To be Indonesian

If you haven’t figured by now, I am of Indonesian descent, but does that alone entitle me to label myself as such?

Indonesia is a very patriotic country fueled by the blood of the native Javanese – considered the warrior race responsible for uniting the kingdoms and winning the country’s independence. Half my blood runs rampant with this Javanese genetic. But having been raised in Australia, exposed to a very multicultural setting, the little Javanese warrior inside me was forced to wash the face paint off and look for alternate ways to maim and dominate… So I chose writing as a means to do so… metaphorically speaking of course.

Now, it has come to my attention that while I grew up with unlimited recourses and access to higher education, I thought I would have the 1-up over my resident Indo-brothers, but it seems as though I am highly disadvantaged when it comes to the culture of being a young Indonesian urbanite. For you see, through years of training an involuntary acumen for apathy, this attribute should have been automatically included with the blood provided at birth. Indonesians, more specifically Javanese, don’t give a shit about anything except their own accord, yet they do so with a great degree of style.

There are only a handful of social aspects that a young Indonesian should hold dearly, and those are: Family-tight friends. If you’re close friends with an Indonesian person, chances are they have accepted you as part of their family. Indonesians are not social butterflies and will tend to reserve themselves. Not out of shyness, but out of energy, which takes us to the next point – Energy. Indonesians have just as much energy as any other human, but they don’t like using it if they don’t have to. This explains why many Indonesians appear lazy or lead sedentary lifestyles. Remember, that Indonesians wont put up with anything that they don’t have to – so don’t play games. Cigarettes – Indonesians always need to have their ciggies within reach. Constantly lighting up while engaged in conversation, smoking is imperative to an Indonesian’s persona. And last but not least, Music. Almost every Indonesian house-hold plays an instrument. The best thing about it is, they don’t play to fit an image, they play to themselves, they play to get lost in their own deep jam session.

The aforementioned attributes are the core essentials of a young Indonesian professional. While I do meet the prerequisites, as mentioned earlier, I lack the cultural benefits of a full-pledged citizen.

The next generation of Indonesians however, are proving to be an obscure area of interest. They may allure the image of attractive new-age, east-asian urbanites, but like me, they lack the true meaning behind their being. Through my years as a professional writer, I’ve noticed that my career cannot define me, nor can it replace the void left with me as soon as I left the tropical island at the tender age of one. As more of us young Indonesians scatter around the world, gaining success in our respective industries, we also must not forget the core essentials of being an Indonesian. You can ignore the pretentious smoking aspect if you want, that was just included for illustrative purposes, but you cannot ignore the blood that flows through your veins.

Each year that passes, I am finding more and more like-minded young Indonesians in the fields of Media, Design, Photography, Fashion and Music. As “westernised” Indonesians like me, have the advantage of breaking the cultural barrier, we should combine both our knowledge of modern society and the core personality traits that make up a strong patriotic Indonesian.