Stereotype

Perbedaan ras adalah salah satu contoh dari stereotype yang ada di Indonesia. Salah satu contoh dari pengalaman pribadi saya adalah ketika saya bekerja di kantor salah satu brand elektronik yang cukup terkenal untuk mengisi waktu liburan saya setelah Ujian Nasional tahun lalu. Saat saya sudah bekerja dua bulan, di kantor saya tersebut membuka lowongan pekerjaan lagi untuk mencari pengganti saya karena. saya akan segera mengundurkan diri untuk melanjutkan kuliah. Suatu hari, ada seorang yang melamar, namun sayangnya tidak diterima. Waktu saya bertanya kepada manajer saya alasannya, beliau menjawab bahwa wanita tersebut ada keturunan jawa nya. Tidak asli orang keturunan chinese. Saya baru tahu bahwa di kantor tersebut tidak menerima pegawai selain orang chinese, dan saya baru menyadari bahwa memang di kantor tersebut tidak ada orang yang keturunan jawa, bahkan freelance sekalipun.

Berdasarkan pengalaman saya tersebut, menurut saya stereotype sangat sukar untuk diatasi. Hal ini berlaku tidak hanya untuk orang pribumi saja, melainkan juga orang yang bukan pribumi. Pada pengalaman saya ini, di perusahaan sebesar itu perbedaan itu tetap ada. Mungkin alasan manajer saya tidak menerima wanita itu adalah karena pengalaman pribadi beliau dengan orang yang tidak seratus persen keturunan chinese. Manajer saya menganggap bahwa kinerja orang keturunan chinese lebih bisa dipertanggungjawabkan, terbukti dengan banyaknya pengusaha-pengusaha yang keturunan chinese. Mereka cenderung memiliki dedikasi dan loyalitas yang baik. Berbeda sekali dengan kinerja orang yang bukan keturunan chinese. Jiwa dagang mereka tidak sebesar orang keturunan chinese. Karena itulah sampai sekarang pun masih banyak perusahaan-perusahaan yang cukup terkenal yang hanya menerima orang keturunan chinese asli.

Different Way of Greeting

As a start, I know that in Indonesia or most Asia, hugging or kissing cheek to cheek with each other is not something usual. It is not our custom to do so, that is why usually, when an Indonesian meets a Western and the Western hugs or kisses the Indonesian, the Indonesian would reacts awkwardly or even refuse the Western’s hugs or kisses. In our custom, especially Indonesia, hugging or kissing is inappropriate unless it is done by relatives or very close friends. Moreover, it would be more inappropriate if it is between a man and a woman who are not married or they are not related as a family. Another thing that makes hugging and kissing are not appropriate is Islam as the majority in Indonesia, because in Islam, hugging and kissing are not accepted unless it is between families or between a husband and a wife. I have an example of an intercultural misunderstanding related to the different way of greeting.

I got this story from my sister who is a teacher in an English course that is also dealing with foreign universities and representatives from universities outside Indonesia which are mostly Australian and New Zealand. Actually, it often happens to her whenever she has to deal with the representatives of universities in Australia or New Zealand. My sister is not a really conservative person, so she has no problem with kissing and hugging as a greeting as long as it is between ladies. However, a male representative from Australia hugged her when he greeted her in an exhibition in Sheraton Hotel. My sister was pretty surprised with that kind of greeting, since it is not usual in her custom and daily life. But, since she is not really conservative, she did not think of it as a problem. On the other hand, her female friends who are also Islam are not really okay with that kind of greeting, so they refused it since their Islam is really strong that they absolutely not okay with a man other than their families hugging them.

In my opinion, I am okay with that kind of greeting because I know it is just a greeting and there is no other intention. But, I cannot disagree with other people who do not think that way, because I know it is not our culture and most people think it is not polite to hug people with the opposite sex or we do not know in greeting. As far as I know, even women in Indonesia are not really use to kissing or hugging their female friends if they are not very close. My own girl friends are most likely would offer their hands in a greeting rather than hugging or kissing.

However, I do not think of the different of greeting is really a problem. Western people usually do not mind if we or in this case, my sister, does not like to be hugged or her cheek kissed. That is why, if she does not like it, she would offer her hand first before the western hug her. In the end, appropriate or not, it is depend on each person’s perspectives and cultures. For instance, if someone rose in an Islam family which has a strong belief that that way of greeting is not appropriate, then it is not.

Astari 

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Message for the students

Dear all,
Thank you for the blogs on intercultural understanding you have submitted. I enjoyed reading all of them. For those who have not submitted, you are still welcome to post them in this blog although it has been late in giving you credits for your final grade. Kelvin and Yosua, please upload your papers. There're also a few others who only submitted one paper (Daniel, Christy, Cintya, Astari, Jeklin and Dian). Please, upload them as well.
As I promised to you last time, I will try to edit your papers and see if I can include your papers in a book I plan to publish. Hopefully it can be an interesting book many will enjoy reading.
Have a pleasant vacation and see you all in the new semester.
Esther

YIKES...!

This is not a common issue in the Indonesian’s community, or rather; it is not one that is openly spoken in public. I’m talking about homosexuality discrimination. People here in Indonesia are not as permissive as in western’s countries such as America, but we are starting to accept that there are people with different sexual preferences from us. Yet, unconsciously, we usually insult and are disgusted by their mere presence and talks surrounding them. We are not openly rejecting it but we are not accepting it either and in my opinion, that is the problem.

As I watched a movie series about a show choir titled ‘Glee’ I keep seeing ‘gay bullying’ in the movie and I thought to myself that even my friends do this too, without they knowing about it. They do not toss people around or dump people to the dumpsters like what they do in the movie, but every time they encounter a topic of homosexuality they will react with,”Yikes.” When one of the lecturers was telling us a story about the homosexual community in Thailand and how they would wave at this lecturer, one of my friends said, “Gosh, that’s disgusting.”

When I hear those words coming from my friend, I thought isn’t that also a kind of verbal abuse? Every negative reaction about homosexuals is a kind of abuse of their preferences, abuse at their differences from the rest of us. We abuse them for being different. With that words we simply put them in a lower status than the rest of us which is considered ’normal’. This leads me to a question about what exactly is normal. To us, we are normal, and they are abnormal. But, have we ever considered looking this matter from their perspective? To them, they are normal.

After seeing the short movie about racism in last week meeting of this lesson, I keep thinking that just like the whites in the people there who do not know that they are actually negatively biased towards the black people; Indonesian people are still unconsciously holding negative biases towards homosexuals. This is considered discrimination. Like what my friends did when they said those things and when they thought that being LGBT is a disgrace; a mistake that someone make. Well, what if they cannot help it. What if the problem is that they cannot choose their own sexual preferences? This reality hits me hard and I am starting to think whether or not I unconsciously do those things as well, discriminating them, abusing them verbally, and lowering their status. I am starting to think more and start taking notes mentally about this subtle discrimination that happen here in Indonesia, or even, here at Petra Christian University, just like my friends’ cases.

I feel awful when I hear that my friends say something like that, when I think that we are an open generation already; that we are ready for changes and erasing prejudices, but maybe we are not as ready as I think we are. I am not saying that my friends and people saying those comments are bad, but maybe they do not realize it, just like what the kids do in the short movie ‘How Biased Are You?’ Maybe we need more time and better system about this matter. Whatever we need, I just hope that there will be a time when there is no more discrimination against minorities such as homosexuals here in Indonesia.