Selamat Pagi
means Aloha in
Indonesia!
Note: All photos are my own, shot
here in Hawaii. Click to enlarge.
According to
" Indonesia
is a vast equatorial archipelago
of 17,000 islands
extending
5,150 kilometers (3,200 miles)
east to west,
between the Indian
and
Pacific Oceans
in Southeast Asia. "
The modern nation
was born
in 1945
with independence
from the Netherlands.
Due to the posts
of my wonderful
Indonesian
blogger friends,
my interest
is growing.
I am learning
that Indonesia
is a sort of
Super Hawaii:
We are a small state,
but Indonesia is
the world's fourth
most populous nation!
Like Hawaii people,
Indonesians are joined
by the sea
living on neighbor islands.
Oahu,
our 'gathering place'
has fewer than
1 million inhabitants.
Java
can claim around 130 million!
that's some 60 percent
of the
country's population.
It helps that the island Java
is approximately the size
of New York State!
Sumatra,
the other 'big island'
is much larger even than Java.
But fewer than
a third of Indonesians
live there.
As in Hawaii,
outer areas of the archipelago
sometimes feel
misunderstood
and mismanaged
by a government
all the way over
on Java
(or Honolulu),
The Moluccas.
The island of Bali,
Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo),
Sulawesi,
and the Indonesian part of
New Guinea
(known as Papua or Irian Jaya)
are also
INDONESIA.
We Hawaii people
are used to ethnic
and cultural diversity,
but we are relatively
homogenous
when you consider
Indonesia's
more than 580 languages
and dialects!
Thirteen of those,
boast more than
one million speakers.
Today I saw
an absorbing film:
"Position Among the Stars"
filmed with a real
Indonesian family.
The very human stories
of family, aging,
making a living,
coming of age,
living with momentous
change,
all in a setting
so very different
yet so familiar
quite touched my
heart.
I highly recomend
that you view the film
if you can.
Currently
it is running
on HBO.
A 'Trailer' for the film
is below.
Here are a few Indonesian [Malay] words
that we use in English everyday:
Ketchup,
Bamboo
Mango
Cockatoo
Orangutan
Sarong
and our friend
Gecko.
Thanks for visiting!
Warmly, cloudia
Warmly, cloudia
