Cultural Chasms #1- Offense and Sensitivity

In this section of the blog, entitled 'Cultural Chasms', I will comment on cultural differences or similarities that I observe during my time in Indonesia. Please note that all of my assumptions about Indonesian culture are just that- assumptions. I can only understand their ways of living through my own cultural lense, so my ideas and observations cannot truly reflect Indonesian culture.

After a few days in the classroom and in extracurricular activities (English debate club), I have observed that the teachers here are very strict on their students. For the most part, they do not implement positive feedback in criticizing their students’ work. Although it is not practiced here, I think that I will try to use positive reinforcement with my students if only to share my upbringing in the American education system. I’ve also noticed that most Indonesian people are what I would call straight-forward to the point of being rude or offensive. However, this seems to be a part of Indonesian culture, and the people are not offended by comments that I would perceive as being rude. Thanks to my orientation, I have some understanding of why this may be true. 

For example, during Debate Club one larger-set girl ran over to sit by me when I arrived at the Debate Club Meeting. The teacher, Pak Robintas, lightly said “Don’t cause an earthquake” and then proceeded to explain to me that her jiggling fat might cause an earthquake if she moved too fast. Some students giggled but it really was not even a big deal. Later he referred to a heavier student as “the big girl” and another as “the fat one”. At first, I was extremely surprised and even felt bad that the teacher was talking this way to his students. I wondered if people’s feelings were actually hurt by these comments. And then I remembered what I had learned about Indonesian culture during orientation.

From what I’ve learned so far, I think that the Indonesian people take little offense to criticism because they place far less importance on their individualism than they place on their belonging to the community. For example, an American would feel isolated by such ‘offensive’ comments because the comments highlight what we perceive to be an undesirable individual trait. An Indonesian person would not feel the same offense because they feel that their individual traits and characteristics are not as important as the collective community of which they are a part. They have a deep-seeded understanding that the meaning of their existence lies in their belonging to a group, not in their individual importance. Calling someone ‘the fat girl’ serves only as a means of identification. It does not reflect the girl’s worth or belonging, because that belonging is intrinsic in her existence within the community.