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Letters: Adapting to each other
I refer to an article titled "What's so Indonesian about Indonesia anyway?," (The Jakarta Post, June 17, p
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I refer to an article titled "What's so Indonesian about Indonesia anyway?," (The Jakarta Post, June 17, p. 7). The writer has lots of information but it's a shame that she doesn't think through it more carefully.
Yes, chilli peppers are from the Americas, tomatoes are from South America, potatoes originated from Andes bla bla bla...so what? It doesn't matter, we are living in this world and we need each other and we share with each other.
But I have never found sop kaki ayam (chicken leg soup with potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, celery, cabage) or sop buntut in South America or sambal bajak, sambal ulek, or sambal balado in America (except the kind made in Indonesian), or lotek or pecel, or nasi rawon or soto ayam. Why not? They have those ingredients right?
In Holland, they sell sambal oelek, tjendol, bumbu rendang, etc, but the taste isn't the same and is a far cry from the nice street food in Indonesia made by abang abang. People in Holland knows that sambal is so Indonesian, even if they go to Chinese restaurant, the Chinese used that word too and "sambal bij (with sambal)?
It is more about how we do things as Indonesians, and we do thing differently. It's logic, every country has their own way to do things, that is what forms their rituals and cultures.
And before Columbus was there, China made an expedition in 1412 to explore the world. And China has brought lots of new things from America, South America. They then went to explore India, Malaysia, Indonesia and even Australia.
With language, all countries have had the same experience. Do you think Dutch language just came from God? No, it came from French, German, English, Spanish - but that is not the point.
The point is that we, as human beings, need to adapt to each other and try to find an easier way to communicate. This article is like a girl saying to her friend, "oh, you are not pretty at all actually, because that blouse is mine, that lipstick is from your friend, those shoes are mine too. in other words, you are nothing."
About that Miss Indonesia, it's more like I eat sambal made in Holland. It's spicy but I miss lots of taste in this sambal. That's it! She doesn't speak Indonesian, ok. She can learn but does she knows how it feels to be an Indonesian? Can she explain that?
F. Bloem
Amsterdam
