Every culture has its precepts. They are passed down the generations by simple to understand sayings which pass into the language to almost become cliches. Ana is a Javanese who has lived in Jakarta (far from the Javanese heartland of Central Java) for a few years. A few days ago, when she was reconnecting with old friends on Facebook, Ana found some of these traditional Javanese sayings. She was struck by how disconnected she has become from her own culture. She felt that she should have been actively protecting and preserving the culture. Being a culture warrior…
nana the culture warrior
I was curious to know what hidden knowledge the Javanese keep, so I asked Ana to translate a few of them.
The following is the correspondance I received from Ana, which contains the sayings in their original Javanese. Each saying is followed by a translation into Bahasa Indonesia, followed by a literal English translation. I have then added what I think is the nearest English equivalent and, in brackets, what I think is the most likely source. (n.b. If you think translating something into one language in order to translate it into the one you want is a roundabout way to get your result, you are obviously not Javanese enough. You’ll understand better when you read the translations):
Advices and wise words, a la Javanese
These kind words are meant as good advice for living in the right way (Javanese way). Some of them may contain Javanese signature life-style (nice, slow and easy) but also speak of universal moral values.
I tried to translate as literally as possible to get the feeling of a word by word translation. If you feel it is like going around the bush or so much redundancy, it reflects the Javanese preference for not addressing the issue straight to the point, because it may ‘hurt’ other people’s feeling. 
very gently and subtly spoken… and should never sound patronizing to others…
About equality of humanity
Javanese Language (JL)
Wiwit cilik mula anak-anak wis diparingi pangreten manawa jejering kamanungsane sakabehing wong iku padha wae, kang mangkono supadya ora nyewiyah marang sapadha-padha, kosokbaline malah tansah asih tresna marang sesami.
Bhs Indonesia (BI)
Sejak masih kecil, anak-anak sebaiknya sudah diberi pengertian bahwa semua manusia pada dasarnya adalah setara, sehingga kita sebaiknya tidak berbuat melukai sesama manusia, namun sebaliknya malah harus saling mengasihi antar sesama.
English (En)
From a young age, children should have been taught with understanding that all people have equal humanity; therefore we should not hurt others, in contrary should always love them.
Equivalent
Love thy neighbour. (Gospel)
About Procrastination
JL
Pagaweyan kang abot dhewe iku pagaweyan kang ora tau dilakoni nganti nglumpuk tumpuk undhung, wusana kesel atine ora bisa ngrampungi amarga awang-awangen. Sanadyan ta pagaweyan abot temenan, waton dilakoni suwening suwe dadi entheng
BI
Pekerjaan yang paling berat adalah pekerjaan yang dijalankan menunggu hingga bertumpuk-tumpuk, akhirnya membuat hati kesal dan tidak bisa diselesaikan karena merasa tidak mampu. Kalaupun memang berat betul, asal dilakukan terus lama-kelamaan menjadi ringan juga.
En
The heaviest work to be done is the work that is done without waiting until it is collected and becomes piles of work, thus feeling exhausted at heart because it seemed unworkable. Even if the work is heavy indeed, when you do it anyway, gradually it becomes light.
Equivalent
A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. (Confucius?)
About ambition
JL
Kesel iku tambane mung leren, nanging yen ora kesel iya aja leren. Ngaya iku kembanging lara, becike ajeg tumindak sakadare linakonan kanthi senenging ati
BI
Keletihan hanya bisa diobati dengan istirahat, namun bila belum letih ya jangan beristirahat. Memaksakan diri adalah sumber dari penyakit, lebih baik senantiasa bertindak semampunya, dan melakukannya dengan senang hati.
En
Tiredness is healed only by resting, but if you are not tired do not stop. Forcing yourself is the source of sickness, it is better to be consistently doing one step at a time and doing it with happy heart.
Equivalent
Slow but steady wins the race. (Aesop)
About living in truth
JL
Linambaran pangati-ati, anggenipun ambyur ing madyaning bebrayan nindakaken darmaning gesang, tinuntun lampahipun ing margining bener saha becik.
Bener ateges boten kalentu, dene becik ateges pantes dados tepa tuladha, lampahipun kanthi pamawas, sing bener iku mesthine becik, dene sing bener apadene becik mesti benere.
BI
Dilandasi kehati-hatian, kita hidup di tengah masyarakat menjalani hakekat hidup, akan dituntun ke jalan yang lurus (bagus) dan benar. Benar artinya tidak salah, sedangkan bagus artinya pantas dijadikan contoh bagi orang lain, tindak-tanduknya selalu disertai dengan pikiran jernih (keyakinan) bahwa yang benar itu pasti bagus, sedangkan yang benar dan bagus, sudah pasti itu benar.
En
Founded by carefulness (awareness), we live among others to do the essence of life, our steps are guided to walk within the passage of truth and goodness.
True means not being wrong, and good means qualified to be an example, living by clear determination (faith) that the truth is good, and being true and good is definitely true.
Equivalent
Practice what you preach.
About patience and acceptance
JL
Yen arep sumurup lenggahing sabar, narima, lila legawa, iklas, sumarah, aja takon marang sapadha-padha, utawa kok othak-athik ing nalar, nanging rasakna lan rumangsoa.
BI
Jika ingin melihat dimana letak sikap sabar, menerima, rela hati, ikhlas, pasrah, janganlah bertanya pada sesama manusia maupun dipikir dengan akal logika, namun rasakanlah dan mengertilah dengan perasaan.
En
If you want to search and find patience, acceptance, sincerity, submission, do not look towards others, nor try to find them within our logic, but you have to feel it and have compassion.
Equivalent
Let your conscience be your guide. (Disney)
About envy
JL
Padha singkirana laku iri/ meri amarga lumrahe wong iri/ meri kuwi banjur tumindak kang ala klebu ngrasani lan ngala-ala, kamangka durung mesthi menawa dheweke sing kadunungan mulya bisa mapanake tumindak kang mulya.
BI
Hindarilah perasaan iri (terhadap kesuksesan orang lain) karena orang iri biasanya melakukan hal yang jelek misalnya membicarakan orang lain dan bergosip, padahal belum tentu jika dirinya diberikan kesuksesan bisa berlaku baik.
En
Avoid feeling jealous (of someone else’s success) because people with jealousy will be doing bad things including bad chatting and gossiping, in the other way around oneself might not be as good when he/she is granted with such success.
Equivalent
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
About the benefit of drinking water
JL
Manawi sampun ginanjar sakit ngantos kedah mondhok ing griya sakit mesthinipun lajeng sambat : “mbayare kok larang ya ?” . . nanging tetep dibayar . . . Mangga kita sami ngudi kasarasaning badan supados tinebihaken saking griya sakit, ing antawisipun ngunjuk toya pethak ingkang kathah.
BI
Apabila sudah dalam keadaan sakit hingga harus dirawat di rumah sakit pasti akan mengeluh : “biayanya kok mahal ya?”… namun tetap saja dibayar… Mari kita bersama mengusahakan kesehatan badan supaya dijauhkan dari rumah sakit, salah satu contohnya dengan meminum air yang banyak.
En
Only if we get sick and have no other choice but to spend our days in hospital, we would then yearn “Why do we have to pay the bill so expensive?” – but of course, we pay them eventually – So, together, let us put our effort to keep our body healthy so that we would be stay far away from hospital, for instance by drinking plenty of clear water.
Equivalent
Drink more water.
001 Review – Nathaniel’s Nutmeg
The full title of the book is: Nathaniel’s Nutmeg: How One Man’s Courage Changed the Course of History. With such an apparently narrow focus, I deferred reading it until now. In fact, the book describes the history of the spice trade from an English perspective.
The Eastern Islands of what is now Indonesia were once the only source in the world for nutmeg, cloves and mace. Until the Portuguese arrived in 1511, these spices reached Europe by a mostly overland route, passing through the hands of numerous merchants of South Asia and the Middle East. The Venetians had the monopoly over the last stage, from the Levant to Europe. So it was not until the Portuguese built ships which could sail around the South coast of Africa that the spices began to arrive in Europe in such large quantities that people other than royalty could have access to them.
There were many surprises for me in this book. One of them was the effect of supply on price. In economics class, I was taught that low supply equals high prices. But the bigger supply of spices caused demand to surge and drove prices through the roof. I guess people didn’t know that they wanted the spices until they tried them. The writer says that there was a big demand for nutmeg for use in medicine, too.
The English entered into the spice trade about a hundred years after the Portuguese, but a few years before the Dutch. For some reason which is not stated in the book, the English were able to defeat Portuguese and Spanish ships with astonishing ease. On some voyages, English captains were able to defeat multiple ships from those countries. The Dutch were a different matter. Although the started later, they poured much greater resources into the spice trade. Where the English sent single ships, the Dutch sent fleets. The English established ‘factories’ (trading houses) in native cities while the Dutch built forts. The Dutch also sent thousands of soldiers, hired Japanese mercenaries and even tried to bring farmers to settle the islands. The Dutch sought to monopolise the spice trade and were determined to drive the English out from the start. In addition to their material advantage, they also worked as part of the company whereas the English tended to trade as individuals and frequently worked against each other.
The writer makes much of the fact that the native rulers and peoples much preferred to deal with the English merchants and hated the Portuguese and later the Dutch. I think the reason for this is that the English never held much power there and circumstances forced them to get along with the locals instead of dominate them. There are a few examples cited where an English captain bombarded native cities or where dozens of native Americans were shot for sport as a ship passed along the North American coast.
We don’t actually meet the Nathaniel from the title until more than half way through the book and he doesn’t reach the spice islands until two thirds through. His actions ultimately had an effect on the course of world history, but he didn’t live to see it happen.
There is an uncomfortably long description of the brutal treatment meted out to a group of Japanese mercenaries and the innocent English inhabitants of Neira Island by a paranoid Dutch Governor. The book relates many acts of brutality committed by Ottoman governors, Indian potentates, Javanese sultans, English captains and native tribesmen. But the story of the torture and execution of these innocent men made my blood boil. It’s a disturbing vision of what can happen when someone has much power and answers to nobody. If that episode was typical of Dutch rule, I can now better understand why the people of Indonesia helped the Japanese during the Second World War and evicted all the Dutch as soon as they gained independence.
Another question raised in my mind by the book is why the Chinese or the Japanese never saw fit to control the Spice Islands for themselves. There was opportunity for the Chinese under Cheng Ho, and even before that Chinese mercenaries were active in Java. Even during the period covered by this book, there were Chinese merchants living in Bantam and Jakarta. Japanese pirates and mercenaries were also active in the region and particularly feared by all. Such valuable and easily defended islands would have been easy for an East Asian emperor to confiscate.
The main interest in the book for me was to learn more about how the people who lived in Indonesia at the time were. There are some mentions of the sultans, headhunters and the residents of the Spice Islands, but the book is mostly about the European experience. On page 272 of the book, an English captain describes the people of Run as “peevish, perverse, diffident and perfidious people and apt to take disgust upon small occasions”. I know some expats who still hold that view, but I’m sure they’re more complex than that.
Overall, the style is easy to read, but the bits about the torture were upsetting for me.