ECUMENE.ORG President Abdurrahman Wahid
International Scholars
Annual Trialogue February 2000
NEWS FROM JAKARTA
by
Professor John Raines, Temple University
Jakarta, Indonesia
27 February 2000Dear Friends and Family:
I am sitting in the Foreign Minister's very large reception room. Things
are drawing to a close. Alwi Shihab comes over, takes me by the hand and
talks to me over his shoulder as he leads me, hand in hand, toward the
door--the Foreign Minister leading me like a blind man. It's a common
practice. Men, women, teenagers and almost all kids--holding hands with
each other as they walk and talk down the sidewalk. It's not just pre-teen
girls who drape their arms over each other, it's boys together, men
together. They simply touch each other a lot more over here than we do.We are such a "hands off!" culture. I wonder why. As kids we all held
hands. But then some time around second or third grade the taboo comes
down. I wonder why?Perhaps this staying "in touch" culture has something to do with the way
local electronic and print media go about constructing visual advertising
copy. Kids are spread all over the newspapers, the magazines and the local
television screen. They see not just toys, but soap, food, clothes, even
cars. Family is very much the visual center of this society. You go out to
eat at the food market and the place is filled with families. No one bats
an eye when kids zoom in and out of tables. Or kids trail along behind
their mothers and fathers in the supermarket like a traveling road show. I
don't think anyone leaves their kids at home over here...ever.The kids here to shrink behind their mother's skirt when strangers walk
toward them--very tall, very white strangers. They just stand their and
stare at you. One you're past they grab their mother's hand and giggle.Indonesians love to laugh. It's not just their new President (a Muslim
cleric yet) who spends half the time at formal public occasions poking fun
and cracking jokes. The whole adult culture is constantly erupting into
peels of laughter--the women, especially the young women, shielding their
flashing teeth with a decorous hand.I go for a handshake with an Indonesian adult male and then minutes later
and far into the conversation he still has hold of my hand. This is a 95
percent Islamic country, but there is none of the Middle Eastern formality
and distance between newly meeting men and women. Out go the hands
without a second thought.Over here, my students call me "Pak John"--more or less "papa John." All
male adults who are respected and like get called "Pak." And adult women
similarly regarded get called the Indonesian equivalent of "mama so-and-so."There is a quality of intimacy and fun and poking fun that weaves its way
through everyday life over here and gives its a flavor distinctly different
from our North American. When you leave a party in the evening, the host
not only walks you to the door, but out into the driveway where his car and
driver (middle-class folks over here all have drivers--cost? about $50 a
month) are waiting to take you back to your apartment.There is, of course, formality over here. But it's a kind of pourous thing.
The Foreign Minister walks down a crowded city street in the company of
obviously well dressed and foreign "dignitaries" and there is no security,
no police, no parting of the waters of the oncoming crowd of everyday folks.
Kids, adults, walk in, around and through the Foreign Minister's gaggle as
we make our way down the busy street. Or I walk through the formal front
entrance of the ornate Foreign Ministry building at 1 P.M. on Friday, and
there is no one in sight. They are all at Friday prayer. I mean
everyone--no guards, no secretaries, no functionaries, the place is empty.
I walk up the formal staircase to the Foreign Minister's private office all
by myself. This informal formality is at first a surprise, then something
quaint, then somehow disarming, and finally something thoroughly pleasant.It's a culture that lacks officiousness.
O.K. I'm biased. I like these folks. (So would you.)
John Raines
sted July 22 1999
News from Jakarta: Next Instalment
Last revised 28 February 2000
Electronic edition copyright © 2000 Ingrid H. ShaferLast revised July 22, 1999