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?