The following image was taken from the sliding door of our stateroom.
Enrichment: History of Indonesia. Consider the rich traditions and diversity among the people of the archipelago – Bryan Babcock.
The Indonesian Archipelago is huge, approximately 1.9 million sq kms. The islands have the most active volcanoes on the planet. They have the fourth-largest population in the world and will likely soon overtake the US as number 3. Jakarta, the capital, has a population of over 41,900,000 people and is also the largest city in the world. Indonesia is both huge and dense. The national motto “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” means “Unity in Diversity”. Indonesia is one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world, heavily influenced by Islam (85%), Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
Indonesia has been occupied by humans for at least 1.5 million years. Some of the earliest human remains were found on the island of Java (“Java Man”). There were numerous major empires spanning from 600 to the 1800s. All of the empires traded with India/Asia/Europe over land and also controlled and taxed goods using the Malacca Strait. Starting in the 1700s, the Dutch started a long and lucrative sea-based trade relationship and partially colonized the islands that lasted 300-plus years. After the Japanese occupation during World War II, Indonesia gained independence in 1949. That independence is somewhat tainted by a series of Authoritarian rulers.
Like so many areas we have visited, the Indonesians interacted with both the British and the Dutch. However, these relationships were more commercial than colonial. The Dutch primarily wanted to trade. That, along with the fact that there were numerous significant political Indonesian empires with strong navies established, meant the islands were not fully colonized, unlike Australia and New Zealand.
Enrichment: Never Whistle at Night. Explore superstition in Southeast Asia, uncovering beliefs, rituals, and the psychology behind these enduring practices. Laura Lovelock.
This was a fairly lighthearted presentation on the origins of and a survey of current worldwide superstitions.
Numbers are considered superstitious. In the West, the number 13 is considered unlucky. We learned two new words: triskaidekaphobia, fear of 13, and paraskevidekatriaphobia: fear of Friday the 13th. In Asia, people fear the number 4. Apparently, in many Asian languages, the pronunciation of four is very close to the pronunciation of death.
Colors are a big part of superstition. She noted Tiger Woods’ Sunday red shirt custom. There are lucky and unlucky colors. I wonder if the color purple being unlucky in Brazil and Thailand has affected the fortunes of the Minnesota Vikings (?!?). There must be some mystical reason (other than poor QB play). Just sayin…
Laura clarified why there is such a wide variety of KitKat bars in Asia. The name roughly translates to “Absolutely or surely bound to win.” That is why this candy is so varied, prevalent, and often used as gifts.
