Archive by Author
A New President, an Old Election Law Posted by asimonoff on Oct 4, 2014
Indonesian politics’ is on the spotlight again after Prabowo Subianto, the defeated presidential candidate, has refused to concede defeat to Joko Widodo “Jokowi” and became international news. Now, it is another twist of Indonesia’s electoral democracy. The Indonesian House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR RI) passed a controversial bill to scrap Indonesian…
INTRODUCTION – PERKENALAN (Dialogues) Posted by asimonoff on Sep 28, 2014
In Indonesia, when you are introducing yourself, or you are being introducing by someone, usually, you are expected to say your name. Then, at the same time, for men, it is customary to shake hands by taking the other person’s hand in a light, bland-clap and a slow and deliberate manner. However, when you are…
Common Indonesian Greetings (Dialogues) Posted by asimonoff on Aug 31, 2014
Shake hands lightly and give a slight nod when greeting and taking leave of a person. Sometimes, a handshake is not necessary after the first meeting. Never use the left hand to greet or touch someone, as it is considered impolite and unclean. A man does not touch a woman’s hand when greeting her, except…
Indonesian – Travel Phrases and More … Posted by asimonoff on Aug 15, 2014
You might have checked the traveling preparation checklist; momentarily, you sit back and wait for the time to leave for the country and enjoy your vacation. So, what do you have left? If it is your first time to visit the country, you might be curious about how you were going to communicate with the…
Indonesian Alphabet and Its Pronunciation Posted by asimonoff on Aug 1, 2014
The Indonesian language, officially called Bahasa Indonesia, is written in the Latin alphabet; the spelling is phonetically precise, as the words are spelled as they sound. It is the consistency in the one-on-one relationship between sound and symbol that make reading and writing the language relatively easy and simple. Indonesian language standardization The standard Indonesian spelling…
Indonesia: An Overview of People, Culture, and Traditions Posted by asimonoff on Jul 19, 2014
Indonesia has an estimated 17,508 islands, but only 6,000 islands are inhabited. It comprises five main islands, which are Sumatra, Kalimantan (“Borneo”), Sulawesi (“Celebes”), Jawa (“Java”), and Papua (the western half of Papua New Guinea). With a population of 246,864,191 people, Indonesia is considered as the fourth most populous nation, and 58% of its people…