On Culture: Philippines and Indonesia

When I was young, I dreamed of gaining my independence from my parents. I want to take hold of my freedom. 

Now I am 28 years old and a first timer in an foreign country, in a sense yes I am independent but to some sort it is not like that. 

Since we are here in Jambi, Indonesia it is hard for us to visit the whole place. Primarily, the place is a province and not that easily accessible. 

1 You need a car for a transportation. Unlike in the Philippines, even though you do not have a car or motorcycle but at least there are public vehicles which you can ride. Those public vehicles will take you where you want to go. 

2. Not everyone speaks English. Whenever we are doing our errands we have a tour guide. The tour guide will serve as our translator and make sure as well that we have a fair price. Once they know that you are not a local the price tags will increase. 

On the other hand, the culture between the Philippines and Indonesia are not that too complicated. 

Since the second settlers in the Philippine shores are Indones (Indonesians) so the culture and sonme words are the same. 

Here are some sample words with same meaning:

Atas- taas, up

Alis- pilik mata, eye lashes 

Ampat-apat, four 

Bahu- baho, smelly

Bawa- baba, lower or down 

Buka-buka/s, open 

Cinta- sinta, love or lover 

Dua-  dalawa, two 

Informasi- information 

Lima- lima, five 

Komunikasi-communication 

Kulit- balat, skin 

Mobili- bili, buy

Nama -pangalan, name

Nam- anim, six 

Pitu-pito, seven 

Ribu-libo, thousands 

Sapulu-sampu

Siyam- siyam, nine

Timbang- timbang, weight 

Tiga- three

Tulung- tulong, help 

Rambut- buhok, hair 

Utang-utang, debt 

Walu-walo, eight 

Different meaning but same spelling:

Lola- very late

         - Filipino: Grandmother 

Lolo- stupid

        - Filipino : Grandfather 

Through this experience I am able to practice trans-cultural nursing.  It teaches me to appreciate and study their culture.

The food here also had a resemblance with the Filipino dish. Is just that the Filipino dish is not spicy. 

Since it is close to the Philippines, the set-up of toko (store or karienderya) is the same. Even fish balls, kikiam and squid balls are popular street food in my mother country, Indonesia also has, it is called pempek. 

In terms of money, there currency starts from higher digit of Rp. 1,000.00. Lower than one thousand has no value. Whereas in  the Philippines the counting of money begin from the smallest and above, from Php 1.00 to 1,000,000.  

Other than that, corruption. I think it is already given in any government. The only difference is which is more rampant.

Though the two countries have a Muslim population here there are understanding between religions. Muslims respect the holidays of Christians and Buddhists. 

Even in the Philippines the cultures from  America, China, Japan and Spain are also adapted. Here there is a sign that the influence of Dutch has a strong impact in their society. The way they construct their houses have a mix influence of China-Dutch. For the Chinese influence, the lower part of the house is made into a business and upper part of the house is the main house. For Dutch, the way construct their windows. It is elongated like a rectangular shape and the buildings are all constructed side by side and they have a narrow appearance in front view. 

 

Indonesia is also conquered by the Europeans, Dutch in the colonialism period but there are no signs that the inhabitants intermarried with the Europeans. Filipinos, on the other hand, intermarried and the offspring that are produced dominantly seen in the society. Here those who are from Chinese lineage are beautiful than the locals. Ever since, I got here they called me Chinese. They do not want to believe that I am from a Spanish-Chinese. They noticed it immediately. In the Philippines, it is usual so the people don not give a damn. 

So when the plate tectonics drifted apart probably God has a plan. Different cultures will teach you how to adjust and appreciate the human race that binds as all.