Lost one of my favorite reading blogs recently due to a particularly nasty piece of intimidation. Although for most Indonesians, it’s difficult for them to raise a sweat about anything like that. Intimidation and being stomped by the powers that be is just part of their daily lives.
As an example here’s the last three days of my life involving arseholes we meet in our daily lives in Indonesia (and we are the sheltered ones):
1. Going to pick up goods a local outlet, pissing down with rain everyone is soaked. Can anyone load their vehicles. Nope three cars with government plates are parked under the cover at the entrance, whilst their arrogant owners sip coffee and laugh at peasants getting soaked as they are forced to carry their goods out into the rain... PIGS
2. Friend is selling TV, local copper comes around offers 1/3 of the asking price. When offer refused, copper waggles finger under her nose at the same time saying “HATI HATI IBU (Be careful Missus)....THUG
3. Knock on the door on Sunday (why is it, these idiots don’t understand if I don’t know you then don’t come to my front door you ain’t welcome, particularly on a Sunday)..Open the door, two Arab Wannbes “Hey Mister, You pay us to draw homage to Allah in Arabic Script on your Wall outside and later you have no trouble (ok that a loose translation, took me twenty minutes figure out what the parasites were on about)....WANNBES
4. Idiot two blocks down the road builds a car port on the road out the front of his house. Asked the princess regent, how does he do that and get away with it? Answer “Dia Kaya” (he’s rich therefore can do what he likes)....ARROGANT BASTARDS
5. Dispute with local business (they stealing from us). Arsehole comes around threatening staff and then me with the usual “You only Bule (White Prick) I have you deported because I have friends”....CROOK
As a matter of interest, actions on:
1. Walk into coffee shop order a coffee dripping wet and ask in a loud voice, “Who are the arrogant pigs, who own the vehicles outside” (and watch the staff go pale whispering it’s the XXXXX mister)
2. Nothing yet, told her if he rings back give my number
3. Assisted exit from the property
4. Laugh
5. Acknowledged what he said was true, asked him to wait and then came back and gave him his home address and informed him I would be sure to drop in and say goodbye if I was deported and again assisted exit
I can get away with acting like that to a certain degree, I suppose one day I will come undone but not really a bit deal. I will move to another job in another country and another Bule will come and do mine here (Business ethics and education of children ain't a priority).
Just imagine what it must be like for the normal guy in the street, dealing with crap like this day after day, year after year. You can soon understand when the lid finally blows it really blows in a sickening and devastating manner. You have to admire the little guys better men than I putting up with this crap day in day out..
I digress, the point of this post was with my favorite acidic and most interesting blogger gone it was all becoming boring. I have been hunting around for something to liven up the standard Indonesian blog world of Gadgets, Sycophants and Adrian Mole diaries. I think I have found a couple worth further investigation, see below:
GJ Jakarta , an amusing take on Jakarta life, fellow cat hater (which bodes well) obviously culturally well above most as he displays a love of the oval ball.
Also a bloke who runs around by the name of DILLIGAF although he seems to be a refugee from that high society JAKCHAT site.
DUNNO IF I WILL GET TIME TO POST FOR CHRISTMAS …SO MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE !!
P.S .. Did you hear about BENNY THE BROWN NOSE REINDEER…He is placed in the sleigh right behind Rudolph. He can run as fast as Rudolph just can’t stop as quick.
10 comments:
Oigal,
Really sorry to hear about such things. I'd venture that it's a feature of unrestrained homo sapiens rather than homo Indonesianus. Still, can be hard to make a call when assholes come and offer to scrawl arabic. Sounds like you made the right one.
Achmad,
Never thought I would say this, you are 100% correct its homo sapien thing (well a lower version of them anyway) but I am writing local on what I see..if I was in Australia I would be zinging bastards there.
What I don't understand is why more Indonesians don't seem to care..am I missing something?
Hello Mister.
I think I'd go along with AS on this one. That you've newly moved (into a new area?) gives the scam artists every opportunity to check you out.
It takes time for them to get the picture, but maybe your missus and you could cook up a simple response.
Here at Jakartass Towers, having long ago made our peace with the RT, we ask the majority of these visitors if they've got a surat izin (letter of permission) from the RT/RW.
Invariably they haven't, so we pass on the addresses and tell them to come back whenever, which is, of course, never. The word rapidly got around that we're tightwads with good connections so we're generally left in peace.
As for the locals, they're still stuck in the 'yes massa' mode, which is often categorised as a Javanese cultural syndrome. However, even 'Er Indoors, an assertive Batak, picks her fights for different reasons than me.
Why on earth she doesn't have a go at those arrogant SOBs who sit in the SUVs outside our house with their engines running so they can breath cold air (and pour exhaust fumes into our domain) with their beatboxes booming beats me.
No thing it's a sense of resignation and a deep fatigue. There's also a sense of "nasib" or as they say in Javanese, "nerimo".
I think they're fatigued, resigned, fatalistic, or just think such is the natural order. There's an idea of "nasib," or fate, or "nerimoh," which in Javanese means to accept one's fate.
indonesia was summed up to me with 3 words one time by a long term resident:
"might is right"
all these stories, all this soul seeking, and basically it all comes down to might is right.
sounds over simplistic, but hard to disprove...
There was a missing link, thanks for the nice comments!
Refugee?
Oigal,
Thanks for the link.
Do you think the problem may stem from the fact they have never played aussie rules???
Cheers
GJ
adrian mole's married and busy these days.
let's get back to the cricket stuff.
Hey stumpy,
Where are you? Hope you have a half filled wheelie bin and putting it to good use!!
Cheers
GJ
Like Mr treespotter,
What about the cricket??
Post a Comment