because kelas kambing once referred to the cheapest seats in a movie theater. The meat of kambing (goat) is cheaper than that of a cow or buffalo.
Kelas embun also offers the cheapest seats at an outdoor cinema: spectators have to sit on grass covered in dewdrops.
Prostitution is illegal in Indonesia, but many Indonesians have a sweep-it-under-the-mat approach to the profession. The sex industry flourishes. Giant prostitution complexes operate in major cities. In some places, clients look through one-way windows at rows of seated prostitutes before making their selection.
In the 1970s, Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin advocated regulation of the sex industry, rather than an outright ban. He pushed for lokalisasi, a policy that let brothel complexes pay taxes and operate under state supervision. He made some headway, but the project died. One regulated brothel in North Jakarta has become a plush Muslim center with carpeted, brightly lit prayer rooms. Muslim groups voice their opinions more forcefully than they did under authoritarian rule, and lokalisasi is unlikely to make a comeback soon.
In 2004, hundreds of prostitutes in the East Javan city of Surabaya held a mass prayer for the success of the presidential election. They wore Muslim headscarves called jilbab, and some shed tears as they read verses from the Quran.
“Woman-man” = A transvestite/transsexual.
Bencong is another popular term.
Many cross-dressers work as hairdressers and specialize in bridal makeup. Some sing on stage or patrol streets and bars as prostitutes. They await clients at Taman Lawang, a traffic roundabout in Jakarta where trees and bushes offer discretion. Waria operate on the fringes of society, but enjoy a degree of acceptance, occasionally appearing on television soap operas and advertisements. In the final days of 2005, a group of Muslim women rallied at a local parliament building in Sumatra to protest plans for a New Year’s Eve transvestite concert sponsored by the government.
An older term for transvestite is wadam, a combination of Wanita and Adam. It hasn’t been used much in the last couple of decades.
Happy auntie.
A middle-aged woman who seeks a gigolo. Armed with cash and gifts, she lures young men into romantic liaisons.
Some well-off Indonesian wives indulge in pleasures of the flesh because their husbands ignore them. Their spouses are busy, the wives figure, so why not keep busy themselves?
Om senang (happy uncle) is a man who seeks stimulation from younger women for a price.
Both characters became prominent during the 1970s heyday of the economic boom in oil-rich Indonesia. Buoyed by the rise in global oil prices, the elite had lots of money to splurge on good times. Some people frowned on amorous adventures, warning of the deterioration of family values and neglect of children.
“Onion kid” = The runt of the litter. A nobody.
A shallot usually has a bulb that is smaller than the rest. It just seems to fill the gap.
In a school playground, kids slot into two teams for a game of tag. The youngest jumps up and down, eager to join. Her older sister smiles and tells the others: “C’mon let her into my team. But she can’t be ‘it.’ She’s only an onion kid.” Ayolah, dia ikut timku. Tapi dia gak bisa jadi. Dia cuma anak bawang.
Bawang merah (red onion) is the fragrant Asian red shallot. Bawang putih (white onion) is garlic. Bawang bombay is a big white or yellow onion that takes its name from the Indian city known today as Mumbai. Onions were noted as a digestive and treatment for the heart in India more than 2,500 years ago, though the vegetable is believed to have come from central Asia.
Malang guys.
Men from the town of Malang in the East Javan highlands get raucous when the atmosphere heats up at soccer games. They are some of the rowdiest soccer fans in Indonesia, and are notorious for getting into fights before and after matches. Arek means child in Javanese.
Soccer crowds from Malang are also called bonek, an acronym from the Javanese terms BOndo (collateral, or investment capital) and NEKad (recklessness). They are rich in recklessness, but don’t have much capital to fund their trips to other cities.
The bonek rally their soccer team, also called Arema, at outof-town games.
Batak shoots directly/immediately.
The Batak people of North Sumatra province have a reputation for straight talk. They don’t mince words. This upfront attitude seems abrasive to some Javanese, who are known for skirting a sensitive subject in conversation.
According to folklore, the Batak speak loudly because they once lived in houses near lakes, on mountain slopes, and in other sparsely populated areas. Their houses were set far apart and they had to shout to get their message across. Some Batak live around Lake Toba, the largest lake in Southeast Asia. It was formed by a huge volcanic explosion.
The ethnic spectrum in the stereotype from refined to rough runs from the Central Javanese, to the Sundanese in West Java, to the East Javanese, to the Batak. The Sundanese break down into the Bogor people, who are considered pasar (“market,” or rough), and people from Bandung, who are thought to be refined, a legacy of the Hindu kingdom of Pajajaran that reigned over West Java centuries ago. Bandung is also home to many universities.
Albino/white foreigner.
Javanese believe albino animals are sacred, and parade white buffalo (kebo bulai) in a show of thanksgiving every Javanese New Year. Like the Muslim calendar, the Javanese calendar is based on the cycles of the moon.
Bule is a colloquial term for white foreigner. It can be neutral, affectionate or derogatory. Some foreigners bristle at the expression because it dumps them into a racial category. Indonesians often shout “Halo bule! ” and “Hello, mister!” at foreigners on the street. Many Indonesians have had little contact with foreigners, and yell because they don’t know how else to attract attention.
Another old term for Caucasian is belanda (Dutch) or londo (Dutch, in Javanese). It doesn’t matter whether the white person is Dutch or not. The terms emerged during Dutch rule in Indonesia, which began on Java in the 17th century and ended after Indonesian nationalists declared independence in 1945. In 1949, the Dutch acknowledged Indonesian sovereignty after several years of war.
A foreigner is orang asing (alien person). The term also applies to Indonesians who travel to distant parts of the archipelago, home to hundreds of ethnic groups. These out-of-towners look different and speak their own language. Those with very
