the Indonesian kids and do not touch them!!!!! -
On holidays
Expat: hiking/trekking/nature
Indonesians (jakartans): european/american citiesOn eating
Expat: fork and knife
Indonesians: handsOn being sick and medicines
Expat: doctor and pharmacy
Indonesians: panadol in warungsOn cellphones
Expat: necessity
Indonesians: accessoryOn family
Expat: call and make appointment to see family members
Indonesians: welcome to show up anytimeThere are so many more. BTW, I’m an Indonesian with (what friends have said) a healthy sense of humor. I don’t think the above is offensive to Indonesians at all; liking durian most certainly does not make Indonesians inferior to white people; it’s our own white worshiping that does.
I think no race is superior, we just have different culture, that’s all.
-
Lairedion says:
Jakarta expats:
Totally self helpless, unable to deal with life in their homelands and in Jakarta they’re not that successful either. Large concentrations can be found in various bars and pubs in Blok M and Jaksa, easily recognizable on their bad hair and outfits. Usually of Anglo-Saxon-Celtic stock. “G’day mate, wilcome to Jakahta, wanna Binteng?”
Indonesians:
Increasingly affected by Wahhabi cancer, subsequently more and more emphasizing on violence and intolerance in stead of thinking about the future of their children. Their country is heading for an ecological disaster but as long as their mosques are surviving tsunamis, earth quakes, volcanic eruptions and floods, who cares. Common response is to pray even more, build more mosques, attack peace loving people etc.
-
Hmm. My experience has been that tolerance for uncertainty can be very high here. Frustratingly so.
Comparing nations of people to other people from vague geographical regions of the world is always problematic. But it can produce a good laugh now and then.
Here are a few things, as an American in Jogja, that strike me about the culture here:
1) In the US, no one walks toward you smiling and assuredly talking to you unless they know you or have a d@mned good reason. It’s a daily part of life here, and as a result people get very skilled at ignoring others. Still feels a bit rude to me just to pretend like someone doesn’t exist when they’re talking to me, but then again there are times I wish I had a shirt that read (in Indonesian): “No, I don’t want a God-d@mned becak”.
2) There is no concept of “breakfast” as its own distinct food subset here. Thus I woke up to rice and chicken feet with tofu today.
3) Privacy and personal space is at a minimum. I can’t walk downstairs without everyone asking whether I’ve ate and where I’m going. In general there are people everywhere and getting some alone time is difficult.
4) During money transactions, placing orders at restaurants, etc., the norm is to act really, um, lowly, pathetic, and ultra-grateful, nodding wimpishly while saying “makasih, ya”. You all know what I’m talking about.. If I did that in the US people would think I was some kind of spineless weirdo.
5) Trash. Burning trash can be seen all over the place. An easy but obnoxious and noxious practice. Also, on the beach I saw two maintenance guys clearing trash. They just dug little holes and buried it in the sand. wtf mates… Also, there seems to be no concept of publish trash cans here.
6) The stores here all have about 20 more employees than they need. Five or six will stand around while one rings out a customer. In general, you don’t have to do many tedious things yourself here. E.g. when I wanted to make some photocopies at perpustakaan UGM, some lady made them for me after I told her which pages I needed.
7) There is little of the intolerance we have in the US for ridiculous cigarette marketing ploys. Everything is a cigarette ad here – warung signs, concerts, the “Sampoerna Corner” at the UGM library.
What do you guys think?
-
@Peter:
true, that is the culture here. but like i said earlier, we are just different.
the individuality like you guys have in your country is considered rude over here (in indonesia i mean)..we have a saying that goes, “lain padang lain belalang, lain ladang laing ilalang” which basically means different place different culture..
but it’s interesting what you have observed, i have made a satirical blog about the ‘different’ things indonesians do with the rest of the western blog here.
-
mm.. the link wont work.. i’ll try it again. Stuff Indonesians Like Blog.
-
Well Tomaculum…now I understand why you were proud to be Indonesian- there is nothing wrong about it and that’s what you have chosen from life. Shits are happening everywhere man…not only in your x-country.
Even you declared yourself as a Javanese, but you know that Java Island is still part of Indonesia.“instead of giving names like Sumantri, Supartono etc you give your children arabian or european names or even fantasy names like Febriantuny Kristantimah. Proud of Indonesia? I tell you: I’ve given my children European and Indonesian names.” Honestly Tomaculum, this is another redundant question or statement, Arabs..including Chinese people have been living in Indonesia for ages! they even fought together for Indonesian independence.
That is why there are some Indonesian descendant from Arab or China and there is nothing wrong with giving their children’s name after their father/grandfather. It is a personal choice in life – just like when you chosen to revoke your Indonesian citizenship or decided to name your children with European name. Having a name or nick name like Ko’ Acun or Al-Hamid as Indonesian citizenship, does not mean they are not a good Indonesian.
Indonesia has more tribes and not only Javanese, they have Batak, Sunda, Madura, Aceh, Dayak, Minangkabau etc.. so why bothering to name the children like Sumantri or Supartono.. while Indonesian knows that they are able to name their children after their tribes..It’s a good thing that you don’t regret what you’ve done. At least you are complaining about Indonesia as a non-Indonesian. It would be in a worst situation if we are Indonesians and criticizing the country constantly without making any efforts to make it better.
I’m not a fan of the government or FPI either, but if you look at Hans’ article, there is no religion matter related to it – but people keep on writing and commenting about FPI (feel sorry for Hans – people are following their Ego most of the time). Tomaculum, I have made my points clearly as well as you did- and that is end of discussion (as you mentioned: peace – I agree). 🙂
-
tomaculum said:
Febriantuny Kristantimah
you know my cousin Febri?
-
Ai,
I didn’t mean immigrants like Abu Bakar Baasyir, but original Indonesian people from desa x given their children (or theirself) such a name like Abu Khalid bin Walid (in fact this person doesn’t have neither a son named Khalid nor a father named Walid. 🙂 ).
I just listed asome names from Java because I don’t know surely names from other Indonesian regions.
If a Chinese parent names tits child Tang Siauw Ping surely its OK, it is Ok if they call the child Damayanti or like that. I find it funny if the children have funny names like: Pinggawan, Siauwati etc.
Off course it is frequently a personal choice. But in my time as Indonesian it was a must for our Chinese sisters and brothers to change their names. I did have already Chinese and Javanese names based on my parents races cultures. And I am proud of this names. 🙂Why not commenting about FPI, this thugs belong to Indonesian culture, don’t they? Like the Manchester hooligans to british culture?
I declared myself as a javanese race man (though I just have a half of it in myblood), and in the javanese culture to be javanese means to life the javanese way of life (Kejawen).Ai,
I don not complain about Indonesia but about the tendency to fanatism and about the slowly takeover of the governmental power by such thugs groups. And also about the corruption and such things.
I hope that Indonesia faces a much better tomorrow. Because I still love Indonesia and I still do something for Indonesia (though just a little bit).Odinius,
you’re joking, aren’t you?
Well, if not: I don’t know your cousin. But I was well known as a “dukun” and forboder. 🙂
Comment on “Indonesians vs. Jakarta Expats”.
Copyright Indonesia Matters 2006-2025
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact
As Mas Achmad says, Hans seems like a nice guy, and it is just supposed to be a bit of fun, but I do have to wonder – what is the point? And surely the pictures could have been a bit more original. The durian one raised half a smile (though I know Indonesians who hate the stuff), but of the times I’ve been to the top of Monas, I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen another Bule up there, and according to Jakarta Post’s own statistics, 50% of its readership is Indonesian…