The Media

The Media

The number of newspapers and magazines circulating throughout the country at present is approximately seven million a day. There are 126 dailies, 85 weeklies, 35 fortnightlies, 5000 weekly magazines, two quarterly magazines, 45 monthly magazines and ten bulletins.
There are three English-language dailies in Jakarta. Radio Republic Indonesia, the national radio network has stations throughout the archipelago, with the main station in Jakarta. There are five "Nusantara" coordinating stations, i.e. Medan, Yogyakarta, Banjarmasin, Ujung Pandang and Jayapura besides regional and district stations.

Apart from the state-controlled stations there are almost 900 privates stations, commercial and non-commercial. The orbiting communications satelite has made it possible to spread the television network to cover most areas of the country.

Entirely state-controlled, there is one channel run by the government and another one is privately run although nine provincial stations have some of their own limited programmes. Production of national feature films totaled more than 100.000 titles in 2004.
There is an annual quota for the importation of foreign movies and in so doing, this encourages the growth in the domestic production of feature as well as documentary films. The shooting of films in Indonesia requires a permit from the Directorate of Film of the Department of Information in Jakarta.

Private video cameras carried by tourist may be used freely, except where restrictions at certain areas apply.

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The Mining

The Mining

Indonesia is rich in minerals although only less than half the country's geology has been explored. Oil and gas accounts for a major part of the nation's foreign exchange earnings.
Exploration of oil dates back to 1 871 in West Java but it was not till 1883 that the first successful oil well was drilled in North Sumatra and the first commercial oil field established. Since then there have been several oil discoveries, including those off-shore. PT Pertamina, the state-owned oil company has the sole right in oil and gas production which is carried out mainly by a production sharing agreement with foreign oil companies.

Apart from oil and gas, exploitation of geothermal reserves are being accelerated, coal production is increasing. Copper is found throughout the archipelago. There are also large deposits of nickel oxide, bauxite, gold, lead, manganese, silver, titanium, uranium, zinc, etc.

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The Monuments

The Monuments

Indonesia abound in monuments of the past. There are the temples of the Buddhist and Hindu dynasties; Hindu temples of Prambanan and the Dieng Plateau, the "kraton" (palace) of sultans in Surakarta, Yogyakarta, the Maimun palace of the Sultanate of Deli (in Medan), the Hall of Justice in Bali, ruins of ancient fortresses and museums, mosques and churches steeped in folklore. Graves of past royalty and national heroes are also monuments whereas many war graves of World War II still hold a certain interest.
The main destination areas contain many of these places of interest which are easily accessible.

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The National Economy

The National Economy

The country is rich in natural resources While 90% of the population is engaged in agriculture, oil and gas contribute 70% of total export earnings and 60% of the government revenues.
However, fluctuations in world prices of traditional export commodities have led to a change in recent years in the structure of the economy. Tourism is gaining a more important sector as a foreign exchange earner. To production and growth in the industry, the government has formulated new policies and improved facilities. Significant progress has been made in communications and transportation and since 1976, Indonesia has had its own communications satelite system which has enabled rapid expansion of telephone, television and broadcast facilities to all 27 provinces.
Air and sea ports are being extended to cater to the growing traffic on both domestic and international sectors, of passengers as well as freight.
Besides oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), forestry products, rubber, coffee, tea, tin, nickel, coper, palm products and fish make important contributions to export earnings. In recent years a number of steps have been taken to promote and stimulate non-oil exports which include handicrafts, textiles, precious metals, tea, tobacco, cement, fertilizers as well as manufactured goods.

To meet domestic needs, Indonesian plants assemble various types of automobiles, trucks, buses and motorcycles under licence from foreign manufacturers. Also produced are electronic equipment and electrical appliances. The aviation industry has been growing and new production lines are coming onstream as well its Universal Maintenance Centre for the overhaul of aircraft engines. The aircraft are for domestic use as well as for export. In the agricultural sector, Indonesia has become self sufficient in rice and does not need to import this staple food as it had for years.
Indonesia maintains a liberal foreign exchange system and has few restrictions on transfers abroad, and in general freely allows conversions to and from foreign currencies.
Bank Indonesia, the Central Bank, maintains the stability of the Indonesian Rupiah and reviews the exchange rate in terms of other currencies on a daily basis. The Rupiah is linked to a basket of currencies of Indonesia's major trading partners. The unitary exchange rate allows for fluctuation. With the objective of a more equitable distribution of development gains, the government gives high priority to expansion in the less developed regions of the country.

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The Folk Dances

The Folk Dances

Like most of the performing arts of the Orient dance in Indonesia is believed by many scholars to have had its beginning in religious workship. Even today, many dances are considered sacred or can be traced back to their early spiritual associations. Among these are not only the temple dances of Bali, but also such seemingly profane dances, such as the Bedoyo Ketawang of Solo, performed only on such rare occasions that they are in peril of becoming lost for the lack of younger generation dancers able to perform them.
Dance traditions today are as widely diverse as the various ethnic cultures of which they are part. Nurtured to refined perfection in the royal Javanese courts and princely homes the classical dances of Central Java are highly stylized expressions which have probably already attained their basic movements during the height of the Hindu-Javanese culture from the 8th to the 13th century. From the courts, those dances eventually reached the broad strata of the common people who gave them a more spontaneous form of expression.
In the hands of the people, these dances provided a rich source not only for popular dance dramas, but also for social dances which often display clear erotic overtones, such as Tayuban or Ngibing.
The bumbung dance of Bali which incidentally evolved into the beautiful "bumblebee dance" and Tamulilingan, a creation of Bali's late famed maestro of the dance, I Mario.
Other popular folk dances still display strong magic associations, as for instance the "kuda lumping horse dance". Whereas rigid discipline and artistry mark the dance of Java and Bali, those of Sumatra, Maluku and most of the other islands (one exception is the Gending Sriwijaya of South Sumatra) are characterized by their gracefulness and charm, a distinction which is further accentuated by the entirely different, non- gamelan, musical accompaniment.
The old traditions of dance and drama are being preserved in the many dance schools which flourish not only in the courts but also in the modern, government-run or supervised art academies where at the same time the search is continually being conducted for new expressions better adapted to modern times though based on the old traditions.

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The Performing Art

The Performing Art

From graceful court and temple dances to charming folk dances and boisterous play, the performing arts of Indonesia offer an astounding range of types and styles for the visitor to study or enjoy, reflecting, as they, do, the soul and traditions of the various ethnic groups who support them. Music, dance and drama are very often interwined, such as the ludruk transvestite theatre of East Java and the lenong folk theatre of Jakarta, both known also for their slapstick humor and early Shakespearean simplicity on their stage settings.
An important form of indigenous theatre is the puppets play, of which the most celebrated is the wayang kulit shadow play of Java where the characters are represented by the shadows of intricately carved and painted flat leather puppets, cast on a screen with the help of a torch (nowdays often substituted by an electric bulb).

The puppet theatre has many forms and employs a variety of media. In West Java, for example, the most popular form is the Wayang Golek, using carved and painted three dimensional wooden puppets. Both the Wayang Kulit and Wayang Golek take their repertoire from the classical Indian epics but in Central Java, the wooden puppet theatre traditionally brings only stories derived from popular folk legends revolving around the spread of Islam. There are other forms still alive today, such as the Wayang Klitik and Wayang Kruci, each having its own standard repertoire.

The oldest form of "shadow" play is probably the Wayang Beber, in which the dalang or puppeteer simply unrolls a scroll bearing the scenes and figures of the story while he delivers his narration accompanied by a gamelan orchestra. A popular contemporary form of wayang theatre is the Wayang Wong, is which actors or dancers represent the characters in the story which is presented on a conventional stage.
These are establishments for the purpose of entertainment and are found in many of the big cities of Indonesia. They are a kind of permanent night fairs presenting nightly performances of local folk theatre, local handicrafts and other attractions of popular character. One of the oldest and best-known entertainment parks is the Sriwedari park in Solo (Surakarta) which offers nightly performances of popular wayang wong plays.

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The Cuisine

The Cuisine

The staple food of most of Indonesia is rice. On some of the islands in eastern Indonesia, staple food traditionally ranged from corn, sago, cassava to sweet potatoes, though this is changing as rice becomes more popular. From the surrounding seas as well as from fresh water fisheries fish is abundant and of great variety, such as lobsters, oysters, prawns and shrimps, squid, crab, etc. Fish features prominently in the diet as fresh, salted, dried, smoked or a paste. Coconut is found everywhere and besides being produced for cooking oil, its milk the juice from the white meat is an ingredient for many dishes.

Spices and hot chili peppers are the essence of most cooking, and in some areas they are used generously such as in West Sumatra and North Sulawesi. Each province or area has its own cuisine, which vary in the method of cooking and ingredients.
The Javanese cuisine is probably more palatable to the general taste and consists of vegetables, soybeans, beef, chicken and other varieties.
The Sumatrans generally eat more beef compared to the other regions. West Sumatra particularly is known for its Padang (capital of the province) specialty restaurants found nationwide. Besides the hot and spicy food, these restaurants are known for their unique style of service.
Further to the east, seafood features on the daily diet, either grilled or made into curries.
In Bali, Irian Jaya and the highlands of North Sumatra and North Sulawesi pork dishes are specialities. As the population of Indonesia is predominantly Moslem, pork is usually not served except in Chinese restaurants, non moslem regions and in places serving international cuisine.
There is a wide variety of tropical and sub-tropical vegetables all year round. Fruit is available throuhgout the year. Some fruits such as mangoes and water melons are seasonal, but most of the other fruits can be bought throughout the whole year, such as bananas, apples, papayas, pineapples, oranges, etc.
Coffee and tea plantations are plentiful, growing on several islands, and served everywhere from fine restaurant to small village stalls.

There are several breweries which produce local beer. Bali produces "brem" which is a rice wine, whereas Toraja has its "tuak" which is also known in North Sumatra and other areas. For most people, a meal consists of steamed white rice with side dishes of meat, chicken, fish and vegetables along with a glass of tea.
There is such a rich variety in the Indonesian cuisine that one should sample specialities in each area. However, most common nationwide are "sate" (skewered grilled meat), "gado-gado" (vegetables salad with a peanut sauce), "nasi goreng" (fried rice served at anytime) and "bakmi goreng" (fried noodles).
Chinese restaurants are found all over the country. There are fine restaurants specializing in Continental and Japanese and Korean cuisines.

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