Serving Students at Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College INDONESIA Culture

Cultural Orientation

Indonesia encompasses at least 583 separate languages and dialects, many of them as different from each other as Welsh is from English.  Since independence many people have developed a strong sense of national pride, and maintain traditions of dance, painting, woodcarving and stonecarving.

Indonesians are open change; however, they prefer to work and make decisions collaboratively.  It is important to Indonesians that all individuals in the group are in agreement; the will of the majority is not forced on those in the minority.  Most will defer to the facts presented filtered by how they feel about the issue and teachings in their religion.   The desire for harmony overrides most other considerations.   Those educated abroad may be more apt to rely on facts for truth and be more independent in their decision making. 

Family

Most Indonesians are Muslim in some measure but have blended Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity into their spiritualism .  There is a strong belief in the supernatural for protection and security.  The nuclear and extended family are basic to security and economic support with marriage being used to reinforce economic and social alliances.  Common law has become one of the major stabilizing factors maintaining the traditional rural societies.  The military is the main arbiter of power in the government.

In most organizations there is a strong authoritarian hierarchical system that demands obedience of subordinates.  Although there are strong ethnic identities, there is also a strong national identity that is taught to all children in the primary  years.  The Chinese and Arabs are sometimes the targets of ethnic antagonism, but the need for harmony is an overriding factor. Although the husband is considered the head of the household, the wife is not inferior in status, and both are expected to cooperate in maintaining their household and family.  Equal rights for women have always been upheld in the community.

Gifts

Gift giving is a traditional part of Indonesian culture.  Small gifts are given often to celebrate an occasion, a trip, visiting a home, workplace tours, and for services rendered.   A gift is not opened in front of the giver.

Appropriate Gifts

Food makes an appropriate gift for most occasions; meat products must be halal (kosher).  When giving flowers, give an even number as an odd number is considered to be unlucky.  At Chinese New Year, it is customary to give a gift of money in a red envelope to children and to the nongovernmental service personnel you deal with on a regular basis; this gift is called a hong bao.  Give only new bills in even numbers and even amounts. 

Gifts to Avoid

Do not give pork or alcohol, or related products such as pigskin or alchol-based perfume to Muslims.  Hindus do not eat beef or use cattle products such as leather.  Muslim Indonesians consider dogs unclean; do not give gifts or toys representative of dogs.  Avoid any gifts of cutting tools; to the Chinese, they suggest the termination of a friendship.  The Chinese associate all of the following with funerals; do not give them as gifts:  straw sandals, clocks, storks or cranes, handkerchiefs, and gifts or wrapping paper where the predominant color is white, black, or blue. 

Personal gifts from a man to a woman is inappropriate.  The Chinese traditionally decline a gift three times before accepting.  Continue to insist; once they accept the gift, let them know you are pleased that they have done so. 

Date of Independence

Independence from the Netherlands was proclaimed August 17, 1945. The Hague recognized Indonesian sovereignty on December 27, 1949. 

Sources:
Library of Congress
U. S. Department of State