Things you didn't know about Indonesia

Rohan Agarwal
8 min readFeb 1, 2023

Over the years, Bali has rightly been the face of Indonesia to the outside world. But wait, there is more to it. It’s been almost 2 years of working in this great country and I have unquestionably enjoyed every bit of it. Even after being so close to India, I had little knowledge about this culturally rich country. To this date, I have been lucky to travel and live in a few places — Bali, Lombok, Nusa Penida, Gili Islands, Yogyakarta, and Bandung.

Golden Age of Startup Ecosystem

Every 4th person walking in the CBD area would be from a startup or a VC. In the last decade, homegrown unicorns like Gojek and Bukalapak have led the pack in Indonesia.

Today, let’s say, you have the opportunity to invest in the same company, with the same growth trajectory but at different stages. I think of it this way — USA depicts IPO, China depicts Series C, India is Series B, and Indonesia is Series A. Not a tough choice on which would reap your investment the maximum return. India is like a bellwether to Indonesia — business models follow a similar pattern with localized differences and many investors treat it as a market comparable.

I am lucky to be in Indo because of the startup Kargo Technologies. As an X for Y, we think of ourselves as “Uber for Trucking”. Running the corporate finance function, I have been super fortunate to be closely involved in this highly potential startup ecosystem. With Indonesian startups facing their first cycle, a lot of companies would go out of business, and the ones with strong principles will see the golden age shortly.

A Journey of the Indonesian Startup Ecosystem (Source: Midtrans)

Love for Badminton

Indonesia bleeds Badminton. There are around 800 clubs in Indonesia, with each club on average having 6 playing courts. If B is Bollywood for India, then B is unmistakably Badminton for Indonesia. Courts get booked out months in advance with little chance of securing a place after office hours. The average player in Indonesia plays as well as the top 20% of any nation. I have been able to make some great friends during the weekly games and now know the numbers 1–20 in Bahasa by heart.

Top Left: The Indonesian hustle of doing a #plsfix from the courts

An Analogy of the Indonesia Language

Bahasa Indonesia is the national language that evolved from a literal style of the Malay language. Surprisingly, words in Bahasa are similar to a lot of languages across the globe.

  • Hindi — Bahasa itself means language in Hindi. Others include — Raja (King), Kursi (Chair), Duniya (World), Jaya (Victory), Achar (Pickles), etc.
  • Seems like 80% of Bahasa Indonesia is similar to Malay used in Malaysia. The major difference lies in their pronunciations with Indonesians stressing the letter ‘r’ in every word
  • Dutch words are still used today due to colonialism. Dutch would call gasoline Benzine while in Indonesian we would call it Bensin. Pharmacy in Dutch would be called Apotheek while Indo’s would call it Apotek
  • Most of the words are derived from the English language — regulation would be regulasi, prediction as prediksi, protocol as protokol, and Cargo as Kargo :)

Duolingo has been a savior and it is always enjoyable to brush up your skills with the Grab-Gojek drivers. I specifically chose a Gym Trainer who doesn’t know English so that I can “push” myself to get used to the language even in the most common activities.

Boasting my 2022 Duolingo Review

Wholesome Food

Nasi goreng, Mie goreng, Indomie, Satay. Rings a bell? Yes, they all belong to Indonesia and are served worldwide.

  • Rice is the staple. Every city has its own rice preparation, meat, and condiments. My favorite is Padang food originating from the city based in West Sumatera
  • It’s normal to eat Fried Rice and Fried Chicken for breakfast
  • Being a Muslim country, eating pork is treated as Haram. Most of the international chains do not serve pork. Instead of having Veg / Non-Veg stations like in India, there are separate stations for Halal and Non-Halal food
Read “Enak”, the word I use to describe the multiple delicacies offered in ID

Nature at its best

If you haven’t read about Krakatoa, look it up now. In 1883, the largest naturally produced sound was heard all across the archipelago as the world saw its greatest volcanic eruption. Over the past year, I have felt four earthquakes, the amount I haven’t felt in my lifetime before Indonesia. The country lies right between two major tectonic plates which yield frequent volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and earthquakes. Indonesia has around 130 active volcanoes that are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Another reason why the new capital is shifting to the top island with not a single red triangle.

Nevertheless, its raw nature makes it unarguably the most scenic place to travel. Waterfalls, beaches, mountains, volcanoes, corals, inhabited islands — you name it and you have it. Raja Ampat is considered to be the haven for scuba divers, NIHI Sumba holds the world’s best hotel, Komodo has the world’s largest lizard, and Indonesia is the second longest coastline in the world. To sum it all up, it’s the most Instagrammed country in Asia.

Culture

  • People are extremely sweet. They will go the extra mile to help you get to your destination and greet you with a “pagi” every morning
  • Batik is a highly artistic print shirt that is worn formally in offices and weddings. While the world celebrates casual Fridays, Indonesian folks flaunt their fancy Batiks at the end of the workweek. I am a proud owner of four batiks
  • Being a Muslim country, Sharia law is widely followed by banks and other financial institutions. Linked to this way of thinking about money, is the idea that you shouldn’t make money from money. This means that wherever possible, getting involved in interest by either paying or receiving it should be avoided
  • Corruption is a part and parcel of every emerging country. You can ideally do anything to solve everything

Unparalleled Demographics

Before moving, I was appalled to know that Indonesia is the 4th largest country by population, just behind China, India, and the USA, with 70–80% of the GDP and people residing in 3 main islands — Java, Sumatra, and Bali, out of the 17.5K islands. Yes, Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world, getting the tag of being “the emerald of the equator”.

Don’t be Roman from Succession

Talking about size, Indonesia is 4 times smaller than the USA (1x the population) and 5 times smaller than the whole of Europe (2.5x the population). Indonesia is synonymous with density.

Indonesia (Outlined in Blue) vs the Indian Subcontinent

The Chinese community in Indonesia colloquially called “Chindo”, forms just 1.2% but integral part of the population. The relationship between Chinese-Indonesians and Indonesians was marred with generational trauma by the Dutch, similar to how the relationship between Indian Hindu and Pakistani Muslims was blemished by the British. Even after being a minority, 8 of the top 10 Forbes richest in Indonesia are Chindos

Fun Facts -

  • Traffic — Things move slowly in Indonesia. If you think Mumbai, Bangalore, and NY traffic is bad, come to Jakarta. Named the world city with the worst traffic based on satellite navigation data making an average driver start and stop more than 33k times in a year. No honking, no overtaking, it is okay to cover a mile in 25 minutes. Also, 70% of its pollution is attributable to these vehicles, making Jakarta one of the world’s most polluted cities in the world.
  • WFB — Absolutely this scores a separate point in this article. “Working From Bali” was everyone’s dream during the pandemic. I ended up working for 2–3 months on the island when there were no tourists. And oh boy — it was one of the best experiences. The government has also come up with a “Digital Nomad Visa” which allows freelancers to work out of Indonesia for 5–10 years tax-free
  • Flag — Merah dan Putih, meaning Red and white, are the colors of the Indonesian flag. The state VC fund is called Merah Putih fund launched in December ‘21 to fund soonicorns. If you happen to visit Indonesia during August (Independence Day Month), you could see the cities lit up in these colors, and it's absolutely beautiful. A fun fact is that it closely resembles a few other national flags.
  • Smoking — 71% of the male population smokes in Indonesia making Indonesia the highest population of smokers. At least 5 of the top richest people in Indonesia own a Tobacco company. You passively smoke a cigarette if you enter one of the nightclubs in Indonesia
  • G20 Summit Bali — Indonesia was in the limelight recently with all the leaders in Bali as we chaired the committee this year. The importance of climate change was a key takeaway for all nations. Indonesia is the top producer of Nickel in the whole world. The currently coal-powered country is on its way to being completely electric and catering to electric vehicle batteries with its strategic reserves in Sulawesi

To end this article, I am breaking down some stereotypes —

  • Jakarta to be submerged in a few years is a hoax and is more than an Instagram filter
  • Sex for unmarried couples does not hold for the next three years and will mostly get likely be canceled before it is implemented
  • Bali is an island in Indonesia and it is not the country’s capital
  • Road logistics spending is still a higher % than ocean freight in an archipelago
  • Indonesia is not as conservative as a foreigner might think. People wear what they like and their modest attire does not define their thought process

I am exploring and swotting up more every day. I advocate everyone to take a solo trip to Indo and HMU if you are here — eager to share a “Things to do” google list with a local touch.

Sampai Jumpa Lagi

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Rohan Agarwal

Finance @ Kargo (ID Logistics Tech). Fellow @ Alter (Silicon-Valley based VC). Ex-IB. Interested in VCs, Crypto, Fitness, Education, and Travelling