I flew to Sumatra thru Jakarta. By this time I was beginning to feel more at home. It is good that the trips we run are 6 weeks long. It takes a few weeks just to get used to your surroundings.
I was met at the airport by Rachma Jauanriata (sp). The consulate contact was sick. Rachma is an Indonesian national who works for the Consulate in Sumatra (city of Medan). She was the perfect host. Rachma had gone to high school in Indonesia and was trained as an architect. She not only got me to all of my events, she created a few new ones – setting up additional meetings with local political parties.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Surabaya, local areas, and Muslim Self Help
Headed to the Denpassar airport with John Taylor for a flight to Surabaya. Surabaya is the second largest city in Indonesia and the figure that comes to mind while typing is 4000000 people. It is a business and manufacturing city – what places like Pittsburg and Buffalo and Cleveland must have been like when the plants still operated at full bore. Polluted, energetic, fast moving, crowded, it was a lot like Jakarta but less so. I stayed at another Marriot, very nice place with an incredible staff, but had very little time in the city.
I had gotten sick on Bali. When I get sick, even for a brief period, I completely forget what it is like to be well. I don’t know what that observation means but, at that point, I had forgotten what it was like to be well. But when I walked into the lobby, I felt better because a number of my friends were there. Jalu (who flew there to see me), Silfia, Ria, and Dian greeted me at the hotel. I went up and changed, came down, and they took me on a tour of their city. They had a driver from Ready Mix concrete. Dian had left school and was working with the concrete company teaching their employees English. I guess, but again, this is one of those things I only partly understood, she was able to use the driver at certain times. He (the driver) was a young guy who got completely lost and we found ourselves in the slums of Surabaya, by a large drainage canal.
Indonesian cities have grown so fast that the organizational structure is still based on a kind of village model. Each small area (I’m not an expert on this at all so I have to be vague) has some sort of voluntary government function. There is a watchman (sometimes paid, sometimes not, sometimes non-existent) and a guy who takes the garbage out to a place where, sometimes, the government picks it up – the trucks couldn’t get down the narrow streets and alleys. In a place I went in Jakarta, finding a well was a sort of public, local function also.
Anyway, I’m sure Indonesian experts are shaking their head at my ignorance – writing about things they have known about for years – but I can’t help thinking that some recognition of these local functions, and a not overly regulative form of support (buying new carts for the garbage guy) would be a good step toward developing democracy – but I say this without any knowledge at all – maybe they are doing that – this kind of comment is the danger of the two day observation.
I asked about Mosques and they seem to work more on the Catholic then the Protestant model. People go to their neighborhood Mosque. I was told by a number of people that they don’t “mosque shop” (I bet it happens though) but attend locally. The notion of breaking off from the congregation and forming a competing Mosque across the street from the old one, doesn’t seem common there – unlike in my home town of Springfield – four corners, four churches, Ohio.
Hinduism is very hard to understand from westerners raised in the Christian tradition – because of the multiple gods and the complexity – but Islam in some ways is very familiar. At the level of popular culture you could put a Muslim self help book (and there are a lot of them in the book stores) right next to a Christian self help book (and there are a lot of them in the book stores). “How to have a Muslim Marriage”; “Muslim Beauty”; “How to Be a More Attractive Muslimah” (muslim woman)” – inspirational books by the Muslim equivalent of Billy Graham – etc.
It took me a while but I did notice that the book store was similar to American book stores in that there were just a lot of books about religion in general. Christian, Buddhism -- Islamic biographies of Jesus. Indonesians as a whole are very interested in Religion. The state requires you to pick one of six for your identity card so it is obviously an identity issue of some importance. Jalu, my friend from Jakarta (who met me in Surabaya) bought me a book "Arok and Dedes" about Java in 1215. It was fascinating to read about both a) the importance of religion and b) the variety and permeability of beliefs -- different brands of Hinduism (Shiva vs Vishnu); Buddhism, local gods, and ancestor worship were intermingled and the source of political conflict. I'm sure it is a source of conversations and academic conferences to talk about the diverse religious history of Indonesia and modern forms of Fundamentalism.
One area where the similarities end is the arguments over the role of church and state but I’m not sure of the extent to which this is a religious or a historical development questions. I’ll wrestle with that later but suffice it to say that a lot of people felt the separation would cause the withering away of both and that corruption was due to a loss of religious fervor whereas my view is the complete opposite – that linkage causes a withering of both and that corruption has nothing to do with religion – in fact, if anything, a back of the envelope calculation would suggest that the less religious a country is the less corrupt (but this surely isn’t causal but reflects economic standing). This is the same mistake Romney made when he said freedom and religion depended on each other. Maybe the had a relationship at some point in the past for western nations, and maybe they are linked in some places at some times, but not in most places, right now.
Anyway, that long ramble took me away from the the trip with my friends. They took me out to dinner at a local place and I started to get sick again. I had an Indonesian dish, Nasi Goreng Ayam (Fried rice with Chicken) but I just pushed it around on my plate and then I said – we have to leave now. People came back to the hotel, came up and took a look at the room, and left for the lobby. I came down a little later but I was done. This was one of two low points – the other being mixing up Suharto and Sukarno in a political party meeting – and I feel really bad for my friends who often came, on scooters, a long way to see me – I was a disappointing guest.
The next evening, after my day’s events, I got a call from Ria. She had suggested she might come back but I had forgotten and was still ill. She was in the lobby with a young man who she had introduced me to the night before. I came down and talked for a while. It turned out they are engaged and she wanted me to meet him but, again, I was a disappointment. I was much improved the next day when I flew to Sumatra.
I had gotten sick on Bali. When I get sick, even for a brief period, I completely forget what it is like to be well. I don’t know what that observation means but, at that point, I had forgotten what it was like to be well. But when I walked into the lobby, I felt better because a number of my friends were there. Jalu (who flew there to see me), Silfia, Ria, and Dian greeted me at the hotel. I went up and changed, came down, and they took me on a tour of their city. They had a driver from Ready Mix concrete. Dian had left school and was working with the concrete company teaching their employees English. I guess, but again, this is one of those things I only partly understood, she was able to use the driver at certain times. He (the driver) was a young guy who got completely lost and we found ourselves in the slums of Surabaya, by a large drainage canal.
Indonesian cities have grown so fast that the organizational structure is still based on a kind of village model. Each small area (I’m not an expert on this at all so I have to be vague) has some sort of voluntary government function. There is a watchman (sometimes paid, sometimes not, sometimes non-existent) and a guy who takes the garbage out to a place where, sometimes, the government picks it up – the trucks couldn’t get down the narrow streets and alleys. In a place I went in Jakarta, finding a well was a sort of public, local function also.
Anyway, I’m sure Indonesian experts are shaking their head at my ignorance – writing about things they have known about for years – but I can’t help thinking that some recognition of these local functions, and a not overly regulative form of support (buying new carts for the garbage guy) would be a good step toward developing democracy – but I say this without any knowledge at all – maybe they are doing that – this kind of comment is the danger of the two day observation.
I asked about Mosques and they seem to work more on the Catholic then the Protestant model. People go to their neighborhood Mosque. I was told by a number of people that they don’t “mosque shop” (I bet it happens though) but attend locally. The notion of breaking off from the congregation and forming a competing Mosque across the street from the old one, doesn’t seem common there – unlike in my home town of Springfield – four corners, four churches, Ohio.
Hinduism is very hard to understand from westerners raised in the Christian tradition – because of the multiple gods and the complexity – but Islam in some ways is very familiar. At the level of popular culture you could put a Muslim self help book (and there are a lot of them in the book stores) right next to a Christian self help book (and there are a lot of them in the book stores). “How to have a Muslim Marriage”; “Muslim Beauty”; “How to Be a More Attractive Muslimah” (muslim woman)” – inspirational books by the Muslim equivalent of Billy Graham – etc.
It took me a while but I did notice that the book store was similar to American book stores in that there were just a lot of books about religion in general. Christian, Buddhism -- Islamic biographies of Jesus. Indonesians as a whole are very interested in Religion. The state requires you to pick one of six for your identity card so it is obviously an identity issue of some importance. Jalu, my friend from Jakarta (who met me in Surabaya) bought me a book "Arok and Dedes" about Java in 1215. It was fascinating to read about both a) the importance of religion and b) the variety and permeability of beliefs -- different brands of Hinduism (Shiva vs Vishnu); Buddhism, local gods, and ancestor worship were intermingled and the source of political conflict. I'm sure it is a source of conversations and academic conferences to talk about the diverse religious history of Indonesia and modern forms of Fundamentalism.
One area where the similarities end is the arguments over the role of church and state but I’m not sure of the extent to which this is a religious or a historical development questions. I’ll wrestle with that later but suffice it to say that a lot of people felt the separation would cause the withering away of both and that corruption was due to a loss of religious fervor whereas my view is the complete opposite – that linkage causes a withering of both and that corruption has nothing to do with religion – in fact, if anything, a back of the envelope calculation would suggest that the less religious a country is the less corrupt (but this surely isn’t causal but reflects economic standing). This is the same mistake Romney made when he said freedom and religion depended on each other. Maybe the had a relationship at some point in the past for western nations, and maybe they are linked in some places at some times, but not in most places, right now.
Anyway, that long ramble took me away from the the trip with my friends. They took me out to dinner at a local place and I started to get sick again. I had an Indonesian dish, Nasi Goreng Ayam (Fried rice with Chicken) but I just pushed it around on my plate and then I said – we have to leave now. People came back to the hotel, came up and took a look at the room, and left for the lobby. I came down a little later but I was done. This was one of two low points – the other being mixing up Suharto and Sukarno in a political party meeting – and I feel really bad for my friends who often came, on scooters, a long way to see me – I was a disappointing guest.
The next evening, after my day’s events, I got a call from Ria. She had suggested she might come back but I had forgotten and was still ill. She was in the lobby with a young man who she had introduced me to the night before. I came down and talked for a while. It turned out they are engaged and she wanted me to meet him but, again, I was a disappointment. I was much improved the next day when I flew to Sumatra.
Political Parties
Had two dinners on Bali – one with a political party group PKS and another with a group of academics. PKS is a political party. It is Islamic in its general view and against corruption. This, at least, is how they describe themselves. When I write that sentence “Islamic and Against Corruption” does it mean anything to you as you read it? Probably it means a lot and it means nothing. We all know what, very roughly, what “Islamic” means – pertaining to Islam. And we all know what “corruption” means.
When I met with other parties they explained their platforms in similar ways. "Islamic Values (sometimes "Indonesian Values" and against corruption. I didn't find any parties against islam or for corruption. Beyond that, they really can't tell you much about why they are different on policy issues from the other party. They are shifting alliances, some rooted in pre-existing national organizations (Golkar -- previous rulers and a few others aligned with national Islamic movements)Except we don’t.), some built a around leaders, some just trying to make their way in a new Democracy and all organized to take a share of power. Differentiation on policy ideas is not very strong and differentiation on performance will have to wait for more time.
When I met with other parties they explained their platforms in similar ways. "Islamic Values (sometimes "Indonesian Values" and against corruption. I didn't find any parties against islam or for corruption. Beyond that, they really can't tell you much about why they are different on policy issues from the other party. They are shifting alliances, some rooted in pre-existing national organizations (Golkar -- previous rulers and a few others aligned with national Islamic movements)Except we don’t.), some built a around leaders, some just trying to make their way in a new Democracy and all organized to take a share of power. Differentiation on policy ideas is not very strong and differentiation on performance will have to wait for more time.
Bali Tour
Bali and Tour
Bali is a 90% Hindu island that is a part of an 80% Muslim nation. I never got a good answer as to why Bali remained Hindu (or became Hindu) while the island directly to its east, Lombok, became Muslim. Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as local versions of Animism were here long before Islam and I imagine that in a series of conflicts Hindus from Java crossed to Bali for protection and blended with the local culture. This all makes sense but why the Indonesian islands east of Bali became Muslim is harder to explain. How did Bali hold out? Why was it skipped over?
You know Bali is different the second you walk into the airport. There is incense burning and the people dress differently – more color, more what you might expect in India. There are also offerings everywhere – the first one I saw was to a small Frog statue on top of the Urinal in the mens room – next to a flat fish tank mounted on the wall. There are temples and statues all over – in the oddest, most unlikely spots – and every day some small dish with flowers and food (maybe food – I didn’t pick one apart so I couldn’t say exactly what was in the dish) appear. You can see the previous days offerings collected in trash pits. I can’t exaggerate how many offerings there are. When I spoke at University of Genesha in Singaraja, Bali, I was walking around giving my talk – I can’t sit still – and there was a little offering right in the middle of the floor. I tried to avoid stepping on it.
My good friend good friend Ratna Haris picked me up at my hotel at 10:00 on Saturday the 23rd and, along with her husband and two friends they made at their hotel, took me on a tour of Bali. This was incredibly nice of them. They rented a driver, (and they had flown their from their home city of Makassar), and took me to a large Hindu temple, a beautiful mountain lake, and a local market.
Bali is a 90% Hindu island that is a part of an 80% Muslim nation. I never got a good answer as to why Bali remained Hindu (or became Hindu) while the island directly to its east, Lombok, became Muslim. Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as local versions of Animism were here long before Islam and I imagine that in a series of conflicts Hindus from Java crossed to Bali for protection and blended with the local culture. This all makes sense but why the Indonesian islands east of Bali became Muslim is harder to explain. How did Bali hold out? Why was it skipped over?
You know Bali is different the second you walk into the airport. There is incense burning and the people dress differently – more color, more what you might expect in India. There are also offerings everywhere – the first one I saw was to a small Frog statue on top of the Urinal in the mens room – next to a flat fish tank mounted on the wall. There are temples and statues all over – in the oddest, most unlikely spots – and every day some small dish with flowers and food (maybe food – I didn’t pick one apart so I couldn’t say exactly what was in the dish) appear. You can see the previous days offerings collected in trash pits. I can’t exaggerate how many offerings there are. When I spoke at University of Genesha in Singaraja, Bali, I was walking around giving my talk – I can’t sit still – and there was a little offering right in the middle of the floor. I tried to avoid stepping on it.
My good friend good friend Ratna Haris picked me up at my hotel at 10:00 on Saturday the 23rd and, along with her husband and two friends they made at their hotel, took me on a tour of Bali. This was incredibly nice of them. They rented a driver, (and they had flown their from their home city of Makassar), and took me to a large Hindu temple, a beautiful mountain lake, and a local market.
Begging
Beggars
I’m not sure if any more people approached me for money in Indonesia then in New York City but there is a difference. In NYC or Boston most people asking for money are men with mental issues, substance abuse problems, or both. In Indonesia there are more children and severely handicapped people begging. I only make the comparison to indicate that our society, as rich as it is, fails to take care of a number of people and theirs, which has severe financial issues does as well. I met with a group of NGO leaders in Sumatra and there was a group who worked with women who had been beaten by their husbands. They asked about what happens to a woman in the US if they are poor and their husband is arrested (I mentioned the law requiring the police to detain a suspected abuser for a period of time) and they have no place to go. I thought about that for a while and answered that there were a lot of small, local, or state (or private) run groups to help but, in essence, in the U.S., like Indonesia, it is not a good spot to be in.
I’m not sure if any more people approached me for money in Indonesia then in New York City but there is a difference. In NYC or Boston most people asking for money are men with mental issues, substance abuse problems, or both. In Indonesia there are more children and severely handicapped people begging. I only make the comparison to indicate that our society, as rich as it is, fails to take care of a number of people and theirs, which has severe financial issues does as well. I met with a group of NGO leaders in Sumatra and there was a group who worked with women who had been beaten by their husbands. They asked about what happens to a woman in the US if they are poor and their husband is arrested (I mentioned the law requiring the police to detain a suspected abuser for a period of time) and they have no place to go. I thought about that for a while and answered that there were a lot of small, local, or state (or private) run groups to help but, in essence, in the U.S., like Indonesia, it is not a good spot to be in.
Sick and Disoriented
Being Sick
Getting out of your hotel and trying new food and drinks is not risk free. I got sick in Bali and stayed that way for 72 hours. I brought an Anti-Biotic and that seemed to work. Luckily I was off for a day in Bali and didn’t have any sessions but when I did go to my next venue – Surabaya – I had an interesting two days of sessions. This is compounded a little by a topic I won’t discuss at length in a public blog – bathrooms.
The bathrooms I visited in Indonesia, even at gas stations, are as clean, or cleaner, then their American counter parts – in some places there is a person hanging around the bathroom who charges for use but they also clean it. I will leave the topic by saying that the methods are very different and that many Indonesian bathrooms, especially out of a big city, don’t use toilet paper and the toilet itself is flush to the ground. This, combined with a very hectic speaking schedule, and being sick, make for an interesting day.
Two old cultures, developing in isolation, both hygienic but simply dealing with things in a very different way.
Disorientation
When I first arrived in Jakarta I was completely disoriented. I didn’t know where to walk, how to cross a street, what was a store, what was a home – no concept of safety (Indonesia has petty crime but the rate of physical violence is low) – I couldn’t tell the difference between a yard and a sidewalk. Now that I have been here two weeks I am getting used to things but have to leave.
Getting out of your hotel and trying new food and drinks is not risk free. I got sick in Bali and stayed that way for 72 hours. I brought an Anti-Biotic and that seemed to work. Luckily I was off for a day in Bali and didn’t have any sessions but when I did go to my next venue – Surabaya – I had an interesting two days of sessions. This is compounded a little by a topic I won’t discuss at length in a public blog – bathrooms.
The bathrooms I visited in Indonesia, even at gas stations, are as clean, or cleaner, then their American counter parts – in some places there is a person hanging around the bathroom who charges for use but they also clean it. I will leave the topic by saying that the methods are very different and that many Indonesian bathrooms, especially out of a big city, don’t use toilet paper and the toilet itself is flush to the ground. This, combined with a very hectic speaking schedule, and being sick, make for an interesting day.
Two old cultures, developing in isolation, both hygienic but simply dealing with things in a very different way.
Disorientation
When I first arrived in Jakarta I was completely disoriented. I didn’t know where to walk, how to cross a street, what was a store, what was a home – no concept of safety (Indonesia has petty crime but the rate of physical violence is low) – I couldn’t tell the difference between a yard and a sidewalk. Now that I have been here two weeks I am getting used to things but have to leave.
Food
Food:
Food is an important social grease here in Indonesia and a big topic of conversation. There is food everywhere. Each meeting supplies a box snack which is pretty substantial. Some sort of dumplings, a sweet, small sandwich, fruit and a water cup. Water cups are ubiquitous and are simply purified water that you don’t open, you push the sharp end of a small straw into the top. In a country with a lot of water, no one can drink it from the tap – and water borne diseases are a real problem in a lot of areas. People really want you to try their food and will take you out and order for you and await a positive answer. We probably aren’t that different – we want people to like our country and our food. The difference probably is that Indonesian has a more diverse and older cultural history and their cuisine is really excellent with a lot of local variations. This isn’t to knock “American” food – but what is best in our food still reflects local, immigrant cultures – which is fine – but Indonesian food (which also reflects Indian, Malaysian, Arabic, Indigenous, etc. ) cultures is older and more settled in some ways.
The food is good and I will eat, and did eat, everything except Ox Tail Soup. I avoided that. More important than the food is the venue. I said above that food is everywhere and it is – hotels, restaurants, small food stalls, and portable carts. Boiled peanuts, boiled eggs, corn, rice, lamb, chicken, fish – it is available all the time in every location. I now know why Indonesian visitors are puzzled by how dead American cities look.
I didn’t really venture to try the portable carts. It is difficult when you really don’t know how to judge either food content or sanitation. I did go with my Pekanbaru contact, Racham, to a food stall for grilled lamb and it was one of the best meals I have had here (and they have all been good). I was served by a woman with an orange New York Yankees hat (note to self, start importing Red Sox hats and expand the nation) who just stared at me. Three teenagers moved to another booth so they could look, and try to figure out just what I was and what I was doing. I did the manly thing and picked up the dinner tab. It was $2.38. If you learned where to eat and shop – which wouldn’t take that long and would involve some errors of judgment for a while – you could live here very cheap by our standards. The hotel I’m writing from (in Pekanbaru, Sumartra) is 57.00 a night and they are running a special “third night free”.
Food is an important social grease here in Indonesia and a big topic of conversation. There is food everywhere. Each meeting supplies a box snack which is pretty substantial. Some sort of dumplings, a sweet, small sandwich, fruit and a water cup. Water cups are ubiquitous and are simply purified water that you don’t open, you push the sharp end of a small straw into the top. In a country with a lot of water, no one can drink it from the tap – and water borne diseases are a real problem in a lot of areas. People really want you to try their food and will take you out and order for you and await a positive answer. We probably aren’t that different – we want people to like our country and our food. The difference probably is that Indonesian has a more diverse and older cultural history and their cuisine is really excellent with a lot of local variations. This isn’t to knock “American” food – but what is best in our food still reflects local, immigrant cultures – which is fine – but Indonesian food (which also reflects Indian, Malaysian, Arabic, Indigenous, etc. ) cultures is older and more settled in some ways.
The food is good and I will eat, and did eat, everything except Ox Tail Soup. I avoided that. More important than the food is the venue. I said above that food is everywhere and it is – hotels, restaurants, small food stalls, and portable carts. Boiled peanuts, boiled eggs, corn, rice, lamb, chicken, fish – it is available all the time in every location. I now know why Indonesian visitors are puzzled by how dead American cities look.
I didn’t really venture to try the portable carts. It is difficult when you really don’t know how to judge either food content or sanitation. I did go with my Pekanbaru contact, Racham, to a food stall for grilled lamb and it was one of the best meals I have had here (and they have all been good). I was served by a woman with an orange New York Yankees hat (note to self, start importing Red Sox hats and expand the nation) who just stared at me. Three teenagers moved to another booth so they could look, and try to figure out just what I was and what I was doing. I did the manly thing and picked up the dinner tab. It was $2.38. If you learned where to eat and shop – which wouldn’t take that long and would involve some errors of judgment for a while – you could live here very cheap by our standards. The hotel I’m writing from (in Pekanbaru, Sumartra) is 57.00 a night and they are running a special “third night free”.
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