Indonesia Kalimantan
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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Upcoming Events in Indonesia
Along with the endorsement of 2008 as Visit Indonesia Year, a line-up of programs has been arranged to give visitors a closer encounter with the country’s magnificent culture. Here are some of the highlights to come in the next few months:
Date: May 15th, 2008 |
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Garuda Indonesia to Fly Jakarta to Pontianak
In what is seen as a boost to tourism in Kalimantan, Garuda Indonesia will fly from Jakarta to Pontianak three times a day to cater to rising demand for air services. Currently, Garuda serves the route once per day. Garuda had filed an application to the operator of Supadio Airport in Pontianak for an increase in the number of its flights from Jakarta to Pontianak or vice versa. It is expected that Garuda would be able to compete with other airlines which offered low-cost flights.
Date: April 20th, 2008 |
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Garuda to Organize `Discover Indonesia`
The Indonesian consulate general in Sydney and national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia will jointly organize a tourism promotion event called “Discover Indonesia” for Australian tourism operators and mass media. Intended to support the Visit Indonesia 2008 program, the promotional event would be held for two weeks starting late July 2008. Representatives of 20 Australian travel bureaus and a number of newspaper and television reporters would be invited to take part in the program.
They would be given the opportunity to visit and see some of Indonesia`s eco-tourism potentials outside Bali, especially on Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua islands. Garuda would among other things fly them to the Bunaken marine park in North Sulawesi, the centre for orangutan protection in Kalimantan, and Toba Lake in North Sumatra.
Date: April 11th, 2008 |
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Preserving Textile Weaving: Bali
Life’s threads are drawn from tales of the past; its rituals and religions woven into the fabric of culture and lands. Across Indonesia, this weaving of life’s threads is a link to history, and the stories of lives embedded in textiles. For centuries, women across the archipelago have been the storytellers of their cultures, daily writing across the warp and weft of their backstrap looms the cloth of bridal dowries, infant swaddling garments and shrouds for the dead. Before the advent of tourism, these textile heirlooms were handed down from mother to daughter — their motifs, colors and weaving forms, different in each region, copied and learned by osmosis over generations. However a late 20th Century shift from a bartering to monetary economy threatened to break this tradition.
Date: April 1st, 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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The Cultural Significance of Betel Leaf
At first too shy to approach the prince directly, Princess Kadambari Was persuaded to honor her guest. She stretched out her hand. She placed the betel leaf in his. She offered the leaf as though she offered her heart. Banabhatta (A.D. 7) Kadambari
Last week I told you a tale about daluman, that “ominous green leafy drink that is revered by the Balinese”. But as the world, including Ubud, falls into a heap of ill health (have you noticed how many people are getting sick these days?), maybe it’s time to start getting into some serious tonics to ward off those “evil spirits” that wreak havoc with our lovely bodies. Or are the evil spirits simply ourselves? Enter daun sirih, or what is otherwise known as betel leaf. Heart-shaped and as glossy as a polished green apple, the betel leaf is surrounded by myths and magic. Its use can be traced as far back as 2,000 years and it is even described in the most ancient books of Sri Lanka. A native of India and south-east Asia, it traveled the high seas in those old sea-faring days, venturing as far as Madagascar and East Africa. And what an impact it made.
Date: April 26th, 2008 |
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Indonesians in Focus: Wimar Witoelar
In Indonesia, the media should be cautious when covering four topics — suku, agama, ras, antar golongan (ethnicity, religion, race and the relationship between groups), better known as the acronym SARA — to avoid any legal consequences. But in a new talk show on ANTV, guests must refrain from talking about weight, or else the host, Wimar Witoelar, may become angry. The host of the half-hour-long show Perspektif Wimar (Wimar’s Perspective) was recently offended when he thought his co-host, Cathy Sharon, commented on his large body size.
Date: April 16th, 2008 |
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Frog without Lungs Discovered in Kalimantan
A frog has been found in a remote part of Indonesia that has no lungs and breathes through its skin, a discovery that researchers said could provide insight into what drives evolution in certain species. The species is the first frog known to science without lungs and joins a short list of amphibians with this unusual trait, including a few species of salamanders and a wormlike creature known as a caecilian. The aquatic frog Barbourula kalimantanensis was found in a remote part of Indonesia’s Kalimantan province on Borneo island during an expedition in August …
Date: April 10th, 2008 |
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Snakes in Indonesia
Mention the word ‘snake’, and generally 95% of people run for the hills!. This is probably the worst thing you could do as you will arouse the snake’s attention. As most bushwalkers will tell you, it’s better to stand still and let the reptile get on with his business and go past you. Of course there are those times when you unavoidably step on one and then shit hits the fan, so to speak. It happened to me in Australia one particular year, and although I was lucky not to be bitten, the partner of the snake underfoot was not impressed. The snake in mention was a King Brown, one of the deadliest snakes in the world, and promptly chased me down a dry gully. In Indonesia on my travels I have come across snakes numerous times and just applied common sense in our meetings. Chances are that you will never come across a snake unless you travel in the jungles or open grasslands. A majority of tourists will never see a snake as they never venture off the beaten track.
Date: March 20th, 2008 |
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