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I live in Jakarta, Indonesia. AMA if you like. (self.ILiveIn)

submitted ago* by MondrosenPrime

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There are over 8 million people here.

There are more malls than I know of here (not every one of them have Starbucks, mind you).

When you go outside you can immediately find crowds and traffic jams.

Welcome to Jakarta.

EDIT: Google image "Jakarta macet" to see the thing that frustrates me the most living here. :P

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[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 5 points6 points ago*

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-There are some "cults" that use Islam as their so-called base but they stray from traditional Islamic ways. Such as, they do not require the people to pray, allow them to live & have sex with opposite gender without marriage, exchange partners, etc. There are some variations but the cults are mostly small and not practiced nation-wide.

-I don't think I've seen any Jews around here at all! I'm not so sure how they would be viewed here. Well, according to Wikipedia there are only around 20 Jews in Indonesia. I'm not a Muslim myself so I don't know how would the Muslim people view Jews in Indonesia.

-There are a lot of Muslim from Arab countries here. There are also a lof of Pakistani, Indian Muslims etc. We have this stereotype that Arab men are oil king sex machines and women should be careful around them. Some Indonesian women marry Arabs, it's quite common.

-When the Timor conflict happened I was 9 years old so I don't have any thought on that. I know that the government at that time (and now too actually) is very centralized on the capital so you can't really blame anyone for wanting to separate from the country.

-Issues about Australia is not so hot here (unlike issues about Malaysia, for comparison). A lot of people go there to study. Back then when the Bali bombing happened there are people who mentioned Australia's history in a negative way, which I think was very pathetic.

-Oh the TV...facepalm I haven't seen it for years. This is a hot issue because the TV shows suck so hard. We have soap operas called "sinetron" where step mothers beat their step daughters, teenage in school uniforms try to be cool, housewives dances like crazy in quizzes, bachelors without shame in "reality" show, etcs. There are some American TV series like Supernatural, Heroes, etc but not too many. We did have better things on television before 2003. The local shows were good, more American & Asian stuff, documentaries, etc. but now...not so much. Oh, Korean drama is pretty hot among girls & housewives. :P

[–]dr_awkward 5 points6 points ago*

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  • How do you feel about Jews? How are Jews viewed there?

Anti-semitism is actually perceived as nothing unusual among most Indonesian muslims. So is racism. I think this is mostly because of the fact that there aren't too many foreigners here; our society is predominantly javanese and muslim. Couple that with the fact that people here tend to overgeneralize and judge things that they don't really know about, and you'll start to understand why. Sorry if I sound bitter (I'm a muslim myself) but honestly some indonesian muslims are just so hopelessly ignorant and close-minded. For example a few weeks ago our clerics issued a fatwa that declared pre-wedding photos and women riding on motorcycles with men that aren't their husbands/family as haraam. Some of my friends at college believe that neil armstrong never landed on the moon because of various bullshit they heard in a friday prayer sermon; we are currently pursuing undergrad degrees in engineering (facepalm).

  • What kind of channels do you have on TV? American shows, local content, etc?

We do have syndicated cable TV that usually airs shows from america with a two week delay. About local TV, most of it is unwatchable soap operas and reality shows (think a cheaper, more stupid version of MTV) yet sometimes some of it is so bad it's good like this brilliant rip-off of avatar.

EDIT: Formatting.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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For example a few weeks ago our clerics issued a fatwa

Fatwa's issued by clerics are not the word of god.

[–]dr_awkward 1 point2 points ago

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Yes they aren't, that's exactly my point. Some of these misguided clerics can be amazingly ignorant when it comes to these matters, believing that they are delivering the word of god.

[–]Quetz23 3 points4 points ago

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Uh not sure what to ask specifically but ill try. I know next to nothing about Indonesia, so what are the people like? What is the dominant religion? Do you like it there? What is the crime like? What kind of food do you eat in the average day? What is the general standard of living for the majority of people?

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 4 points5 points ago*

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-What the people are like depends on which city you live in. In Jakarta, the capital that is, there are a lot of a-hole on the street everywhere. If you're a girl there is a 90% chance that some random dude is going to flirt on you on the street, but not in the manner you'd like to be flirted with. Well, not that bad either mostly just "hey girl" but the other day I heard the most indecent thing. These, of course, come from the uneducated people. Generally everyone else is normal.

-The dominant religion is Islam. It's the most populous Myslim majority, but the country is not an Islamic state. The religion is not that strict here. The government recognizes 5 religions (Islam, Buddhist, Christian, Catholic and Hindu). You have to write your religion on IDs & forms. You have to study religion at school (private school then catholic/christian depends on the school, public school then Islam if you're a Muslim).

-I generally hate Jakarta, but I've been to several cities on the island and I can say that outside the capital the people are better. Just like what you expect from a very big city, the people can be tense. It's very crowded here too and I'm not too fond of that. If I could, I would prefer smaller city with less population.

-We eat rice. Azyn pryde! \o/

There are a vast deversities of food since we have many ethnic that means a lot of different traditional food. The traditional food are spicy. We eat Chinese, fast foods incl. KFC. The closest people know about Italian food is Pizza Hut.

-I've mentioned it before, at leat in my city there is very wide gap between the rich and the poor. The uptown and downtown are not that far away from each other.

[–]Quetz23 4 points5 points ago

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Interesting. I am going to expand on the religion one now if you dont mind. How free is Jakarta? How would one who does not believe in religion be viewed? Or someone with an uncommon religion?

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 2 points3 points ago*

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In Jakarta, atheism & agnosticism is mostly not a big deal. I haven't heard of people protesting about atheism/agnosticism before. But you are required to write a religion on some legal & casual forms (like bank forms, etc) and your ID even if you don't have one. Most of people are like that, they usually write a religion but don't actually practice them. Outside the city though it can be more strict, esp in more populous Muslim city. For example in Aceh.

Mostly, religions such as Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, etc. would be viewed as "heretics" here. Also new practices of Islam, etc that strays from the original would be branded as heretics too. The people is urging the government to ban such heretical Islam practices.

[–]Ortus 2 points3 points ago

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I assume most people just write the religion of their parents.

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 1 point2 points ago

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True. Or if they were/are schooled in a Christian/Catholic private school they may write the religion that has been taught to them.

[–]jhrf 4 points5 points ago

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Can you provide a hex code for the colour of your toes?

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 2 points3 points ago

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Not sure about my toes but here's the hex code for the colour of my thigh #c5bbb4

[–]flobin 0 points1 point ago

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You're grey?

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 2 points3 points ago

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Kind of. Proof: http://imgur.com/3B7W9.jpg

[–]flobin 0 points1 point ago

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Gotta admit, you are pretty thorough about this!

Also, how you doin'?

[–]rv77ax 3 points4 points ago

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/bigrant.

I hate Jakarta.

I can't take the cultures, traffic jams, peoples, and traffic jams. I was once got a job there; imagine, you must get up at 5 AM to go to work and finally arrived at the office at 9 AM. What kind of traffic is that ?

People use gas here, not only in Jakarta, like there is no tomorrow. Not to mention they are cheap (~$0.5 US / liter), but the private transportation is almost cheap too.

Local TV and music ? like OP said, it suck so hard that there is nothing left to lick to know how its taste. They say it funny drama, but not funny; they say it rock, but ... hey we got a "Nickelback-like" band here too, many.

Despite of all these inadequacy, Indonesian still have a great scenery, great culture and many good peoples here (especially in Sumatera, Sulawesi, Bali, and Papua), but not in Jakarta.

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 2 points3 points ago

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I agree with you. I can't stand it too. It gets to the point where going outside to do something becomes a burden. Of course, different parts of the city may not suck as hard as the others but you get the idea.

About public transport, even though they're cheap they're not safe & the drivers have no traffic manner whatsoever.

I used to go the capital of Central Java, Semarang, a lot when I was a kid and there are so many differences there. At least the traffic is a bit better, the people are a LOT nicer.

[–]infinite 2 points3 points ago

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What is your take on Bali?

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 2 points3 points ago

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I've never been there! As far as I know most foreigners don't even know that Bali is a province/island under the Republic of Indonesia.

[–]Chomskyismyhero 2 points3 points ago

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I've been to Bali although I wanted to go to Jakarta because I'm more of a city dweller.

I'd like to ask you about something else though. How to you feel about the massive deforestation in Borneo?

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 2 points3 points ago

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It's such a shame. I guess I kind of blame the government too. You see, they don't really care that much about anything outside the capital, that's why most problems like these are somewhat ignored. The environment is not a hot thing in the government, not then and as far as I know not now too. I feel so bad about that because the deforestation did not give a negative impact only to the country.

[–]pl303 2 points3 points ago

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What is your ethnicity?

In general, is Jakarta safe for a single, caucasian male to be wandering around? (i'm sure as with ANY city this can vary across different parts of Jakarta, but again, in general... how safe would it be)

[–]dr_awkward 2 points3 points ago

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It would be safe enough, some people will probably stare at you in fascination because of your white skin (especially little kids) but the "white guy with a backpack" stereotype is a common one in Jakarta. No need to worry, as long as you're careful. I reckon that Jakarta could be a very interesting place for foreigners, especially if you want to shop. Prices here are actually cheaper than Singapore, and the malls are just as big in Central Jakarta eventhough most of the city outside of Central and South Jakarta is slums.

If you're not into that kind of thing, the rest of Indonesia is amazing (especially when you get off of Java); our culture is very diverse and the nature's great. People outside of big cities tend to really hang on to their culture, and some cultures in remote areas are practically batshit insane (if i were a foreigner i'd come here just to see debus banten). Everything's really cheap too, since the rupiah is practically worthless compared to dollars. The government just doesn't advertise well :P

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 0 points1 point ago

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-I am Javanese.

-I think it's particularly safe for any Caucasian. Most people here tend to cut Westerners a slack. I think it's safer for female Caucasian to be wandering around alone at night rather than the locals.

[–]dentid4hed 2 points3 points ago

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I was scammed by a guy from Indonesia.... my question is related to that:

Is credit card fraud as rampant there as it is made out to be on the 'net? Not only did I get scammed once, but a second attempt was made either by the same guy or another completely independent one out for the same objective.

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 2 points3 points ago

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Yes it is. Credit card & ATM fraud is a pretty big issue here. Just a few days ago there was a case of rigged ATM machines that stole a lot of money from one of the biggest bank here. No one I know have ever been scammed before but it's bad enough to make the news every now & then and make everyone reminds you to be careful all the time. And I think it's worse if you're a foreigner. The way I see it foreigners make easier targets for these scammers because they're not familiar with the area & they're less suspicious. Scams are also an issue in Thailand and other SE Asian countries.

[–]OcelotPrince 2 points3 points ago

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I saw a tv show about Indonesia and the huge tobacco industry there because the major companies don't have to face the same kind of restrictions as in the western world. One thing in particular I remember is cigarette companies putting on concerts for young people and giving out cigarettes.

Do you smoke? What kind of percentage of people smoke where you live? Do you think it's a major problem for your country or something that is blown out of proportion?

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 1 point2 points ago*

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I don't know if the tobacco companies give out cigarettes to people but yes they do sponsor a lot of music & sports events, it's very common here.

I don't smoke myself & not sure about the percentage. The government issued a smoking restriction some time ago that states you can only smoke in designated places if you're in a public area. In malls and buildings there are small rooms for people to smoke. Yes, those who smoke are cramped in a small room together, facepalm. And it's illegal to smoke on public transportation but the law is not strictly enforced as smoking in public transportation (also in most places without designated smoking area, like in my university) is still a daily habit that you can see everyday.

Edit: typo.

[–]Ortus 2 points3 points ago

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Thoughts on East Timor please.

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 1 point2 points ago

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Someone asked this before, I'll just copypaste it here:

-When the Timor conflict happened I was 9 years old so I don't have any thought on that. I know that the government at that time (and now too actually) is very centralized on the capital so you can't really blame anyone for wanting to separate from the country.

[–]Ortus 1 point2 points ago

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So you think that if Indonesia had a more federal type of government, there would be less rebelions?

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 1 point2 points ago

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Perhaps. At least if the government cares about developments outside the capitals, the citizens would have less problems.

[–]mogadsheu 1 point2 points ago

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what's it like to be sitting on massive amounts of oil, and how do you think it's affected your country's culture?

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 2 points3 points ago

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What massive amounts of oil? The gas & oil price in the country is pretty expensive for the past few years. We have several problems regarding to oil & everyday things price. The price was increased at least twice (that I can remember). As for the culture itself, in my city there is a very wide gap between the poor and the rich. You can see a luxurious apartements/condos on one side and just a few kilometres ahead you can find people living in rubbles. The price of oil give hardships to these people, just like in other countries as well.

[–]kevin143 1 point2 points ago

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Have you ever heard of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kratom? It grows throughout Indonesia but I believe most Indonesians are unfamiliar with it and its economic value.

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 1 point2 points ago

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Wow you're right, I've never heard of it before.

[–]sqjtaipei 1 point2 points ago

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Thanks for doing this.

  • Have you ever been to see the Obama statue?

  • If so, did you feel like you were surrounded by angels while you looked at it?

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 1 point2 points ago

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You're welcome. :)

-No I haven't. I find all the commotions about Obama in my country to be a bit childish, sure he lived here for a while but it's not really something to be bragged about IMO.

[–]dr_awkward 1 point2 points ago

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Indonesians tend to have some misplaced emotional connection to Obama just because he spent some of his childhood here, eventhough he hasn't actually done anything for us. Some people find it ridiculous that we made a statue of another country's president when we don't even have a statue of our current president. I myself find it amusing to see so many people raising hell over a statue.

[–]drbold 0 points1 point ago

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Obama statue? What the hell are you talking about?

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 1 point2 points ago

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You see Obama lived here in the city when he was small, somehow some people decided to have a statue of young Obama on the area where he used to live. I think that's pretty silly & indecent. Obama is still alive anyway, it's too early to have a memorial of some kind. There are some photos in this site.

[–]glengyron 1 point2 points ago

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When are you going to have a working monorail or metro system? Seriously....

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 1 point2 points ago*

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It has been planned for a few years now. But hey we have the busway with some hot female drivers! D8

[–]acmecorps 0 points1 point ago

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What are your views on Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (PKS)? What are the general people views on them as well?

[–]dr_awkward 1 point2 points ago*

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PKS is a generally popular party among intellectuals and young people who agree with the party's moderate islamic platform. They have a strong basis in colleges and universities throughout the country, and they have a 'cleaner' image compared to some older parties such as PDI-P and Golkar.

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 0 points1 point ago

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I don't really know that much about these political parties. It's not the first and the only Islamic party in Indonesia. I haven't heard any news of interest about it.

[–]feignman 0 points1 point ago

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What are the industries the provide the maximum employment opportunities in your country?

Aside from your capital city, how many metropolitan cities does Indonesia have?

[–]MondrosenPrime[S] 1 point2 points ago*

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-I'm not sure, but the hottest employment here are government-owned works and I'm guessing building &construction is pretty hot since we build everything new everyday.

-I think Jakarta is the only city that you can really call a metropolitan. There are some other big cities like Surabaya, Medan, etc. but they're still not as crowded or bustling as Jakarta.

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