Indonesian’s Culture and Ethnic Groups

Most of the people of Indonesian are Malays who came to the islands from the mainland of Asia above 4,000 years ago. The more primitive people whom the Malays found on their arrival moved eastward into New Guinea and the islands of the Western Pasific. The majority of the Indonesians have light brown skin and straight black hair. They are rather short and slim.

Indonesian’s people are a fascinating mixture of races and culture. Indonesian culture is formed by regional cultures of the tribes all over Indonesia. Each region has specific culute and enriches national culture. Indonesia consist of about 300 ethnic groups speaking either their regional languages. There are lots of regional languages in Indonesia, because there are lots of ethnic gropus here. These languages are still spoken by the people in their respective areas. Most of them can speak at least two languages, Indonesia and their own regional languages. Many other languages and dialects are spoken by the Indonesian people. Indonesian has been chosen as the national language of Indonesia. It is closely related to Malay and is spoken on all of the island. It can unite all Indonesians although Indonesia consist of different ethnic groups. The people in Jakarta speak Bahasa Betawi. The people in West Java speak Sundanese, those in Central and East Java speak Javanese, those in Madura speak Madurese and those in Bali speak Balinese. The other regional languages are Bahasa Padang, Bahasa Batak, Minahasa, Maluku and some others. The Javanese language is divided into three languages, the ordinary language (ngoko) is spoken by common or ordinary people, the more polite language (kromo) is spoken by people to other people they don’t know well, and the most polite language (kromo inggil) spoken by people to older people or people of higher class. And so is Sundanese. This language generally consists of the ordinary language and the flowery language.

Local art is a product made by local people. It expresses the uniqueness of the maker, of the society to which the maker belongs, of all mankind, or of all of these. The product appeals to the intellect and to the senses. The product can be a variety of forms a musical composition, a dance, a play, a public exhibition, a concert, or a novel or poem. There are various kinds of local arts on Java Island. If foreign tourists visit the Lebak regency, they will be atteacted to the Debus performance. The performer stabs himself with a dagger or a sword but he does not hurt himself. In Bandung foreign tourists will be able to see the Angklung concert. Angklung is a musical instrument made of bamboo. The player just shakes it. In Central and West Java, drama is often in the form of puppet plays called Wayang. Some of the foreign tourists enjoy the puppet show. The Wayang, accompanied by music played on native instruments in a Gamelan orchestra, are very popular. Local dances besed on legend also attract many spectators. Wayang Orang (man or women dressed in wayang and plays a certain role in the story) performance and Ketoprak are very pupolar in Solo and Yogya. And so is Wayang Orang performance in Semarang. If foreign tourists visit Ponorogo in East Java, they will enjoy the Reog Ponorogo show. It resembles the dragon show like one in Hongkong. They can also go to Surabaya to see the Ludruk show, it is similar to Kabuki in Japan.

The nation’s ethnic diversity has never created problems. The government has to be becareful that each group feels it is a full partner in the nation’s development. The major religion in Indonesian is Islam, and almost all of the people are Moslems. A small number of the people are Christians, Catholics, Hindus, Budhist and Konghucu. On the islands of Bali, most of the inhabitants are Hindus. Many people in Indonesian still believe in spirits. The adat, or local custom, also plays an important part in the life of the people. Indonesian has many superstitions as well as folk-tales, especially in villages and remote areas. Some believe that women shouldn’t sing while they are cooking as they’ll marry a very old man. Others believe that we shouldn’t take a photo of three people as this mean the person in the middle will die. Do you think the people who believe in those superstitions and do the rituals related to the superstitions are stupid, weird, or what ? What about going to shaman ? Many people do that, ven senior afficials and famous artists. Believe it or not yeah remember this is Indonesian.