Hello, I'll
describe our next beautiful day in Indonesia. We were very excited for today
because we went to see a mosque.
We noticed
very fast that the culture of Indonesia isnt easy to define. There are a lot
of different believes, uses and habits. For tourists it is very important to
adjust and show respect.
For
example, when Laurens wanted to say hello to a Indonesian girl with a handshake
or kiss, the girl was confused because apparently things like that arent a
habit. It was a bit funny because Laurens thought that the girl didnt like
him. But I came clear to us that in Indonesia it isnt usual to show warm
heartedness in public.
The first
thing our travel guides told us was that Indonesians are a friendly people. And
it is true. Despite their severe economic and political problems, Indonesians
have remained open and friendly. They laugh a lot and they smile a lot. Also to
apologize or when they feel embarrassed. Thats something we really like about
Indonesia.
Today we
visited sanctuaries and mosques. In sanctuaries and mosques our shoulders and
legs have to be always covered up. Lucky we prepared us very well and we knew
that shirts without sleeves and short skirts werent appropriate.
We took a
lot of pictures because the mosque was a beautiful building. We went to the
Taubah Mosque in Jakarta.
We learned
that Indonesia is the country with the largest Muslim population in the world.
Approximately 80 percent of all Indonesians are devout Muslims. In general,
Indonesia is a deeply religious nation and that also applies to the minorities
of Christians, Hindus and Buddhists.
Interacting
with Indonesians is very easy. We have discovered soon that most Indonesians,
irrespective of age, class or education are interested in getting to know
foreign visitors. Indonesians like to ask many questions. Some of those may
sound intrusive, but then again, to Indonesians those are only the regular
ones. For example, when we were shopping the people asked us many questions,
examples of such questions are where we come from, if we are married (and if
not, why not), how many children we have and what our religion is.
While our
visiting to Indonesia there was a Bali Arts Festival. The Bali Arts Festival is
a full month of daily performances, handicraft exhibitions and other related
cultural and commercial activities during which literally the whole of Bali
comes to the city to present its offerings of dance, music and beauty. It was a
very impressive spectacle for us. During the show Emilie made a video that we
put on the internet.
Im Laurens! Im one of the Belgian friends Emilie
spoke about. Like Emilie already said, we are on a trip from East-Timor to Saudi-Arabia, and during
this trip we will be posting articles on our blog.
This week, were in Indonesia.
Today I wrote an article for this blog about politics in Indonesia.
First, Im going to tell some history about the politics.
When I was going for
a walk with Anne, I spoke with a local woman. I asked her about the history of
Indonesia, specially about politics. She said general Soeharto ruled the
country for 32 years. He was a hard man and he did everything to keep the power
in his country. He allowed 3 other politic parties (Golongan Karya, Partai
Persatuan Pembangunan and Partai Demokrat Indonesia), but he gave a lot of
nice positions and jobs to people with a lot of influence, so they make
propaganda for his Golkar partai.
General Soeharto started ruling the country from 1967 until 1998.
You can find a lot more information about him on this link: http://www.answers.com/topic/suharto
Now:
The last election
was Wednesday the 8th of July,
2009. 171 million Indonesian people voted for a new president.
The party who won the elections promised economic growth, a better welfare,
better worker wages and a better energy. The woman said that you can see a lot
of that now.
Later, when Anne and me continued our walk, we asked a local farmer about these
promises, and he said that the government really tries to make her promises come
true.
The Indonesian republic is a state of union.
That means that all the decisions are made on national level. The provinces cant
make their own decisions.
Now,
president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
rules the nation. He is the 6th president of Indonesia. In Indonesia,
the president can choose its own government. That means that he is very powerful.
The party of president/general Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono is the PD (Partai Demokrat).
During our
trip, we saw a lot of propaganda for the president and his party. Miet thought
that elections would be made soon, but they were a year ago. The local farmer
said that its normal that the ruling party keep making propaganda.
The Indonesian
parliament had 678 seats, and 2 rooms. The first room has 128 seats and the
second room has 550 seats.
This is
about all that the people here wanted to tell us.
My opinion: I think there's nothing wrong with the politic system they have now. Everything seems to work well, so I think there's no reason to change. A lot of people are scared about the politcal history of Indonesia. that's a pitty!
I hope you
find it interesting!
Stay tuned
on this blog for the posts about other countries were going to visit
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