at the eastern tip of Indonesia. People with pale skin could be from North Sulawesi province, where Chinese influence is heavy.
A long time ago, most Indonesians rarely strayed from their kampung (village) and had little contact with outsiders. Trade, modern communications and the population shift to the cities changed that over the last few decades. Under President Suharto, millions of Javanese left their crowded island and fanned out across Indonesia under a policy called transmigrasi. The policy reinforced government control over outlying areas, but created tension between local populations and Javanese migrants who took land and power.
Company.
A derogatory term for Dutch people and other Westerners. It comes from Perserikatan Kumpeni Hindia Timur, which means Dutch East India Company in Malay. Established in 1602, the trading company planted its headquarters on Java and served as an instrument of Dutch power in the region, trading in spices such as nutmeg and cloves, as well as tea, silk and other products. Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, as the company was called in Dutch, dissolved in 1798 and Indonesia fell under the direct administration of the Dutch government.
Javanese referred to the company simply as Kumpeni. Today, an Indonesian who wants to shirk a chore says:
“Relax. The Company is still far away.”
Tenang. Kumpeni masih jauh.
The implication is that the Dutch aren’t about to invade, so what’s the rush?
King.
The Hindi term pops up in many contexts: raja jalanan (king of the road), or a high-speed, reckless driver; raja dan ratu sehari (king and queen for a day), or a bride and groom on a wedding day; and raja copet (king of pickpockets).
Raja singa (lion king) means top dog. It also refers to syphilis, the king of sexual diseases. The expression predates the AIDS era.
Nearly 2,000 years ago, travelers from India reached the archipelago that later became known as Indonesia. They brought Hinduism, and great kingdoms spread the religion across Java and other parts of the archipelago. Today, Bali is the only island that is predominantly Hindu.
Sanskrit, the language of ancient India, influenced Indonesia: the word bahasa, or language, is from Sanskrit. Hindi, which shares the same alphabet as Sanskrit, also made its mark.
“Jeans changer” = A tailor who specializes in altering Levis and other jeans.
Vermak comes from vermaken (change, or turn), one of many Dutch words that were picked up by Indonesians during the colonial occupation.
Not every tailor has needles strong enough to alter jeans. Those who do hang a Vermak Levis sign in their shops or offer services on the roadside, equipped with only sewing machines. Others attach sewing machines—the kind with the wheel and the foot pedal—to their bicycles and offer door-to-door service. These Vermak Levis are easily identified by the red Levis emblem on their signboards.
You might see signs that say Permak Lepis, especially if the tailor is a Sundanese from West Java. Sundanese have trouble pronouncing the consonants v, f and p, and sometimes mix them up.
Group of Arab descent.
Golkar, the ruling political party under Suharto, had close links to the military and was dominant down to the village level. Its loyalists controlled Parliament, making it a rubber-stamp assembly for the president. Although Indonesia is now democratic, Golkar remains a powerful political force. The name of the party stands for Golongan Karya (Functional Groups).
Some Indonesians joke that citizens with Arab blood are Golkar, or Group of Arab Descent. The acronym is lighthearted rather than derogatory. Arabs arrived in Indonesia well over a millennium ago and established themselves as traders and purveyors of Islam, which became Indonesia’s dominant religion.
Arabic is richly represented in the Indonesian language. The Arabic word for book, kitab, refers to Islamic books in Indonesian. Many bookstores have signs that read Toko Buku & Kitab. Toko means shop in Indonesian, and buku means book.
Prominent Indonesians of Arab descent include two former foreign ministers, Alwi Shihab and the late Ali Alatas, as well as Munir Thalib, a rights activist who fell ill and died on board an Indonesian commercial airliner heading from Jakarta to Amsterdam in September 2004.
An off-duty pilot was sentenced to 20 years in jail for the murder after a court found him guilty of putting arsenic in noodles served to Thalib. Judges concluded that Thalib was killed because of his strong criticism of human rights abuses by the military. Thalib’s widow said the murder was part of a broader conspiracy by state agents in a case reminiscent of state-backed killings in the days of dictatorship.
“Can’t be killed by the Dutch” = Invincible. A superman. Knock him down and he pops back up like a rubber ball.
Few Indonesians know this old phrase, which comes from a game of playing cards during Dutch colonial times. The Jack, Queen, and King cards symbolized Western nobility, or the Dutch occupiers of Indonesia. You were unbeatable if you had aces up your sleeve.
Indonesians who lose a board or card game say they have died (mati).
That happy-go-lucky guy.
Kabayan is a character from West Javanese folklore who wears a sarong across his shoulder. He is an eternally lazy villager, armed with excuses to avoid work. He adores his sweetheart, the shy Iteung. Everything else, including money, bores him.
Kabayan became the hero in a popular television series, and a movie about him—Si Kabayan Saba Kota (Kabayan goes to the city)—broke box office records for an Indonesian movie in 1989.
In the film, Kabayan heads to town, where the tough, commercial culture shocks him. A city girl attracts his attention. He tries his hand at running a company. But he balks at the pressure in the big city and returns to his village, where Iteung awaits him.
Kabayan got an image makeover in 2004 when state-run television broadcast a show called Kabayan Reformasi. This time, the villager is clad in jeans and a shirt, and Iteung is not a tongue-tied lass, but a strong woman with a mind of her own.
Today, an office worker grumbles about a colleague: “Uggh. I really like Ahmad but he often gets on my nerves. He’s so Kabayan, you know. He does nothing but smile!”
Aduh, aku suka sama si Ahmad tapi dia sering bikin kesel. Kabayan banget, sih. Kerjanya senyum doang.
