province have a reputation for straight talk. They don’t mince words. This upfront attitude seems abrasive to some Javanese, who are known for skirting a sensitive subject in conversation.
According to folklore, the Batak speak loudly because they once lived in houses near lakes, on mountain slopes, and in other sparsely populated areas. Their houses were set far apart and they had to shout to get their message across. Some Batak live around Lake Toba, the largest lake in Southeast Asia. It was formed by a huge volcanic explosion.
The ethnic spectrum in the stereotype from refined to rough runs from the Central Javanese, to the Sundanese in West Java, to the East Javanese, to the Batak. The Sundanese break down into the Bogor people, who are considered pasar (“market,” or rough), and people from Bandung, who are thought to be refined, a legacy of the Hindu kingdom of Pajajaran that reigned over West Java centuries ago. Bandung is also home to many universities.
Albino/white foreigner.
Javanese believe albino animals are sacred, and parade white buffalo (kebo bulai) in a show of thanksgiving every Javanese New Year. Like the Muslim calendar, the Javanese calendar is based on the cycles of the moon.
Bule is a colloquial term for white foreigner. It can be neutral, affectionate or derogatory. Some foreigners bristle at the expression because it dumps them into a racial category. Indonesians often shout “Halo bule! ” and “Hello, mister!” at foreigners on the street. Many Indonesians have had little contact with foreigners, and yell because they don’t know how else to attract attention.
Another old term for Caucasian is belanda (Dutch) or londo (Dutch, in Javanese). It doesn’t matter whether the white person is Dutch or not. The terms emerged during Dutch rule in Indonesia, which began on Java in the 17th century and ended after Indonesian nationalists declared independence in 1945. In 1949, the Dutch acknowledged Indonesian sovereignty after several years of war.
A foreigner is orang asing (alien person). The term also applies to Indonesians who travel to distant parts of the archipelago, home to hundreds of ethnic groups. These out-of-towners look different and speak their own language. Those with very dark skin might be from remote Papua, at the eastern tip of Indonesia. People with pale skin could be from North Sulawesi province, where Chinese influence is heavy.
A long time ago, most Indonesians rarely strayed from their kampung (village) and had little contact with outsiders. Trade, modern communications and the population shift to the cities changed that over the last few decades. Under President Suharto, millions of Javanese left their crowded island and fanned out across Indonesia under a policy called transmigrasi. The policy reinforced government control over outlying areas, but created tension between local populations and Javanese migrants who took land and power.
Company.
A derogatory term for Dutch people and other Westerners. It comes from Perserikatan Kumpeni Hindia Timur, which means Dutch East India Company in Malay. Established in 1602, the trading company planted its headquarters on Java and served as an instrument of Dutch power in the region, trading in spices such as nutmeg and cloves, as well as tea, silk and other products. Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, as the company was called in Dutch, dissolved in 1798 and Indonesia fell under the direct administration of the Dutch government.
Javanese referred to the company simply as Kumpeni. Today, an Indonesian who wants to shirk a chore says:
“Relax. The Company is still far away.”
Tenang. Kumpeni masih jauh.
The implication is that the Dutch aren’t about to invade, so what’s the rush?
King.
The Hindi term pops up in many contexts: raja jalanan (king of the road), or a high-speed, reckless driver; raja dan ratu sehari (king and queen for a day), or a bride and groom on a wedding day; and raja copet (king of pickpockets).
Raja singa (lion king) means top dog. It also refers to syphilis, the king of sexual diseases. The expression predates the AIDS era.
Nearly 2,000 years ago, travelers from India reached the archipelago that later became known as Indonesia. They brought Hinduism, and great kingdoms spread the religion across Java and other parts of the archipelago. Today, Bali is the only island that is predominantly Hindu.
Sanskrit, the language of ancient India, influenced Indonesia: the word bahasa, or language, is from Sanskrit. Hindi, which shares the same alphabet as Sanskrit, also made its mark.
“Jeans changer” = A tailor who specializes in altering Levis and other jeans.
Vermak comes from vermaken (change, or turn), one of many Dutch words that were picked up by Indonesians during the colonial occupation.
Not every tailor has needles strong enough to alter jeans. Those who do hang a Vermak Levis sign in their shops or offer services on the roadside, equipped with only sewing machines. Others attach sewing machines—the kind with the wheel and the foot pedal—to their bicycles and offer door-to-door service. These Vermak Levis are easily identified by the red Levis emblem on their signboards.
You might see signs that say Permak Lepis, especially if the tailor is a Sundanese from West Java. Sundanese have trouble pronouncing the consonants v, f and p, and sometimes mix them up.
Group of Arab descent.
Golkar, the ruling political party under Suharto, had close links to the military and was dominant down to the village level. Its loyalists controlled Parliament, making it a rubber-stamp assembly for the president. Although Indonesia is now democratic, Golkar remains a powerful political force. The name of the party stands for Golongan Karya (Functional Groups).
Some Indonesians joke that citizens with Arab blood are Golkar, or Group of Arab Descent. The acronym is lighthearted rather than derogatory. Arabs arrived in Indonesia well over a millennium ago and established themselves as traders and purveyors of Islam, which became Indonesia’s dominant religion.
Arabic is richly represented in the Indonesian language. The Arabic word for book, kitab, refers to Islamic books in Indonesian. Many bookstores have signs that read Toko Buku & Kitab. Toko means shop in Indonesian, and buku means book.
Prominent Indonesians of Arab descent include two former foreign ministers, Alwi Shihab and the late Ali Alatas, as well as Munir Thalib, a rights activist who fell ill and died on board an Indonesian commercial airliner heading from Jakarta to Amsterdam in September 2004.
An off-duty pilot was sentenced to 20 years in jail for the murder after a court found him guilty of putting arsenic in noodles served to Thalib. Judges concluded that Thalib was killed because of his strong criticism of human rights abuses by the military. Thalib’s widow said the murder was part of a broader conspiracy by state agents in a case reminiscent of state-backed killings in the days of dictatorship.
“Can’t be killed by the Dutch” = Invincible. A superman. Knock him down and he pops back up like a rubber ball.
Few Indonesians know this old phrase, which comes from a game of playing cards during Dutch colonial times. The Jack, Queen, and King cards symbolized Western nobility, or the Dutch occupiers of Indonesia. You were unbeatable if you had aces up your sleeve.
Indonesians who lose