# How much do you know about Indonesia **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 11, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-know-about-indonesia/643764 "2012-12-11T22:53:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-know-about-indonesia/643764/41 "2012-12-13T16:53:34Z")
Behasa is sort of like ‘high’ Malay. If you learn some in Indonesia, it will serve you very well in Malaysia. > [@](#): > > I’m going to Bali tomorrow! I am green with envy! ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-know-about-indonesia/643764/42 "2012-12-13T17:12:49Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > - Several posters are past or present residents of Indonesia. I, **CairoCarol,** live in Jakarta even as I type this, and have about 12 years total residence here, beginning in 1993. > > - **madmonk** used to live in Indonesia - I believe doing post-tsunami reconstruction around Aceh… Yup, I lived in Banda Aceh for a couple of years. Aceh used to be an important trading hub in its own right and there are some amazing artifacts from this period in the Singapore museum’s permanent collection. ---
**Author:** ![smokey78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@smokey78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smokey78)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-know-about-indonesia/643764/43 "2012-12-13T18:44:30Z")
I knew it was a dominant Muslim nation, but never knew how. My mum told me it used to be Buddhist and then word of mouth took hold and then the conversion began. I didn’t ask if by force or gentle means. I have two friends who grew up in Indonesia but are of Chinese Christian descent. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-know-about-indonesia/643764/44 "2012-12-14T02:11:49Z")
(Kind of cheating since I was just there): - one of the two places in the world where they’ve brought up the “living fossil” fish, the Coelacanth, Manado Tua is in Sulawesi. - Sulawesi is predominately christian (churches everywhere, and more being built) ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-know-about-indonesia/643764/45 "2012-12-14T02:25:19Z")
No one has yet mentioned its the home of Komodo dragons… Eg the island of Komodo next to Flores. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-know-about-indonesia/643764/46 "2012-12-14T02:52:44Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > Shares the island of Borneo with Brunei and part of Malaysia. Sukarno was the first president after independence (as do many Indonesians even today, he used only one name). Sulawesi (formerly Celebes) is a major island not mentioned, IIRC, so far in this thread. > > Remember the “Hobbit man” discovered a few years ago? The species name is _Homo florensis_, reflecting the Indonesian island of Flores, where fossils were discovered. _Homo floresiensis._ Not sure if this was brought up, but about half of the island of New Guinea is owned Indonesia. The western half, called Papua (formerly Irian Jaya). Pretty artificial boundary as the eastern part is Papua New Guinea, and the indigenous people are the same. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-know-about-indonesia/643764/47 "2012-12-14T03:27:17Z")
I lived in Seribudolok, on Sumatra, between the years of 1965 and 1968, but I was very young, so most of my recollections are child-sized (and quite possibly wrong). Rabies was a real problem. We had a dog that contracted rabies even though he’d supposedly been vaccinated. Sukarno was the president, and there was a revolt. Suharto replaced him. Sometime around the year we left, **Life** magazine was banned, and we had to hide ours when we drove from Medan to Seribudolok. There were roadblocks, and I remember my dad preparing us to duck down in the car if we heard shooting. Indonesian people really liked to spoil little kids. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-know-about-indonesia/643764/48 "2012-12-14T04:12:40Z")
My wife is Indonesian. When we visited family on 4 different islands, I learned that in Jakarta, the painted lines forming traffic lanes are only a suggestion. Same with every other traffic light or sign. Somehow, in spite of the chaotic nature of it all, things work. Sort of. A car hit us from behind and just drifted away into the sea of vehicles and my brother in law just shrugged and said to me, “welcome to Jakarta!” Incredible population density. If there is an open space on a sidewalk, center island, corner, or any space, there is a person there selling something. Mystery meat on a stick, fried anything, etc. Really good food that gave me horrible diarrhea. I remember the population density being comparable to Disneyland on a weekend. Overwhelming. The mountains and countryside of Sumatra are beautiful. Many of the wild plants are common houseplants here in the USA. Corruption everywhere. Our friends own a few gas stations in Medan. Nothing, from fuel deliveries to equipment repair happens on time unless someone gets an envelope with cash in it. Want the police to stop hassling the customers? Give them an envelope. When the fuel truck dispatcher starts talking about how expensive the school his kids go to has become, he better get an envelope or the drivers may or may not arrive that day to deliver the fuel. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-know-about-indonesia/643764/49 "2012-12-14T05:07:04Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Let’s see how obscure it really is. All I need to. The internet is there for the rest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-know-about-indonesia/643764.md?page=2)