My husband Tim has been reading the world-famous detective novels of Italian writer Andrea Camilleri.

The stories revolve around Inspector Salvo Montalbano, a fractious but astute detective who lives in the fictional town of Vigata in Sicily, the triangular “football” island at the end of the Italian boot, famous for its rugged beauty and the delicious local cuisine that Montalbano loves so much.

Camilleri’s whimsical books invariably involves politics, corruption and sex, but that’s only to be expected, given that Sicily is also home to the Cosa Nostra, the notorious mafia.

As he reads, Tim often shares snippets of scenes and whip-smart dialogue from the books, as well as Camilleri’s evocative accounts of the delicious Sicilian dishes that Montalbano cannot resist wolfing down. I was happy to listen because I love things Italian having lived there from 1978 to 1981, and in the course of our discussions Tim and I came to the conclusion that Indonesia and Italy are in fact very similar. Indonesia, we decided is, in fact, a sort of tropical Italy — minus the hand gestures!

After all, Italians are known to be passionate and emotional people, and so are Indonesians. It is one of the great ironies of history that Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch, cold-blooded Northern Europeans who regard emotions as an unwanted embarrassment. Not that I’m for colonization, but if we had to be colonized, it would have been more fun if it had been by the Italians. I’m being facetious of course — I’m sure the Ethiopians and Libyans didn’t think mustard gas was much fun at all!

Just take la famiglia or keluarga (the family), for example. Both Indonesians and Italians traditionally had big families, with la mama or ibu ruling the roost: She’s not just a person, she’s all-embracing (literally!). Patriarchy or no patriarchy, when it comes to the family, it’s mum who decides.

Nowadays, the birth rate has fallen a lot in both Italy (minus growth!) and Indonesia (2.1, replacement level), thanks to urbanization, more women working and, in Indonesia, a successful family-planning program. But this hasn’t meant a decline in hanky-panky. In fact, that is another thing the two countries share: They’re both obsessed with sex! Religious leaders in both places can continually condemn sexuality (as well as birth control and abortion) but it never seems to stop anyone (including some of the religious leaders).

Everyone knows elegance, art and beauty is in the Italian blood, so it’s no coincidence that Rome and Milan are global centers for art, design and fashion, and Armani, Prada and Versace are household names. Sure, Indonesia hasn’t quite reached that level of international acclaim, but it can’t be denied that we have a real sense of aesthetics, style and fashion. Our designers are finally being recognized for this in America and Europe — and even in Italy.

Indonesia’s motto is “Unity in Diversity”, not surprising, with some 17,000 islands and 300 ethnic groups. But Italy also spans the Alps to the shores of Sicily, and like Indonesia with its Papua issue, Italy is suffering from threats of fragmentation led by the “Lega Nord” who want regional autonomy, and at times, advocate secession.

And don’t forget honor and dignity, either. If an Italian feels slighted, watch out. That’s true in Indonesia too, and in both countries they’re not beyond resorting to knives and guns. Italy may have its mafia, but Indonesia has also been a preman (gangster) country par excellence since its inception. Preman exist at all levels of society, and the involvement of state officials in prostitution, pornography, drugs, gambling rackets and violent enforcement is an open secret.

In fact, both Italy and Indonesia suffer corruption to a degree that makes them notorious internationally. Both have long struggled with organized crime, often linked to politics. Both have dysfunctional legislatures, and politicians routinely go to jail for corruption in both countries.

Yep, everyone in Italy and Indonesia is against corruption, it seems … Until they are offered a bribe.

Perhaps that’s why judges have been targeted in both countries. Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellini were both murdered for prosecuting the Sicilian Mafia, and Tommy Soeharto was found guilty of paying a hitman to kill Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, a Supreme Court judge who found him guilty of graft.

Let’s not forget our leaders either. Both countries had charismatic dictators who wore great uniforms, loved sex and liked vivere pericoloso (living dangerously). Sukarno — who borrowed that phrase from Mussolini — suffered an ignoble end under house arrest, but at least he was better off than Mussolini, who was shot dead and hung upside down in the Piazza Loreto in Milan with his last mistress. Well, that’s what you get for destroying a nation and inspiring guys like Hitler!

Then there’s the current Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, a billionaire tycoon with extensive media interests who has been accused of fraud. We don’t have an official prime minister in Indonesia, but we’ve just acquired a de facto one (also a billionaire tycoon with extensive media interests, whose companies have been accused of tax evasion).

So despite the surface differences and the hemisphere between us, maybe our two countries aren’t so far apart after all. That’s why I’ll mark Italian National Day today by saying to all of my friends from Indonesia-in-the-Mediterranean, “Le mie congratulazione per il sessantaquatressimo anniversario della Republika Italiana” (Congratulations on the 64th anniversary of the Italian Republic).


The writer (www.juliasuryakusuma.com) is the author of Julia’s Jihad.

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