$Unique_ID{COW01722}
$Pretitle{239}
$Title{Indonesia
Chapter 2E.   Religion and World View}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Riga Adiwoso-Suprapto}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{government
education
areas
indonesia
islam
social
early
health
1980s
new}
$Date{1982}
$Log{}
Country:     Indonesia
Book:        Indonesia, A Country Study
Author:      Riga Adiwoso-Suprapto
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1982

Chapter 2E.   Religion and World View

     The first of the five broad principles of pancasila (see Glossary)
formulated in the 1945 Constitution espouses belief in one supreme God, giving
each individual the freedom to choose the manner in which belief is expressed.
Islam, Christianity Hinduism, and Buddhism are recognized as the major
religions in Indonesia, but other beliefs and practices are widely accepted.
The complex relationship between religion, cultural beliefs, and social life
in Indonesia has a far-reaching effect on the political and social
conditions of the country. Religion in many ways defines the daily conduct and
has become the social doctrine for the society.

     Ninety percent of Indonesia's population consider themselves to be
Muslims, but adherence to the faith ranges from that of the devout orthodox
Muslim of the Arab mainstream to that of the nominal practitioner, or "Muslim
on paper only." On Sumatra, where trading cultures exist, are enclaves of
devout Muslims (such as in Banda Aceh, Palembang, and Jambi); but in Java the
religion is more eclectic, having been influenced by other traditions and
beliefs and intertwined with politics as well.

     The belief system of nominal Muslims incorporates Hindu-Buddhist and
indigenous elements into the overall Islamic framework. There is a relatively
tolerant attitude toward religious practice, and therefore new concepts are
absorbed and adapted with relative ease.

Hinduism and Buddhism

     There are about 2.3 million adherents of Hinduism and Buddhism, mostly on
Bali. The Hindu-Buddhist tradition, however, has left an indelible imprint on
the life of most Indonesians. Many aspects of Hinduism and Buddhism provide
fundamental underpinnings of modern Indonesian tradition, belief systems,
social values, and world view. In Indonesia there has never been a strong
dichotomy between Hinduism and Buddhism, as in India. Indonesians have made
selective use of Indic models in the interrelated realms of government,
religion, and the arts.

     Central to the tradition is the concept of the superiority of the person
who has attained spiritual enlightenment. The basic notion of spiritual purity
is that terrestrial hierarchy is a replica of celestial hierarchy. As such,
there is no marked delineation between the temporal and the spiritual order.
The conviction that there is a correlation between strength of inner spiritual
belief and the external universe is deeply anchored in present-day society.
Most Indonesians (and, in particular, Javanese) strive for an equilibrium
between the macrocosm and the microcosm. The goal is the creation of peace and
tranquillity of the inner self and of domestic life. This notion has even
penetrated the political realm, where emphasis is laid on maintaining balance
among parties through consultation and the building of a consensus.

     Peace and tranquillity are achieved by abandoning worldly desire and
emotion and by practicing meditation. Contemplation in order to achieve the
highest level of spirituality is a respected activity. Harmonious living is
desirable; disruption-as in spontaneity, exuberance, forthrightness, surprise,
or loss of control-is undesirable. Proper etiquette and tactful language
reinforce harmony. There is also a high degree of awareness of the importance
of loyalty to kinship ties, which explains the prevalence of nepotism in
public life.

     Folk legends about local apostles or Muslim missionaries are blended
with Hindu-Buddhist practices of spiritual enlightenment. The achievement
of spiritual enlightenment through meditation indicates the superiority of the
person attaining enlightenment. Thus, even in the early 1980s, political
leaders attempted to convey an impression of spiritual enlightenment to
reinforce popular support for their activities. Often, major political
decisions are postponed until it can be demonstrated that a high-ranking
official has received spiritual enlightenment.

     The shadow play (wayang kulit-see Glossary for definition of wayang)
reflects the amalgam of Hindu-Buddhist tradition and animism. Ramayana and
Mahabharata, the two major Hindu epics, remain the main sources for the
scripts in wayang kulit. During the Sukarno era and to a lesser extent in the
1980s, wayang kulit has been an effective means of disseminating the ideas of
the government by inserting the message into a familiar text. It has been used
as a means of conveying new standards of social behavior, as well as such
modern concepts as family planning, by mixing old and new stories. Yet, the
main function of wayang kulit still remains; performances were still given
for religious rituals and at the start of the harvesting period in rural
Java and Bali in order to ask for blessings from the ancestors.

Islam

     Islam in Indonesia in the early 1980s was not the politically unifying
force that it was in some countries of the Middle East. Introduced in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by Indian traders from Gujerat, Islam
failed to replace completely the existing indigenous religion and spiritual
philosophy of local folk beliefs and of the Hindu-Buddhist tradition of the
kingdoms of Java. Rather than replacing centuries-old traditions it
encountered, Islam was absorbed by them and, in being so absorbed, lost much
of its characteristic austerity and exclusiveness. It was not until the
latter half of the nineteenth century that the incompatibility between
orthodox Islam and heterodox Islam became significant. This was the result
primarily of the introduction of the steamship, making it possible for large
numbers of Indonesian Muslims to travel to the spiritual center of mainstream
Islam in Mecca. The ensuing movement that strove, often militantly, for the
return of Indonesia to the orthodox fold and for the creation of an Islamic
theocracy began a division within the society that has grown deeper and
deeper.

     Devout Muslims (santri) are self-consciously oriented toward, and
committed to, the orthodox Islam of the Middle East, whereas the belief
system of the nominal Muslims (abangan) is a melding of Islamic elements
and Hindu-Buddhist mysticism. Being zealous Muslims, the santri are further
unified politically. In the early 1980s they constituted a solid voting bloc
in parliament, accounting for some 28 percent of the voting electorate.

The Santri Pattern

     The rise of the Muhammadiyah Movement in 1912 marked the beginning of an
effort to bring Indonesian Islam into the mainstream of orthodox practices. In
this tradition, a santri sees himself as a representative of the true faith.
Central to his life is the Islamic doctrine and its moral and social
interpretation. He considers Islam an ethical code for modern man and a
workable social doctrine for modern society. His main concern is the
application of Islamic doctrine in everyday life. Adherence to the basic
rituals, such as praying five times a day, is a distinguishing mark among the
santri. To attain a higher social status in his community, a santri must
undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca to become a hajji. He must also show his
total concern for the religious community before undertaking the pilgrimage.
A santri is expected not only to adhere to a set of beliefs but also to
participate in the various social, political, and charitable organizations
of the community.

     In rural areas most of the wealthy peasants have made the trip to Mecca.
Many hajji, owning most of the lands in the rural areas, technically donate
their lands to the pesantren to avoid land fractionalization. Their younger
sons are usually sent to the cities to live with relatives in order to learn
trading skills.

The Abangan Pattern

     The majority of Muslims in Indonesia can be classified as abangan,
having only a vague understanding of religious doctrine. Blending Islam,
the Hindu-Buddhist tradition, and animism, abangan Islam manifests little
concern with religious doctrine and stresses more the aspect of ritual
and mysticism, along with a high tolerance of outside influences. Religious
practice is centered on the observation of rituals as a means to prevent
possible harm by the supernatural. The basic drive for an abangan is to
preserve harmony of the cosmic order. Harmony is achieved by offering
sacrifices to the spirits and powers that inhabit the natural world and by
observing the etiquette prescribed to moderate the social world. Such
ceremonies are held in connection with rites of passage and at every cycle
of agricultural activity. Often, long dry seasons and heavy floodings, as well
as volcanic eruptions, are taken as indications that the spirits and the
ancestors are dissatisfied with the conduct of the people. Efforts are
made to keep them at peace.

     Practices of mysticism, magic, and sorcery are also part of abangan life.
Before any new undertaking, pilgrimages are made to places considered sacred
in order that the blessing of the supernatural will be given. Among the
deities considered the most powerful is the goddess Nyi Rara Kidul. Visits
to the grave of Sunan Gunung Jati, one of the apostles of Islam, are seen
as ways of alleviating worldly problems.

     During the past few years Kebatinan, a mystical form of spirituality, has
gained prominence mostly among government officials and entrepreneurs. There
are many variations, or streams, within this movement. Kebatinan is based on
a metaphysical search for harmony within one's inner self, much as in the
Hindu-Buddhist tradition. It is a combination of occultism, metaphysics,
mysticism, and other esoteric doctrines that profess to offer peace of mind.
It is also a product of the syncretism of all streams of religion. Kebatinan
practices are not uncommon among government officials in conducting their
daily life. Followers of Kebatinan generally believe in the existence of a
supraconsciousness in the cosmic world that is beyond man's comprehension
and controls and guides man's affairs and destiny. Supraconsciousness and the
ancestral spirits can be contacted through meditation to give guidance in
daily conduct or in making major decisions. Many followers believe in the
predictions written by Jayabhaya, a Kediri king of the eleventh century, who
allegedly foresaw Indonesian independence and the rise of Soeharto in the
1960s. Abstention from certain foods or from eating and drinking at all
at certain times is a feature of Kebatinan, reflecting the stress on
freeing oneself from passions.

     Ancestor worship is common among many of the ethnic groups in Indonesia.
The Batak and the Toraja build special houses to preserve and worship the
ancestors of the clan. The banyan tree is considered sacred because it is
believed spirits live within it; offerings made under the tree ensure the
protection of the giver. Legends and folklore relating to the banyan tree
are plentiful, and many of these stories are considered true.

     Amulets of semiprecious stone or papers with Arabic or other writings
are carried by many Indonesians in order to be protected from harm by
supernatural or human beings. These amulets are chosen and given by a
practitioner of traditional medicine (dukun). Only a dukun possesses the
knowledge of which kind of amulet is powerful for a certain person. The power
of a dukun to cure and to perform sorcery and magic is inherited. Dukun
encompasses even the world religions in Indonesia, such as Islam and
Christianity. Even among the santri, amulets in the form of Arabic writings
are a common sight. The Department of Religious Affairs classifies such belief
as part of the indigenous religious and cultural values.

Christianity

     In the early sixteenth century the Portuguese explorations to the Spice
Islands, or the Malukus, chiefly for trading purposes, included bringing
Christian missionaries to convert the indigenous people. Their work continued
in the late twentieth century, even though most activities were fashioned
after the Dutch system. Christianity was centered in the Malukus, northern
Sulawesi, Sumatra among the Batak, and the interior of Kalimantan among the
Dayak. The activities of the missionaries ranged from church services and
congregational organizations to social services, such as running schools,
hospitals, and orphanages. There were approximately 8 million Christians in
1980, most of them Protestant. There is a certain degree of resentment between
orthodox Muslims and Christians. Orthodox Muslims view the Christians as being
"westernized," that is, supported financially by Western countries and
promoting Western cultural values. The resentments were more pronounced during
the Sukarno era and the years after independence when missionaries were still
closely associated with the Dutch-based missions. Like Islam, the Christian
denominations, in practice, blend with some Hindu-Buddhist traits and with
animism. Among the Batak on Sumatra and on the Malukus, Christianity is slowly
replacing indigenous religious practices.

Education and Health

Education

     The diverse cultural backgrounds of Indonesians have greatly affected
educational development, for the varying interests and needs of the
population have hampered the government in defining its educational policy.
Moreover, the centralized nature of the government has often made the programs
it had developed inapplicable to regional needs. Yet, given the aim of the
government to promote unity, it has stressed the development of a single,
uniform system of education. The policy in late 1982 was to spread elementary
education to all levels of the population. In theory, education was compulsory
up to the age of 12; but implementation of this regulation faced many
obstacles, and the policy remained an ideal rather than a reality. All levels
of education were regulated by the government under the auspices of the
Department of Education and Culture.

     Formal education was expanded after 1969. In 1980 total enrollment was 32
million; 81.9 percent of primary-school-age children, 10.9 percent of
secondary-school-age children, and 5.6 percent of senior-secondary-school-age
children attended school. About 1.6 percent of Indonesian youth attended
colleges and universities. In the same year a total 293,000 teachers completed
their training, and 125,000 were being trained.

     Despite enormous strides, formal education continued to face substantial
problems. Although the government has allocated a major portion of its
expenditure for education, the misconception that modern school buildings were
more essential than the quality of education hampered development;
construction had taken the major portion of the fiscal budget. Seventeen new
vocational training centers were being built, in expectation of producing
500,000 graduates by 1984. In general, Indonesian education suffered from
low quality and a curriculum not designed for practical applications. Not only
was there a lack of teaching aids and materials, but also teaching methods
remained static and textbook bound. The teacher's explanations were usually
restricted to paraphrasing the textbook, and a considerable part of the lesson
was used either to dictate notes or to write them on the blackboard. Students
took notes and memorized them, later to repeat them mechanically on request.
Independent thinking was discouraged, and teachers tended to be unimaginative
in providing even simple teaching aids. But the poor quality of education was
often blamed on a lack of sophisticated modern equipment rather than on
teaching incompetency.

     The educational system was directed toward general learning rather than
specialized vocational training, badly needed by a developing country. Primary
education covered six grades. In the first three, the regional language was
used as a medium for education, and modern standard Indonesian was a subject
of study. The pattern was reversed after the third grade in most rural areas.
Many primary schools were overcrowded and in disrepair, and few textbooks were
available. Reading, writing, simple arithmetic, and the study of pancasila
were mandatory. Pupils finishing primary school were usually proficient in
reading and writing and had some understanding of simple arithmetic.

     Regular secondary education was divided into a three-year junior high
school and a three-year senior high school, requiring a mandatory examination
between levels. The highest dropout rate was between the ages of 13 and 16
years, contributing to juvenile delinquency and unemployment, because many
left school without learning working skills. Science was taught with little or
no attention to practical application. English was taught as a foreign
language. Vocational training was an alternative course at the secondary level
but was regarded as less prestigious than regular schooling, connoting lower
intellectual ability.

     University courses often used outdated teaching methods left over from
the Dutch colonial era. In the early 1980s the government was planning to
shift the system from the five-year program modeled after the Dutch to a
system of four years of undergraduate and four years of graduate schooling.
Unnecessary subjects and lengthy hours of studies from notebooks were common.
Government universities were heavily subsidized and, in general, were
preferred to private ones. Graduates of government universities were thought
to have a better chance of obtaining government positions. Strict, and often
frustrating, entrance examinations for these universities were held yearly.
Those who failed either entered private universities or took the examination
again the following year. The practice of classifying government universities
according to a quality standard invited criticism from those who saw unequal
opportunities in education as an important issue.

     In the early 1980s teacher-training programs were in flux, owing to the
constantly changing regulations and plans of the government. Quality remained
poor, and experimental teaching methods were used without a fully planned
program. Most teachers were not sufficiently trained in teaching but were
given theoretical notes about teaching methods. Only a small portion of time
was spent on practice teaching.

     Further improvements and modifications of the curriculum were badly
needed at all levels of Indonesian education to fill the shortage of
professional manpower. The weak educational base and an inadequate supply of
qualified teachers were two of the major obstacles to economic development.
There was an urgent need to improve educational conditions by providing enough
incentives to improve teacher capabilities.

     Muslim religious schools (madrasah) and Christian private schools were
under the supervision of the Department of Religious Affairs and the
Department of Education and Culture. The madrasah emphasized the teaching of
Islam in its curriculum, with considerably less time spent on secular
subjects. From the madrasah the students might enter Muslim high schools and
later an Islamic university.

     Christian schools taught more secular subjects than the madrasah;
enforcement of discipline was based on Christian doctrine. Catholic private
schools were commonly considered as better in quality than government-run
primary and secondary schools. Private schools were financially dependent on
contributions from the parents of the students. Because most students in
Catholic private schools came from well-to-do families, these schools had
greater advantages than others. Catholic schools were able to provide better
compensation for their teachers, who did not need to look for a second
teaching position in the afternoons as did many others.

Health

     Health problems are related to living conditions, hygiene, nutrition, and
the availability of housing and medical services. Poor health conditions are
attributable not only to the uneven distribution of medical personnel but
also to the lack of health education. Many Indonesians have little knowledge
in the areas of hygiene, sanitation, and health maintenance. Whereas medical
services and health planning are under the auspices of the Department of
Health, housing, which is one of the major problems in urban centers, is
under the Department of Home Affairs. In the cities adequate housing is often
beyond the reach of the average citizen.

     Rural housing is usually simple, consisting of a single room made of
materials such as bamboo and timber, with a veranda for outside activities.
The roof is usually made of nipa palm leaves. The house is commonly used only
for sleeping and shelter from rain and heat during the daytime. Most
activities are conducted outside the house. Sanitation facilities are scarce.
Washing and waste disposal, as well as bathing, are done outside the house
near a river or a pond, which also serves as the water source for cooking and
drinking. The spread of disease is traceable to this source.

     The availability of water is seen as essential to well-being; water ends
to be regarded as even more important for cleanliness than is the case in some
Western countries. This is based on the popular notion that water, regardless
of its condition, cleans everything, at least at the surface level. Water in
heavily populated areas is usually polluted to the extent that it becomes the
main carrier of disease. There is a lack of understanding of what hygiene
entails.

     In urban areas the housing problem is particularly bad for the members
of the lower class. Until the late 1970s it was the policy of many private
industries and government agencies to provide free housing for their
employees, who regarded this arrangement as an integral part of their
compensation. They lived in company housing throughout their careers with
the hope of being able to purchase the places they occupied upon retirement
at nominal cost. There was little or no incentive for them to maintain the
premises or, early in their working life, to try to accumulate enough money
to buy their own houses. In the early 1980s the National Urban Development
Corporation (Perumnas) was building low-cost housing, enabling qualified
government employees to purchase their own houses under a low-interest-rate
mortgage plan heavily subsidized by the government. For the middle-income
families standard mortgages were made available, but the down payment
required by the real estate developers was often unreachable for average
families. Thus many still tended to rent rooms, spending most of their income
on luxury goods. Substandard living conditions among the dense housing units
of lower income families, reflecting poor sanitation and lack of hygiene,
coupled with the tropical climate that reduces body resistance, facilitated
the spread of disease.

     In the early 1980s relatively few families lived in Western-style
luxurious houses, emphasizing further the gap between the rich and the poor.
Such houses often became high-rent dwellings for foreigners, because payment
was based on a two- to three-year contract, payable in advance. Monthly
rentals were virtually unknown.

     Malnutrition is a major problem, caused by both infertile soil in some
areas and lack of distribution facilities. In areas where the soil is less
fertile, such as the northern part of central Java, the eastern Lesser Sunda
Islands, and parts of Bali, malnutrition is a serious problem. Rice is the
main staple of Indonesians; if it is not available and if cassava is
substituted for it, the population usually suffers from malnutrition. Fish is
an important source of protein but is not readily available. The problem is
that many relatively abundant food-producing areas are unable to distribute
their excess to other areas because of lack of infrastructure facilities and
transportation. Thus, there may be overproduction in one area while other
parts suffer from extreme shortages. The government in its five-year
development plans emphasizes programs to alleviate food shortages by
addressing these problems.

     By the early 1980s family planning services were an integral part of the
public health clinics of the Department of Health. Such medical centers fall
under the government programs that are supervised by the planning bureaus.

     Apart from modern medicine in rural areas, there are many practices of
traditional medicine under the supervision of a dukun, who usually prescribes
not only herbal traditional medication but also various appropriate spiritual
rituals. He may even practice midwifery, exorcism, circumcision, or
fortune-telling. Traditional medicine adheres to the belief that discomfort,
illness, and disease arise because the victim has done something to disturb
the equilibrium and peace of supernatural beings. To restore order he must
follow certain rituals.

     Traditional beliefs are blended into modern medicine. A person will seek
help not only from a doctor but also from a dukun. The Department of Health,
realizing that traditional medicine cannot be abolished or prohibited, has
programs and guidelines for dukun practices, but it concentrates on changing
the traditional attitudes on hygiene. Major goals are educational-concerning
the importance of personal hygiene, the value or immunization against
communicable diseases, the elements of proper diet, and the improvement of
sanitation and water supplies.

     Major health problems include malaria, intestinal parasites, and such
endemic diseases as dysentery, typhus, typhoid, cholera, and trachoma. The
incidence of malaria, however, and of tuberculosis have declined steadily.
Intestinal diseases occur sporadically, particularly during the dry season,
because of poor sanitation and unhealthy drinking water. Venereal diseases are
more common in urban than in rural areas and have increased steadily;
government efforts, both preventive and curative, are made through the public
health facilities in conjunction with family planning programs.

     There were approximately 1,200 government-run general hospitals in the
early 1980s, many of which were inadequately equipped and understaffed with
physicians but overstaffed with nonprofessional personnel. The medical
system was fashioned after the Dutch colonial system, in which doctors were
automatically considered government employees directly after graduation. The
Department of Health assigned them to its public clinics in the rural areas
for a rotation period of three to five years. There were approximately 3,000
public health clinics and 5,000 maternity centers. Many companies had
established their own health facilities for their foreign and local employees.
Privately owned maternity centers and clinics were booming in the urban areas
and were aimed at providing care for well-to-do families.

Forces For and Against Change

     Government attempts to develop a single, national culture that would
make for "unity in diversity"-together with the impact of foreign influences,
economic development, and population pressure-have promoted social change. In
the early 1980s Indonesia was indeed experiencing rapid change, but it was too
early to perceive its eventual effects. The transition was characterized by
growing receptivity to outside cultural influences and to Western science and
technology as well as by continuing emphasis on nationalism and the
traditional heritage.

     In the early 1980s Indonesia was experiencing a widening gap between
the urban elite and the rest of the population. The gross national product
(GNP-see Glossary) had increased, but living conditions at the grass-roots
level had not improved. Poverty remained widespread, and peasants,
particularly on Java, were faced with increasing economic insecurity.

     The government, conscious of the seriousness of this problem was striving
to alleviate the situation with a variety of economic development programs.
In this process it confronted a serious dilemma because often what was
economically justifiable was not feasible in other terms. For example, the
government was attempting to alleviate rural poverty through transmigration
(see Glossary) programs. The result of these resettlement efforts were often
mixed, however, as new arrivals coped with the difficulty of adapting to new
social and physical surroundings. Peasants were seldom consulted at the
planning stage, and before even realizing what was taking place, they
were faced with a new environment, a new "modern" administration process, and
new and alien technologies administered by outsiders. Some transmigrants
felt they had been indirectly forced to move, while others understood the
move to be temporary and thus expected eventually to return to their own
villages. Other problems arose from the government's failure to take ethnic
cultural patterns sufficiently into account.

     The transmigration programs have, nonetheless, opened many areas
that were once difficult to colonize. Roadbuilding has eased communication
problems with adjoining areas. Among many ethnic groups these facilities
have given them opportunities to expand their fields and to build new
villages.

     Education, one of the important means through which an individual and
his family could attain higher social status, was a major vehicle of change.
Indonesians, in general, considered education (and preferably acquiring a
university degree) a priority for the future of their children, an orientation
that brought rapid shifts, particularly in urban areas. Although generally
below the higher standards of more advanced societies, many new universities,
training courses, and vocational training schools were to be found in the
early 1980s in urban areas. The supply of semiskilled workers trained for
certain kinds of work has increased. Expecting to be employed in their
field of study, however, many refused to work at jobs they regarded as less
prestigious. This contributed to unemployment in urban areas, which gave rise
to social change. For although the traditional family network that was used to
obtain work was still operating, families that once were able to house and
find work for distant family members began to think of themselves first before
extending help.

     Such developments were undermining the age-old mechanisms for
maintaining stability in the community; although traditional values were in
the process of breaking down, they had not yet been replaced by new ones.
The influx of foreign investors in the 1970s had opened many lower level
employment opportunities, but it had also lengthened the work day, thus
causing shifts in the living pattern. Less time was spent with family
members, and less attention could be given to community problems. Even among
the rural people living near foreign-run industrial sites, there were
changes. Younger people of the village, aspiring to work for these companies,
sometimes left their children at home to be taken care of by some member
of the extended family, usually an older one. Many older persons resented
such change because they became uncertain of their own security. The
extended-family system that was once based on mutual reliance was changing.

     Interethnic marriage, once unacceptable by many ethnic groups, was
occurring more frequently, although with a certain stigma attached to it. In
the early 1980s many ethnic groups still insisted that their children marry
within the group. This, however, did not mean that interethnic relations,
at least at the social level, had not increased. The relative improvement
in communication had opened new roads for many ethnic groups to become
acquainted with each other.

     Indonesian society, still in the process of change, would eventually
come to terms with the many influences. To what extent ethnic identity would
be maintained and to what extent a national culture would expand and flourish
were questions that remained in the hands of the people.

                                    * * *

     There are several useful sources that give a broader perspective on the
cultures of Indonesia. One of them is Frank M. Lebar's Ethnic Groups of
Insular Southeast Asia, which gives a brief description on each ethnic group.
Javanese culture is described in Clifford Geertz' The Religion of Java and
Peddlers and Princes. A.L. Becker's "Text-Building, Epistemology, and
Aesthetics in Javanese Shadow Theatre" gives an insightful and interpretative
analysis of the wayang kulit in Java. Readings on other ethnic groups include
James T. Siegel's The Rope of God, about the culture of the Acehnese; Joel S.
Kahn's Minangkabau Social Formations: Indonesian Peasants in the World
Economy, on the Batak; Masri Singarimbun's Kinship, Descent, and Alliance
among the Karo Batak; David Hicks' Tetum Ghosts and Kin; Bill Nicol's Timor:
The Stillborn Nation; and J.A.C. Mackie's The Chinese in Indonesia.

     M.B. Hooker's Adat Law in Modern Indonesia gives a thorough and useful
description of the customary law in Indonesia. C.E. Beeby's Assessment of
Indonesian Education is an extensive study of the present educational system
and its problems. A useful, descriptive book on geography is J. Hardjono's
Indonesia: Land and People. A good source on the complexity of the society
is Arif Budiman's "The Student Movement in Indonesia: A Study of the
Relationship Between Culture and Structure." (For further information and
complete citations, see Bibliography.)