Monthly Archives: July 2010

Baris Gede for UNESCO Heritage Listing

By aboutindo | Published: July 29, 2010
The traditional Balinese warrior dance, the baris gede (literally: great line) is to be given protection under UNESCO’s heritage register.  The dance has its origins in ritual preparations for battle and is traditionally performed en masse.  Performing the dance often results in the dancers achieving a trance. Balinese warriors had a fearsome reputation and were often used [...]
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Why Indonesians Don’t Drink Beer

By aboutindo | Published: July 24, 2010
The reason is awful advertisements like this one.   Nobody’s drinking! In the first scene, we see our man is a construction worker.  Any job that involves manual labour is low status in Indonesia.  At least they could have put him on an  oil rig, which everyone knows pays big money. At the endo of a hard day’s [...]
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Superheroes Convert to Islam

By aboutindo | Published: July 19, 2010
A number of the world’s superheroes, have converted to Islam. So far, Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Captain America, Daredevil, Wolverine, Cyclops, The Flash, The Thing, The Incredible Hulk and Robocop have been identified among the converts. The Indonesian superheroes Gundala, Gatotkaca and “Si Buta dari Gua Hantu” have joined the lineup. This painting, found in a noodle [...]
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Jakarta Street Food: School Meal

By aboutindo | Published: July 13, 2010
Outside every school there are always a few vendors serving hungry kids.  The one in this clip is selling omelettes made from watered-down egg, topped with cheap tomato sauce and sprinkled with beef flavouring.  Not the most nutritious meal, but the kids like it. Considering the price, it’s probably outside a government school.  Private schools normally attract [...]
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Updates on Recent Stories

By aboutindo | Published: July 11, 2010
For those who follow this blog but don’t keep a close eye on Indonesian news, I thought now would be a good time to update you on developments concerning some of the more popular stories.  Starting with the most recent: Mental illness In my second story concerning the practice of pasung, or chaining of the mentally ill, I found [...]
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Gamelan Cudamani – “Young Man in Love”

By aboutindo | Published: July 10, 2010
In the three months since I started writing, I’ve resisted high culture.  But I couldn’t resist showing you this when I saw it. This Cudamani group from the Balinese village of Pengosekan has excellent timing and a rich, full sound.  The additional hand movements are also unusual.  The dancer is exquisite.  It’s a superior, professional troupe. Although Pengosekan is said to [...]
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Drive Safe

By aboutindo | Published: July 8, 2010
On a rainy day, helping to cart rice husks and there’s no room in the cabin.  These labourers have come up with a solution so they can ride along and not get wet by making a kind of hammock under the overhang at the back of the truck.  What can go wrong?
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Jakarta Street Food: Es Cincau (“Grass Jelly”)

By aboutindo | Published: July 7, 2010
This is a refreshing snack for a hot day.  You can see the ice is already almost melted by the time the syrup has been poured on. I’ve never tried what they call “grass jelly” at a Chinese restaurant, only at traditional-style Indonesian ones.  However the idea for this dessert is said to have come from China and [...]
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Dangdut! Dian Ratih

By aboutindo | Published: July 4, 2010
Watching this clip I couldn’t understand why Dian Ratih is such a popular performer.  That is, she’s popular in East Java, which by headcount is incredibly popular. To be fair, production quality is poor, there’s one close up where she’s out of focus and the director hasn’t even excluded passers-by.  It’s like they just turned up to a [...]
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Is this the Way to Treat a God?

By aboutindo | Published: July 1, 2010
This video is 15 minutes, but well worth watching all the way through. I wasn’t aware of this clip when I wrote my post about mental illness in Indonesia.  Lack of treatment of psychotic patients leads to them being chained or imprisoned for years as their families have no other means of restraining them. I did not [...]
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