Conclusion

From the five blog posts above, we have attempted to critically examine the various issues that are common in Southeast Asia. One common theme that lies beneath all the issues discussed is the fact that boundaries are getting increasingly indistinct, for example physical, cultural and social boundaries. Certain ideas and concepts may have been attempted to be classified into clear-cut categories, but as society develops and evolves, it has been increasingly difficult to separate these issues as they are interlinked with one another. Issues found in a country like Indonesia are not just applicable to Indonesia per se, but are also closely intertwined with other Southeast Asian countries, only in a different context. There have always been many sides to an issue and the seemingly obvious may have subtle underlying contradictions to it.

All in all, there is more to Indonesia and Southeast Asia as a region than what is seemingly presented on the surface. Thus, it is essential to be able to identify the underlying issues that are presented. Because of these less well-defined boundaries, we are more inclined to appreciate the various cultures and people that Southeast Asia has to offer.

Role of Women in Indonesia

It is not surprising to find women prominent in the entertainment circle. They are strongly represented in dance, music and drama groups throughout Southeast Asia.¹³ However, in other aspects such as the private sector or political sector, women are seldom seen in high positions. We shall investigate what roles women play in Indonesia.

Indonesia is “the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation with almost 86% of Indonesians declared Muslim according to the 2000 census.”¹⁴ Muslims in Indonesia are typically devout¹⁵, therefore can sometimes be termed as conservative in their way of thinking. Women in Indonesia are usually known to play the more domestic role among the two genders. Their society prefers females to be firstly wife, then mother, then household economic supervisor. Only after these three responsibilities have been discharged does she become a member of society. Last and least, she is citizen of the state.¹⁶ The ideology on role of women is enshrined in Indonesia’s National Gender Ideology, thus dictating the acceptability of a female’s social behavior in Indonesia.

However, when Suharto fell in 1998, it started an era of democratic reforms which brought about new hopes in the redefinition of role of women in Indonesia. At the national level, the increase in women's activism particularly at the grassroots level, the establishment of electoral democracy, the appointment of Megawati Soekarnoputri as vice-president in 1999 and then as President in 2001, and most recently the recommended 30 per cent quota for female candidates in the 2004 national election point the way to improved opportunities and political representation for women in Indonesia.¹⁷

Wied N., 'Jeng' Bali Post. [1.'To fill the 30 per cent quota, I want to become a candidate and represent women.' 'Don't do that!' 2. What! Do you doubt my ability? 3. 'No, it's not that. But are there any highly-placed men who'd be willing to give up their seat for you?']
Wied N., 'Jeng' Bali Post. 21 December 2003

Gun-gun, 'Brewok,' Bali Post. [1. Women only get 30 per cent. 2. What percentage do I get Dad?]

Nevertheless, the gains for women have been largely rhetorical rather than practical and the political position of women has improved only marginally since 1998.¹⁸ As an editorial comment in the April 2000 issue of the cultural magazine Bali Lain proclaimed: 'When the hallway to democracy opened, it seemed women had found a vast arena in which to give voice to and struggle towards what for so long had been just a dream.’¹⁹

Women had definitely played an important role in the turning point of Indonesia’s politics. Kalyanamitra (Sanskrit for 'friend of woman'), founded in 1984, a NGO dealing with women's issues, along with another organization called Kaum Ibu, took the initiative to set up mobile kitchens for the preparation of daily meals for university students during the continuous demonstrations which led to Suharto's downfall.²⁰ Although they could not be with the student demonstrators, they silently supported them behind the scenes providing assistance when needed. Their contributions are to be seen in trying to restore political justice in Indonesia. A spokesperson for Kalyanamitra revealed that 'The response (for help during demonstrations) was beyond (their) wildest imaginations. Mothers would drive to (their) logistics centre and donate their time and money for the project.'²¹ It reveals a political awareness among women that has been long suppressed, but one which finally emerged after being fed up with decades of oppression.

In many areas, women in Indonesia have been suppressed long enough, always adhering to the strict social behavior that is considered acceptable of them. Anything out of the limited scope is regarded as unacceptable. However, we should always remember that what a woman can provide for the family, for the society and for the nation should never be neglected. Since the 1970s, when Indonesia opened up to foreign investment, women became the prime workforce for factories set up by the multinationals.²² Also, women are usually the ones who are forced to seek employment overseas so as to provide a better environment for the family. A good example would be maids from Indonesia who go to more urbanized countries that seek domestic help in households. One interesting thing to note is that it is always females who work as maids. This may be due to the preconceived idea that has long been embedded in Indonesian society that females are the ones playing the domestic role, hence only natural that males do not work as maids. In a society where males are valued more than females, does it mean that the males are marginalized as they do not match up to the earning power of females who work as domestic maids? This is interesting to think about in terms of the reversal of gender roles.

In addition, women can be the ones to power the improvement of the bleak Indonesian economy in the few ways they can. A fine example would be the controversial dangdut singer, who owes her popularity to her bottom-rotating ngebor dance style, Inul Daratista. Despite being slammed hard by her country’s Muslim clerics, who deemed her ngebor dance as lewd and a threat to national morals²³, she managed to improve the unemployment situation in Indonesia by employing more that 750 staff at her seven karaoke lounges.²⁴ She has realized that instead of being affected by the criticisms, there are more important priorities in providing jobs for people in her country.

Definitions of role of women in Indonesia are changing in view of more democratic reforms and significant steps taken towards a modern contemporary society. This applies to the Southeast Asia region as female roles are quite alike in most Southeast Asian countries. From mothers to housewives to farmers to entrepreneurs to workers to social activists to students, the women of Indonesia as well as Southeast Asia are finally making a statement in the society, letting themselves be heard. In doing so, they are reasserting their role as nation-builders.

Migrant Communities

Migration has always been present not only in Southeast Asia, but also in other parts of the world. In fact, migration is responsible for the dynamics and culture found in many Southeast Asian countries today.

Migration is the movement of people. In the world today, people are more mobile and boundaries can now be crossed easily. One thing to note is that migration occurs at all levels of society. Examples range from the poor leaving their home villages for the capital city or other more prosperous cities in hope of securing a better job, to richer Indonesians going overseas for their studies or for business.

Migration is both internal and external - besides an outward movement of people from Indonesia to other parts of the region, there is also an internal reshuffling of its population. One such internal form of movement is the Transmigrasi. However, even with the transmigration programme, which resettled 3.6 million people between 1903 and 1990⁸, the population of Jakarta is still growing rapidly. Originally a government initiative to deploy people from the densely populated Java to the outer islands of Indonesia, it has caused many new social problems and inequalities.

While many Javanese may see the Transmigrasi programme as an opportunity to leave their homes for a better life, they may be greeted with a different situation of what they had expected when they reach their new home. For one, the crops, soil and weather conditions may be very different from the fertile volcanic soil of Java, and the yield from the crops planted may be less than satisfactory. Combined with a large variety of factors like soil erosion, lack of experience on the settler’s part and a lack of machinery, the settlers are unable to utilize their land fully and are unable to move beyond subsistence level.⁹ Settlers also have to face the problem of integration. These transmigrants may find it difficult to integrate into the new local culture, as the language, culture and way of living may vary from place to place, even though they are all citizens of Indonesia. The locals may also be hostile towards these new "intruders".¹⁰ Recently, it has been reported that "four out of 10 Indonesians do not want outsiders from other provinces to move to their province."¹¹ This shows the native Indonesians' attitudes towards outsiders. Why are native Indonesians unwelcoming of their own countrymen? Is this attitude a result of camaraderie and solidarity within the local community, or does it stem from other reasons?

On a more regional level, there are also many women who leave Indonesia for other more prosperous cities to work as domestic maids in search for a better life. As there is a demand for domestic help in more urbanized countries due to lifestyle changes, one obvious choice for the women is to leave their homes to work as domestic maids. Many of these women who choose to leave their homes are of a very young age, and the responsibility of having so support their family lies on them. They also have to leave their family and children behind, which is definitely not an easy task for them. Indonesian women are not the only ones who migrate in search for better jobs. In Southeast Asia, Filipino women also leave their homes to work as domestic maids. We can see that this is a ongoing trend in Southeast Asia. We will discuss more about the gender issues in the next blog post.

Compare and contrast migrants of a better social status and class - people from the more privileged class of society are often treated on a different level as migrants from a lower class. Although they may come from the same country, why is it that we view professionals as "foreign talent" but maids and construction workers as "foreign workers"? Even the passes that they hold are different, with “foreign talent” holding the more prestigious sounding “employment pass” while the lower-skilled workers have the “S Pass”.¹² What impact does this have on social rights and issues? More importantly, why do we place foreign workers on a different level from foreign talent when essentially, they are all here for similar reasons – to earn a living. Perhaps one of the reasons why we have this notion is that foreign talent have the ability to choose if they want to go overseas, while most of the time, foreign workers have little choice as they have to earn a living for themselves.

Ultimately, migration remains an important theme in Southeast Asia because cultures evolve from the movement of people. Again, with the recurring theme of increasingly less defined categories and boundaries, each person is able to bring something new to the community and with these shared experiences, culture, music and art in Southeast Asia will be richer and more diverse.

Glitter and Litter - The juxtaposition between the rich and poor

Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is a bustling metropolis which is home to around 8.8 million people.⁵ However, with every city, there are contradictions and contrasts like the juxtaposition of the rich and poor. Jakarta, a economically thriving hub, is not without beggars or squatters. Interestingly, there have been observations that showed that there is no distinct neighbourhood in where the rich and the poor live.⁶ It is interesting to explore why we have this mindset of segregating the rich and poor. What are the factors that shape our mindset? Is it due to our complacency as a product of our comfortable lifestyle, or that the poor are automatically deemed as inferior? Do we distinct ourselves from others by the amount of education one has received? However, one key point from this observation is that though spaces are created for various communities, boundaries are getting increasingly blurred.

Much of Indonesia's capital flow and investments are diverted into Jakarta even though now the government is trying to divert the capital flow to the outer islands. This inward flow of capital has resulted in a huge income disparity and a widening income gap between the rich and poor of Indonesia. The rich will grow richer and the poor will get poorer. Although Jakarta is a place for investments and development, this contrast between the rich and the poor is especially stark in the rural areas of Indonesia.

The problem of the widening income gap between the rich and poor is further intensified by the irrigation project. Originally, the rich, who owned the land, would rent the plots of land to the poor. After land reform laws took effect, the rich took back the land that they rented to the poor because they felt that it was more profitable for them to harvest the land by improving the machinery (as they could easily afford it, as compared to the poorer farmers) and hence get a better harvest. We can see that social inequalities exist as the poor are left defenseless and the rich exploit them for their own benefit. The poor, left with nothing, are unable to get jobs elsewhere as their have little skills and the poverty cycle continues.

This idea of wealth and power has various consequences on social and economic issues as well as urban problems. Such issues are not just confined to Indonesia, but also in many other cities like Manila. We can see that Southeast Asian cities are sites of struggles and inequalities as well as wealth and opportunities. Though many may have a superficial and myopic view of these cities, the larger picture is that there are many facets to a society and that we should look beyond the surface of the grandeur and glitz of these cities.

Another interesting observation is about the minorities and marginal communities in Indonesia. Minority communities like Indonesian-Chinese only make up 6% of the population⁷, but why is it so that many have the impression that Indonesian-Chinese are very affluent? Indonesian-Chinese are usually the ones who can afford to send their children abroad for education and live lavishly, as compared to the poorer indigenous Indonesians.

One question to ponder about: why is it that these Indonesian-Chinese are the ones who are flourishing in their business? Is their success attributed to very "Chinese" traits like diligence and a shrewd business mind? If with wealth comes power, does this mean that the Indonesian-Chinese are the ones who have greater control over the country and the economy? If they are the ones who have a perceived dominance in the economy, does this mean that the majority, who are not Chinese, are marginalized?

Why is it so that as Singaporeans, we also view Indonesian-Chinese as the more affluent minority? Does this stem from the fact that we hardly see Indonesian-Chinese maids coming to Singapore to work, but we do see many Indonesian-Chinese studying in tertiary institutions all around the world? For a country where few can afford to study overseas, this is a luxury that few can afford.

Culture and Religion

Most of the people in Indonesia are Muslims. They believe in God, or in Arabic form ‘Allah’. It is a form whereby there is only one Supreme God. However, Hinduism and Buddhism were the first religious influences to reach the Indonesian Archipelago around the 5th century AD through trade. Java and Sumatra were the places where it was focused upon and the two religions fused to form the composite Hindu-Buddhist religion.

Religion is closely related to the way of life for many Indonesians. One way in which is it linked to their everyday lifestyle is through their eating habits. The food that Muslims consume have to be certified Halal. Islamic law prohibits them to eat pork and its by-products, blood and animals that have died without being ritually slaughtered. This is “in the interest of health and cleanliness and in obedience to God.”² Other ways in which their religion affects their lifestyle is through the rituals that they observe. The bulk of the population observes the fasting session during the month of Ramadan and prays regularly. Many Indonesians also attribute the unexplained to magic, and believe in black magic and taboos. For example, they have witch doctors to ‘cure’ people with illnesses which doctors themselves are unable diagnose. However, BBC news reported the arrest of some 22 people who masqueraded as witch doctors. These witch doctors were reported to have killed 20 villagers in Indonesia. The bodies were found hanging on trees and left to decompose. It was also reported that during the rule of President Suharto, a group of people who called themselves “ninjas” dressed in black and went around killing members of a certain conservative Islamic group. Similar notions of witch doctors can also be found in Malaysia, where they are known as bomohs.³ It is interesting that Malaysia and Indonesia share so many similar practices.

In many parts of Indonesia, there is a practice of keeping the dead bodies of their family and relatives in their homes. Family members have to hold on to the body of the dead in order to confirm the death. They are unable to understand how others can bury their loved ones right after they die. This is an example of the various customs and practices that the Sumba and Sulawesi people have for the dead.⁴

Hence, we can see that religion plays an important role in the rituals and practices that people in Southeast Asia, not just Indonesia, observe. However, why is superstition and the belief in spirits and ghosts a common theme in many Southeast Asian countries? Different countries have different rituals and superstitions, but essentially the fear of the unknown is mostly attributed to these spirits and ghosts. Is it a more “Asian” value to believe in life after death or retribution? Why is there a fascination with ghosts and spirits in many Southeast Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand?

Food in Indonesia

Rice is one of the basic food staples in not just Indonesia, but in the Southeast Asian region. There are mythic stories about rice itself in countries in Southeast Asia. One popular story in the Philippines is about the Bagobo people of Mindanao who talk of the hero Lumabat. Lumabat wished to explore the sky with his sister Mebuyan. She refused, sitting firmly in a rice mortar, which sank into the earth with her as she scattered handfuls of rice. She has stayed underground since then. In a Javanese story, Tisnawati, daughter of the supreme god Batara Guru, falls in love with a mortal, Jakasudana, of whom her father disapproves. The father punishes her disobedience by turning her into a rice stalk, but then, in pity, he transforms Jakasudana as well. Their marriage is re-enacted by the Javanese harvest ritual in Malaysia. Through these historical myths, we can see that rice is a common thread that links within Southeast Asian countries. It presents “a means of tracing the spread of cultures and people”¹, which is representative of the increasingly blurred boundaries in Southeast Asia.

There is a different variety of food in the archipelago. However, one thing to note is that something as common as food is actually culturally defined. This is because what the locals may deem as delicious may not be tasty to a foreigner. For example, the basic spice paste found in many Indonesian dishes may not be suitable for a foreigner who is not accustomed to the local food and spices. For westerners who are used to eating large portions of meat and fish, pasta and potatoes, Indonesian food may seem unsuitable for their palate. Another example would be the durian, which is indigenous to Southeast Asia. Many foreigners find that the smell of the durian is unappetizing. However, to many locals, the durian is one of the most delicious fruits around. This shows that even something as mundane as food can bring many different meanings to the different people who view it. Our perspectives could be a result of our culture, and if many Southeast Asians are similar in the way they view the durian, it could mean that even though we are all of differing backgrounds and cultures, we share a common thread somewhere. Perhaps Southeast Asia used to have only one culture before groups of people started forming subcultures that evolved into the Southeast Asia as we know today.

As foreigners, we also have to be culturally sensitive. As Indonesia has a large Muslim community, the food served there is Halal. This means that the food served have to be prepared in a way that is permissible by Islamic law. This is also an example of how food and religion are linked.

As the world becomes increasingly compact and boundaries become less clearly defined, different cultures have influences each other. This can be seen in the case of Chinese influences in Indonesian food. The evolvement of Peranakan or Nonya food, which is essentially a combination of Chinese and Malay culture, is a good example of these influences. Otak-otak, a mixture of fish, chilli and coconut milk remains as a very well liked delicacy in many parts of South-East Asia. Kebabs, marinated meat cubes threaded on skewers, were reinterpreted to become satay. We can see that there are many reinventions and reinterpretations of food from other cultures to suit the tastes of locals. Maybe it is time to think twice before biting into that stick of satay – perhaps its origins were not as “Singaporean” as we may have originally thought!

Footnotes

1. Piper, 1993, Rice in Southeast Asia, Cultures and Landscapes
2. http://islam.about.com/blhealth3.htm
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakarta
4. http://astro.temple.edu/~dialogue/raines1.htm
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakarta
6. http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/oed/oeddoclib.nsf/
4e0750259652bf5885256808006a000d/
4b8b0e01445d8351852567f5005d87b8?OpenDocument
The World Bank Group, Transmigration in Indonesia, 2003
7. http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/oed/oeddoclib.nsf/
4e0750259652bf5885256808006a000d/
4b8b0e01445d8351852567f5005d87b8?OpenDocument
The World Bank Group, Transmigration in Indonesia, 2003
8. MacAndrews, C. (1978) Transmigration in Indonesia: Prospects and Problems
9. The Straits Times, 21 March 2007
10. http://www.mom.gov.sg/ MOM website
11. Anthony Reid, 1998, “Sexual Relations” in Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce 1450-1680, Vol. One, New Haven: Yale University Press, pp.146-172.
12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia#Religion
13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia#Religion
14. http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/abdul-cn.htm
15. http://wwwsshe.murdoch.edu.au/intersections/issue10/creese.html
16. http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm
17. http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/abdul-cn.htm
18. http://www.iias.nl/nl/43/IIAS_NL43_26.pdf
19. http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/abdul-cn.htm
20. http://wwwsshe.murdoch.edu.au/intersections/issue10/creese.html
21. Duncan Graham, “Indonesia dancer, cleric go toe-to-toe’2006, Asia Times Online
22. Bryan Walsh/Pelaihari. “Inul Rules”, Time Asia Magazine.

About Us

We are a group of students from the National University of Singapore who are currently taking a module called Southeast Asia: A Changing Region.

As part of our project, we will be posting our thoughts and reflections on various themes and aspects of Indonesia that is linked to Southeast Asia as a whole.