Indonesia Culture
Be Careful Not to Offend Others
Being careful not to offend people on your travels is sometimes not as easy as it seems. Each country has different mores and the gestures and mannerisms you may think as normal in your home country could be offensive to the people of the country you travel in. Because Indonesia is a country where Islam is the predominant religion, there are certain mannerisms you should be aware of that could be deemed disrespectful. Most westerners really don’t give it a second thought and carry on just as they did at home and, so often I have noticed this in Bali on my many trips to that island. Fortunately, the Balinese are a liberal people and tend to disregard those westerners who behave and act atrociously and use mannerisms offensive to them. However, when you travel to the other islands within the archipelago where Islam is predominant then there are a few mannerisms you should be aware of that are considered offensive.
Date: July 22nd, 2008 |
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Places to Visit in Semarang: Central Java
I can still recall the very first time I visited Semarang, the northern coastal in Central Java. It was in the middle of the hot season, the winds blew even hotter and the dust was annoying to the eyes. But, I loved it. It was refreshing to visit and experience a city of such historical importance and culture. Semarang is a divided city – the cooler new part of the city called Bukit Sari where most of the flash hotels and residences are located, and, the old part of the city known as Kota Lama. It is here in the old part of the city that I would recommend anybody to stay when they are visiting the city and much more interesting and fascinating to explore. Kota Lama has a lot of old Dutch colonial buildings and you can still see the old building remains of what was once a walled city. Staying anywhere in the old city will give you the opportunity to be near just about everything you could want to see and that includes the maze of markets and side streets where very turn of a corner is a pleasant surprise. Try the losmens and budget hotels nearer to Pasar Johar. I would suggest getting around by foot to see most of the historical places, but if you are not into wearing your feet to the bone, then there are plenty of becaks or taxis available.
Date: June 23rd, 2008 |
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Jakarta Museum Guide: West Java
A lot of my friends have remarked upon visiting Jakarta that it is a polluted and a heinous traffic nightmare. Although there remarks are warranted, nonetheless, Jakarta is a fascinating city to visit and more especially if your interests are in museums and the colonial days of Jakarta under the Dutch occupation. Thankfully, the Indonesian Heritage Society has helped, and in an extremely large way, to preserving the grand old buildings of bygone days. Much of old Jakarta has changed little in appearance since the founding years. One of my favourite places is Sunda Kelapa, the old port, where these days you can still see the Phinisi schooners unloading their goods from distant islands in the archipelago. But it’s not only the old port that will hold your fascination. There are 57 museums in the Greater Jakarta area and each one well worth visiting even if only to admire the grandeur Dutch architecture.
Date: June 19th, 2008 |
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Indonesians in Focus: Ki Purbo Asmoro
The warrior Bima circles his enemy. With a resounding bang of the gamelan, the fighter of ancient Javanese folklore spreads his arms and deals a final blow, vanquishing his opponent to death. On the spread of white cloth, the shadow of only one figure remains. The intensity of this shadow puppet, or wayang, scene being played out seems at first to be at odds with the atmosphere of the room it is being rehearsed in. Some 18 gamelan instruments crowd the practice space, as do the musicians playing them, the singers, dozens of wayang puppets heaped in two piles at the front of the room, and the man responsible for the entire ensemble — Ki Purbo Asmoro.
Date: June 11th, 2008 |
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Batik – an Intangible Heritage Wonder
Batik is a popular decorated textile but for Javanese, it means much more — it embodies a philosophy that holds importance from the cradle to the grave. It is still a common practice to wrap newborns in batik cloth, and a piece of batik selendang (scarf) is regularly used to carry the baby around. When someone dies, batik will cover the body of the deceased and seven pieces of batik are usually used to cushion the corpse. At this time, batik with a parang rusak pattern or a bird design are not supposed to be used. The values represented in Indonesian batik are considered significant enough by advocates to push the government to nominate it for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s list of intangible cultural heritage, which will be first inscripted in September 2009.
Date: May 26th, 2008 |
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Doing the Tourist Thing: Yogyakarta, Central Java
During the time of the Soeharto regime tourism flourished in Indonesia and especially in places like Bali and Yogyakarta. Western tourists virtually flocked to Yogyakarta to experience the Javanese culture, visit the archaeological icons in or near the city and, this was mainly due to Yogyakarta’s reputation of being the cultural heart of Indonesia and the Yogyanese being the friendliest in the archipelago. These two factors still remain the same today and gradually western tourists are returning to Yogyakarta albeit slowly after a hiatus in tourism due to many internal factors in the country. In general, western tourists, and to a certain extent domestic tourists, stay in Yogyakarta for a period of three days. Of course in my opinion this is very little time to experience all that Yogyakarta has to offer, but, as long as the tourists see the main sights they seem to be satisfied with their visit.
Date: July 17th, 2008 |
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Sriwijaya Festival: Palembang, Sumatra
The principal city of South Sumatra is Palembang and is a large metropolis of nearly two million people. But don’t let that deter you. It is a vibrant old city steeped in culture and tradition. Although it started a few days ago, there is still plenty of time to visit the Sriwijaya Festival held each year in Palembang, South Sumatra. The aim of this annual festival is to preserve and promote the ancient culture of the region by bringing history. This is done through a programme of performances, exhibitions and activities. The festival is one that is well worth seeing and also includes events added of a more up-to-date theme like speed boat races on the spectacular Musi River which runs through the centre of the city and is a main transport hub. The week-long festival includes live musical performances, traditional and contemporary arts performances and storytelling from bygone days. The ancient Sumatran Kingdom of Sriwijaya was an important cultural and trade centre during the 13th century and through this festival its historical importance is shown in many forms.
Date: June 19th, 2008 |
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Wedding Rituals
Across the archipelago of Indonesia wedding rituals vary from island to island and dependant on the religion of the future wedded couple. In western society, man meets woman, they go out and do the usual (work it out for yourself!), become engaged and finally marry. In the case of my wife and I tying the knot it was rather frustrating from a westerners point of view. Take into consideration that this was during the period of the Soeharto regime when Bhuddism was not a recognised religion in Indonesia. Yes, you guessed it, my wife was a Bhuddist and, to complicate things even further, she was Indonesian born of Chinese descent. Not only that, my wife was from a very old Chinese lineage and therefore strict adherence to marital rituals had to be observed. As a westerner and a fairly laid-back guy, I respected this ‘process’. For our first year of courting we were chaperoned and I can still recall quite clearly sitting I the parlor at my wife’s parents place and having to have a member of the family present.
Date: June 13th, 2008 |
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Dina Oktaviani: The Lost Biography
City lights picked me up/and we tried to forget all the things/that had shredded the solitude back in that room//we may never understand/why old calendars/could change history/as easily and quickly as a highway rush
How do you feel after reading the lines above? How would you feel if you were told that the verse, an excerpt from a poem titled Silent Calendars, was written by a 15 year old? Dina Oktaviani composed it in February 2001. She had never before submitted her work to a national publication, but a year after Silent Calendars was written, Media Indonesia decided to print it in its Sunday edition, along with her other poems.
Date: May 30th, 2008 |
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Indonesians in Focus: Didik Nini Thowok
People usually look down on buskers or roadside performers, assuming they are too lazy to work and are content earning a few pennies on the street. But not Didik Nini Thowok, who believes busking can actually serve as a way to preserve cultural traditions and even attract tourists. Born in Temanggung, Central Java, the 54-year-old man said a group of traditional artists had recently been given a space to busk in the city center, on Jl. Malioboro. “Busking can become one of the ways to develop Yogyakarta as a culture-based tourist city,” said Didik. “But this activity has to be supported by all parties, since most groups of traditional artists are not financially secure,” he said. Didik said he believed that regular shows by traditional art groups would help both the artists and local cultures survive. He added busking by artistic groups could also become a powerful attraction for tourists, especially foreign visitors.
Date: May 23rd, 2008 |
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