Introduction to Javanese
and the Java Culture
Map of Indonesia
Flag
Coat of Arms (the Garuda)
Geography
Indonesia is situated in Southeast Asia, in the Malay Archipelago strategically located between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, along major sea lanes. Indonesia is made up of 18,108 islands, of which about 6,000 are inhabited. These islands are scattered around the equator. The five main islands are Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of Borneo), New Guinea (shared with Papua New Guinea) and Sulawesi. Indonesia borders Malaysia on the island of Borneo (Indonesian, Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea and East Timor on the island of Timor. The capital, Jakarta, is on Java and is the nation's largest city, followed by Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, and Semarang.
At 1,919,440 km² (741,050 mi²), Indonesia is the world's sixteenth-largest country in terms of land area. Its population density is 134.39 people per square kilometer, which is seventy ninth in the world.
Climate
Equatorial Indonesia has a tropical climate with two distinct monsoonal wet and dry seasons. Average annual rainfall in the lowlands varies from 1,780 to 3,175 millimeters (70 to 125 inches), and up to 6,100 millimeters (240 inches) in mountainous regions. The mountainous west coast of Sumatra, Western Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua receive the highest rainfall. Humidity is generally high, averaging about eighty percent. Temperatures vary little over the year; the average daily temperature ranges from 21° to 33° Celsius (69° to 92° Fahrenheit).
The extreme variations in rainfall are linked with the monsoons. Generally speaking, there is a dry season (June to September), influenced by the Australian continental air masses, and a rainy season (December to March) that is the result of mainland Asia and Pacific Ocean air masses.
Time
Located on the equator, the archipelago experiences relatively little change in the length of daylight hours from one season to the next; the difference between the longest day and the shortest day of the year is only forty-eight minutes. The archipelago stretches across three time zones: Western Indonesian Time (seven hours in advance of Greenwich Mean Time or GMT and this includes Sumatra, Java, and eastern Kalimantan); Central Indonesian Time (eight hours head of GMT and includes western Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara, and Sulawesi); and Eastern Indonesian Time (nine hours ahead of GMT and includes the Malukus and Irian Jaya). The boundary between the western and central time zones (established in 1988) is a line running north between Java and Bali through the center of Kalimantan. The border between the central and eastern time zones runs north from the eastern tip of Timor to the eastern tip of Sulawesi.
Terrain
Meninjau in Sumatra
Mount Semeru and Mount Bromo in East Java
Indonesia is a seismically active region situated on three tectonic plates, the Pacific, Eurasiona and Australian plates. Along with the more well known Krakatoa and Tambora, Indonesia has around 100 active volcanoes. In 1815 the volcano at Tambora erupted and claimed 92,000 lives. In 1883 Krakatua exploded and the resulting tidal wave killed as many as 36,000 West Javans. Between 1972 and 1991 there were twenty nine eruptions recorded, primarily on Java. As a result of all the volcanic ash, the area is quite fertile, however the seismic instability can make agriculture somewhat unpredictable in some regions.
Nusa Tenggara consists of two strings of islands stretching eastward from Bali toward Irian Jaya. The inner arc of Nusa Tenggara is a continuation of the chain of mountains and volcanoes extending from Sumatra through Java, Bali, and Flores, and trailing off in the Banda Islands. The outer arc of Nusa Tenggara is a geological extension of the chain of islands west of Sumatra that includes Nias, Mentawai, and Enggano. This chain resurfaces in Nusa Tenggara in the ruggedly mountainous islands of Sumba and Timor.
The Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) are geologically among the most complex of the Indonesian islands. They are located in the northeast sector of the archipelago, bounded by the Philippines to the north, Irian Jaya to the east, and Nusa Tenggara to the south. The largest of these islands include Halmahera, Seram, and Buru, all of which rise steeply out of very deep seas. This abrupt relief pattern from sea to high mountains means that there are very few level coastal plains.
Geographers believe that the island of New Guinea, of which Irian Jaya is a part, may once have been part of the Australian continent. The breakup and tectonic action created both towering, snowcapped mountain peaks lining its central east-west spine and hot, humid alluvial plains along the coast of New Guinea. Irian Jaya's mountains range some 650 kilometers east to west, dividing the province between north and south.
Population
Indonesia's population statistics are difficult to estimate. In the 2000 national census, an initial population estimate of 203 million was recorded: most of the population of Aceh was estimated from previous counts as the conflict meant that a survey was not possible, as were hard-to-reach regions of Papua. The Indonesian government later revised the estimate up to 206 million. Internationally, an undercount had been assumed, though there is no data to confirm it. The country's Central Statistics Bureau (BPS) and Statistics Indonesia quote 219.9 million as the population for 2005, while the CIA Factbook estimates are over 240 million. Some parts of Indonesia are some of the most densely populated areas in the world: for example, Java is the most populous island in the world and many Indonesian cities are some of the most crowded and heavily populated.
Indonesia's population can be roughly divided into two groups. The west of the country is Asian and the people are mostly Malay, while the east is more Pacific and people on New Guinea are Papuan, with roots in the islands of Melanesia. There are, however, many more subdivisions, since Indonesia spans an area the size of Europe or the USA and consists of many islands that to a large degree had separate developments. Many Indonesians identify with a more specific ethnic group that is often linked to language and regional origins; examples of these are Javanese, Sundanese, or Batak. There are also quite different groups within many islands, such as Borneo, with its Dayak and Punan, who have different lifestyles and skin tones.
Government & History
Indonesia is a country populated by peoples of various migrations, creating a diversity of cultures, ethnicities, and languages. These diverse peoples were influenced in varying degrees by trade and contact with the civilizations of the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia, before the Portuguese initiated a direct relation between Indonesia and Europe, and colonists from the Netherlands finally consolidated most of the archipelago into a single administrative unit, under the Dutch East India Company.
The outbreak of World War II pushed Indonesia into the middle of warfare between the Dutch and Imperial Japan. The defeat of the Dutch saw them driven out and replaced with Japanese occupation forces, but the weakening of these two world powers provided an opening for Indonesian Nationalists, led by Sukarno, and other independence movements to launch an armed conflict. After a brief time, during which the Dutch sought to re-colonize the country, the Indonesian Nationalists won recognition for the newly formed Republic of Indonesia. In doing so, it was among the first Third World nations to gain its independence after World War II.
Since gaining independence, the Republic of Indonesia has largely been ruled by a strong central government in Jakarta. After Indonesia's founding President Sukarno was weakened by prolonged warfare against Malaysia and its Commonwealth allies in the Konfrontasi, and by internal conflict between the Indonesian Army and the Communist Party of Indonesia, general Suharto took power in 1966. The period of his rule, known as the era of the New Order, would last 32 years and would make Indonesia a rapidly industrializing nation, though not without the problems of extensive corruption and popular discontent. After a wave of protests demanding democracy, Suharto stepped down, beginning the present period of Indonesian history, known as the Reformation era.
Independence era
Shortly after hostilities with the Dutch ended in 1949, Indonesia adopted a new constitution providing for a parliamentary system of government in which the executive was chosen by and made responsible to parliament. Parliament was divided among many political parties before and after the country's first nationwide election in 1955, and stable governmental coalitions were difficult to achieve.
The role of Islam in Indonesia became a divisive issue. Sukarno defended a secular state based on Pancasila while some Muslim groups preferred either an Islamic state or a constitution that included preambular provision requiring adherents of Islam to be subject to Islamic law.
Unsuccessful rebellions on Sumatra, Sulawesi, West Java, and other islands beginning in 1958, plus a failure by the constituent assembly to develop a new constitution, weakened the parliamentary system. Consequently, in 1959, when President Sukarno unilaterally revived the provisional 1945 constitution, which gave broad presidential powers, he met little resistance.
Overthrow of Sukarno
By late 1965, the Indonesian Army had fragmented into Left-wing and right-wing camps. The former were allied with the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI), which also controlled many of the mass civic and cultural organizations that Sukarno had established to mobilize support for his regime. The latter were courted from abroad by the United States, which trained a number of Army officers and which formed a number of think-tanks. After gaining Sukarno's acquiescence, the PKI began to arm groups of peasants in order to combat the growing power of right-wing military commands in the countryside. Army leaders objected to this campaign.
On September 30, 1965 six senior generals within the military and several other officers were murdered by palace guards, alleged to be loyal to the PKI. The guards claimed they were attempting to stop an attempt by the generals to assassinate President Sukarno. After panic spread throughout Indonesia about a communist coup attempt, Major General Suharto, the commander of the Army Strategic Reserve (Kostrad), organized an offensive under the justification of crushing this alleged rebellion. The army is believed killed tens of thousands of alleged communists in rural areas. The number of those murdered by 1966 was at least 500,000. The violence was especially brutal in Java and Bali.
Throughout the 1965-66 period, President Sukarno attempted to restore his political position and shift the country back to its pre-October 1965 position. Although he remained president, in March 1966, Sukarno had to transfer key political and military powers to General Suharto, who by that time had become head of the armed forces. In March 1967, the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS) named General Suharto acting president. Sukarno ceased to be a political force and lived under virtual house arrest until his death in 1970.
New Order era
Suharto was the military president of Indonesia from 1967 to 1998. The 1950s and 1960s saw Sukarno's government aligned first with the emerging non-aligned movement and later with the socialist bloc. In the 1960s Indonesia was in a military confrontation against neighbouring Malaysia, and had increased frustration over domestic economic difficulties. Army general Suharto became president in 1967 on the pretext of securing the country against an alleged communist coup attempt against a weakening Sukarno, whose tilt leftward had alarmed both the military and Western powers. In the aftermath of Suharto's rise, hundreds of thousands of people were killed or imprisoned by the military and religious groups in a backlash against alleged communist supporters. Suharto's administration is commonly called the New Order era. Suharto invited major foreign investment, which produced substantial, if uneven, economic growth. However, Suharto enriched himself and his family through widespread corruption and was forced to step down amid massive popular demonstrations and a faltering economy by the Indonesian Revolution of 1998. From 1998 to 2005, the country had four presidents: Bacharuddin Jusuf (BJ) Habibie (1998 to 1999), Abdurrahman Wahid (1999 to 2001), Megawati Sukarnoputri (2001 to 2004) and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (2004 to Current). On May 21, 1998, President Suharto announced his resignation and ask Indonesian Vice President DR BJ Habibie to become the new Indonesian President
Pro-democracy movement
In 1996 Suharto undertook efforts to pre-empt a challenge to the New Order government. The Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), a legal party that had traditionally propped up the regime had changed direction, and began to assert its independence. Suharto fostered a split over the leadership of PDI, backing a co-opted faction loyal to deputy speaker of Parliament Suryadi against a faction loyal to Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Sukarno and PDI's proper chairperson.
After the Suryadi faction announced a party congress to sack Megawati would be held in Medan, in June, Megawati proclaimed that her supporters would hold demonstrations in protest. The Suryadi faction went through with its sacking of Megawati, and the demonstrations manifested themselves throughout Indonesia. This lead to several confrontations on the streets between protesters and security forces, and recriminations over the violence. The protests culminated in the military allowing Megawati's supporters to take over PDI headquarters in Jakarta, with a pledge of no further demonstrations.
Wahid administration
In October 1999, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which consists of the 500-member Parliament plus 200 appointed members, elected Abdurrahman Wahid (commonly referred to as "Gus Dur") as President, and Megawati Sukarnoputri as Vice President, for 5-year terms. Wahid named his first Cabinet in early November 1999 and a reshuffled, second Cabinet in August 2000.
President Wahid's government continued to pursue democratization and to encourage renewed economic growth under challenging conditions. In addition to continuing economic malaise, his government faced regional, interethnic, and interreligious conflict, particularly in Aceh, Maluku Islands, and Irian Jaya. In West Timor, the problems of displaced East Timorese and violence by pro-Indonesian East Timorese militias caused considerable humanitarian and social problems. An increasingly assertive Parliament frequently challenged President Wahid's policies and prerogatives, contributing to a lively and sometimes rancorous national political debate.
Megawati administration
During the People's Consultative Assembly's first annual session in August 2000, President Wahid gave an account of his government's performance. On January 29, 2001 thousands of student protesters stormed parliament grounds and demanded that President Abdurrahman Wahid resign due to alleged involvement in corruption scandals. Under pressure from the Assembly to improve management and coordination within the government, he issued a presidential decree giving Vice President Megawati control over the day-to-day administration of government. Soon after, Megawati Sukarnoputri assumed the presidency on July 23.
Yudhoyono administration
In 2004, the largest one-day election in the world and Indonesia's first direct Presidential election was held and was won by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, commonly referred by his initials SBY.
Foreign/U.S. Relations
U.S. exports to Indonesia in 1999 totaled $2.0 billion, down significantly from $4.5 billion in 1997. The main exports were construction equipment, machinery, aviation parts, chemicals, and agricultural products. U.S. imports from Indonesia in 1999 totaled $9.5 billion and consisted primarily of clothing, machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum, natural rubber, and footwear. Economic assistance to Indonesia is coordinated through the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI), formed in 1989. It includes 19 donor countries and 13 international organizations that meet annually to coordinate donor assistance. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided development assistance to Indonesia since 1950. Initial assistance focused on the most urgent needs of the new republic, including food aid, infrastructure rehabilitation, health care, and training. Through the 1970s, a time of great economic growth in Indonesia, USAID played a major role in helping the country achieve self-sufficiency in rice production and in reducing the birth rate.
USAID's current program aims to support Indonesia as it recovers from the financial crisis by providing food aid, employment generating activities, and maintaining critical public health services. USAID is also providing technical advisers to help the Indonesian Government implement economic reforms and fiscal decentralization and is supporting democratization and civil society development activities through non-governmental organizations.
Economy
Indonesian banknotes
Indonesian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2005 was US$287 billion, with per capita GDP (PPP) being US$4,458, ranking Indonesia 110th in the world. The services sector is the economy's largest accounting for 45.3% of GDP (2005), followed by industry (40.7%) and agriculture (14.0%). Agriculture, however, is the country's largest employer, employing 46.5% of the 95 million-strong workforce, followed by the services sector (41.7%) and industry (11.8%). Major industries include petroleum and natural gas, textiles, apparel, and mining. Major agricultural products include palm oil, rice, tea, coffee, spices and rubber.
Indonesia's main export markets are Japan (22.3% of Indonesian exports in 2005), the United States (13.9%), China (9.1%), and Singapore (8.9%). The major suppliers of imports to Indonesia are Japan (18.0%), China (16.1%), and Singapore (12.8%). In 2005, Indonesia ran a trade surplus with export revenues of US$83.64 billion and import expenditure of US$62.02 billion. The country has extensive natural resources, including crude oil, natural gas, tin, copper, and gold. Indonesia's major imports include machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels, and foodstuffs.
Religion
Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, reportedly the largest mosque in South East Asia.
Dalem Agung Padantegal Hindu temple, Monkey Forest, Ubud, Bali.
Religion plays a major role in life in Indonesia. It is stated in the first principle of the state ideology, Pancasila: "Belief in the one and only God." A number of different religions are practiced in Indonesia and their collective influence on the country's political, economical and cultural life is significant. As of 1998, approximately 88% of Indonesia's 222 million people are Muslims, 5% are Protestant, 3% are Catholic, 2% are Hindu, 1% are Buddhist, and 1% believe in other religions.
The Indonesian Constitution states "every person shall be free to choose and to practice the religion of his/her choice" and "guarantees all persons the freedom of worship, each according to his/her own religion or belief." The government, however, officially only recognizes six religions, namely Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.
Before the arrival of the Abrahamic faiths of Christianity and Islam, the popular belief systems in the region were thoroughly influenced by Indic religious philosophy through Hinduism and Buddhism. The influence of Hinduism and classical India remain defining traits of Indonesian culture; the Indian concept of the god-king still shapes Indonesian concepts of leadership and the use of Sanskrit in courtly literature and adaptations of Indian mythology such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The vast majority of Hindus are Balinese who, similar to abangan Muslims, follow a version of Hinduism fused with existing cultural and religious beliefs and markedly distinct from orthodox Hinduism. The Sumatra-based Sriwijaya kingdom of the seventh century AD was an early center of Buddhism in Indonesia. Most Buddhists in modern-day Indonesia, however, are ethnic Chinese.
Islam was first brought to northern Sumatra by Arab traders in the thirteenth century and had become Indonesia's dominant religion by the fifteenth century. Although Islam was once mainly practiced in Java and Sumatra, Indonesia-wide emigration has increased the number of Muslims living in Bali, Borneo, Sulawesi, Maluku, and Papua. Like other religions in Indonesia, Islam has blended with local traditional beliefs such as those practiced by the Abangan Muslims on Java and with other belief systems in northern Sumatra and Kalimantan. Such syncretic practices draw on distinctly Indonesian customs and typically differ from more Orthodox Islam by favoring local customs over Islamic law. One notable difference includes a generally greater level of freedom and higher social status for women. The majority of Indonesian Muslims generally accept different religious practices and interpretations within their own faith. Although the form of worship may differ, Muslims in Indonesia are typically devout; many have made the pilgrimage to Mecca, for example. More Orthodox Muslims believing in a stricter adherence to Sharia make up a smaller but growing percentage of the population; the wearing of a jilbab, for example, is becoming more common. There is a small but outspoken hard-line Islamist presence in Indonesia, some of which seek to establish Indonesia as an Islamic state. Most Indonesian Muslims, however, are wary of these movements.
Catholicism was first brought to Indonesia by early Portuguese colonialists and missionaries, and the Protestant denominations are largely a result of Dutch Calvinist and Lutheran missionary efforts during its colonial time. Missionary efforts did not extend to Java or other predominantly Muslim areas. As with Islam and Hinduism, Christian beliefs in Indonesia are sometimes combined with animism and other traditional beliefs and cultural practices.
With many different religions practiced in Indonesia, conflicts between believers are often unavoidable. Moreover, Indonesia's political leadership has played an important role in the relations between groups, both positively and negatively, including the Dutch East Indies' Transmigration Program, which has caused a number of conflicts in the eastern region of the country.
Ethnic Groups
Most Indonesians are ethnically Malay, particularly in central and western Indonesia, although much of eastern Indonesia is Melanesian. There are, however, around 300 distinct native ethnicities in Indonesia and 742 different languages and dialects. Small but significant populations of ethnic Chinese, Indians and Arabs are concentrated mostly in urban areas. An almost universally shared sense of Indonesian nationhood overlays this vast diversity and steadfastly maintained regional identities, providing a largely harmonious society.
Indonesia, however, is not without social tensions with religious and ethnic differences triggering sometimes horrendous violence. The transmigration program contributed to the spread of people from highly populated Java and Madura to eastern Indonesia. Ethnic and religious differences between these immigrants and the local peoples have been blamed for numerous difficulties, sometimes culminating in bloody conflicts such as the massacre of hundreds of Madurese by a local Dayak community in West Kalimantan, and conflicts in Maluku, Central Sulawesi, and parts of Papua and West Irian Jaya.
Chinese Indonesians are arguably the most influential ethnic minority in Indonesia. Although the Chinese make up only 2% of the population, the majority of the locally-owned businesses and wealth in the country is Chinese-controlled. This has caused considerable resentment despite the fact that it is only a small proportion of Chinese that hold great wealth, and that a large middle class of prosperous, non-Chinese has developed. The riots in Jakarta in 1998, much of which was aimed at the Chinese, were expressions of these sentiments.
Culture
A Wayang kulit shadow puppet performance as seen by the audience.
As Indonesia is located in the middle of ancient sea trading routes between Far East and Middle East, much of daily practices and art forms have been influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Islam, especially in many trading cities. Cultural mixture in Indonesia is complex and has to be distinguished from the original. Examples include Agama Hindu Dharma, a denomination of Hinduism now practiced by 93% of Balinese, the fusion of Islam with Hindu in Javanese Abangan belief, the fusion of Hinduism, Buddhism and animism in Bodha, the fusion of Hinduism and animism in Kaharingan, and many others.
The cultural mixture is noticeable in Indonesian art-forms. For instances, puppet shows, known as wayang, a traditional theater shows, used to spread Hinduism and Islam among villagers in Java. Javanese and Balinese dances have stories about old Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms. Islamic art forms and architectures are present in Sumatra, especially in the Minangkabau and Aceh regions. Traditional art, music and sport are mixed into a martial art form of Pencak Silat, formerly used as a self defense.
Western culture has influenced Indonesia, but mostly in modern entertainment, such as television shows, movies and songs. India has notably influenced Indonesian songs and movies. A popular type of song is the Indian-rhythmical dangdut, which is often mixed with Arab and Malay folk music.
Despite these high influences of foreign cultures, some remote Indonesian regions still preserve uniquely indigenous culture. Indigenous ethnic groups of Mentawai, Asmat, Dani, Dayak, Toraja and many others are still practicing their ethnic rituals, customs and wearing their traditional clothes. With more than 300 ethnic groups and a long history of foreign cultural mixtures, Indonesia has a rich cultural diversity.
Music
Gamelan from Java
Indonesia is culturally diverse and is home to hundreds of forms of music, with those from the islands of Java, Sumatra and Bali being the most frequently recorded. The traditional music from Central- and East Java and Bali is the Gamelan.
In 1965, a law was passed (Panpres 11/1965) banning Western-style pop or rock music.
On June 29, 1965, Koes Plus, a leading Indonesian pop group in the 1960's, 70's and 80's, was imprisoned in Glodok, West Jakarta for playing Western-style music.
After President Sukarno resigned and PKI disbanded, the law was rescinded. In the 1970s, the Glodok prison was destroyed and turned into a large shopping centre. The new shopping centre in Glodok is now the centre of recording, production and distribution of modern Indonesian pop and rock music.
Dangdut is a very popular style of music with an accompanying free dance style, which first surfaced in the 1970s. The popularity of dangdut with both young and old Indonesians has made it useful in political campaigns. Keroncong is a musical genre that uses guitars and ukuleles as the main musical instruments. This genre had its roots in Portugal and was brought to Indonesia by Portuguese traders in the 15th century. There is a traditional "Keroncong Tugu" music group in North Jakarta and other traditional Keroncong music groups in Maluku, with strong influences from Portuguese culture. This music genre was popular in the first half of 20th century, but now keroncong is considered "old people's" music. One of the most revered keroncong composers is Gesang. Gesang received the OISCA International award from Japan for his song "Bengawan Solo." A more modern form of keroncong is called Pop Keroncong. Hetty Koes Endang is one of its most versatile singers. In addition, there are regional variations such as Langgam Jawa, which is most popular in Central Java and Yogyakarta.
The soft Sasando music from the province of East Nusa Tenggara in West Timor is completely different. Sasando uses an instrument made from a leaf of the lontar palm, which bears some resemblance to a harp.
In West Java, popular musical styles include Degung and Angklung, which is played with bamboo instruments.
Balinese mask dance
Dance
It is not difficult to see a continuum in the traditional dances depicting episodes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata from India, through Thailand all the way to Bali. There is a marked difference, though between the highly stylized dances of the courts of Yogyakarta and Surakarta and their popular variations. While the court dances are promoted and even performed internationally, the popular forms of dance art and drama must largely be discovered locally.
During the last few years Saman from Aceh in North Sumatra has become rather popular and is often performed on TV.
Food
Gado-gado, mixed vegetables salad with peanut sauce
Satay - “Sate” eaten with peanut sauce or sweet soy sauce
Indonesian cuisine reflects the vast variety of people that live on the 6,000 populated islands that make up Indonesia. Indonesian cuisine is as diverse as Indonesian culture, and has taken on culinary influence from many sources. Throughout its history, Indonesia has been involved in trade due to its location and natural resources. Indonesia's indigenous techniques and ingredients, at least in the Malay World parts, are influenced by India, the Middle East, China and finally Europe. The Spanish and Portuguese traders brought New World produce even before the Dutch came to colonize most of Indonesia.
In western and central Indonesia, the main meal is usually cooked in the late morning, and consumed around midday. In many families there is no set meal time where all members are expected to attend. For this reason, most of the dishes are made such that they can last and remain edible even if left on the table in room temperature for many hours. The same dishes are then re-heated for the final meal in the evening. Most meals are built around a cone-shaped pile of long-grain, highly polished rice. A meal may include a soup, salad (or the more commonly sautéed vegetables with garlic), and another main dish. Whatever the meal, it is accompanied by at least one, and often several relishes that are called sambals.
In eastern Indonesia where the natives are more influenced by Pacific Islander cultures such as on the island of Papua and Timor, the meals can be centered on other sources of carbohydrates such as sago and/or grain.
The most popular dishes that originated in Indonesia are common across most of Asia, with beef and sambals favored in Malaysia and Singapore. Soy-based dishes such as variations of tofu (tahu) and tempeh are also very popular. In fact, tempeh is an adaptation of tofu to the tropical climates of Indonesia.
In most cities it is common to see Chinese dishes such as buns and noodles sold by street vendors and restaurants alike, often adapted to become Indonesian Chinese cuisine. One common adaptation is that pork is no longer used since the majority of Indonesians are Muslims. Street and street-side vendors are common, in addition to hawkers peddling their goods on bicycles or carts. These carts are known as kaki lima (named after the 5-foot wide footpaths in Indonesia, however some people say they are named “five feet” after the three feet of the cart and two feet of the vendor!), and many of these have their own distinctive call to announce their wares. For example, the “bakso” seller will hit the side of a soup bowl, whereas “mie ayam” is announced by hitting a wood block.
So-called “Padang” restaurants (Rumah Makan Padang) are found in many parts of Indonesia. These restaurants serve the cuisine of the Minangkabau people. In such a restaurant, many small dishes are brought to the table. The diners eat only what they want from this selection of dishes, and they are charged accordingly. Padang food is typically spicy, a favorite being Beef Rendang.
Indonesian meals are commonly eaten with combination of spoon in the right hand and fork in the left hand, although in many parts such as West Java it is also common to eat with your hands.
Crafts
Ikat weaving from the Island of Sumba, Indonesia
Batik from Java
Several Islands are famous for their batik, ikat and songket cloth. Once on the brink of disappearing batik and later ikat found a new lease of life when former President Soeharto promoted wearing batik shirts on official occasions. In addition to the traditional patterns with their special meanings, used for particular occasions, batik designs have become creative and diverse over the last few years.