
I came across an article by Ecky about how people become bitchy when they see a Caucasian guy dating an Indonesian girl. According to her, and I quote,
Some say that most of Indonesian Girls are looking for money because they are willing to be with 60 years old Caucasian man, these Indonesian Girls are willing to do anything to get a better life and get a chance to travel around the world with this Caucasian boyfriend.
That phenomenon [does] not [belong only] to Caucasian Guy and Indonesian Girl, it also happens with Indonesian Guy and Indonesian Girl. Maybe we don’t see it much between Indonesian Guy and Indonesian Girl is because this Old Indonesian Guy is doing it secretly, because they’re usually married man. We know that some of Old Bapak-bapak pejabat (government officials) married this young Indonesian Girl, but we don’t care that much about them.
When age difference becomes significant, I don’t deny the fact that people tend to have prejudice about the relationship. I agree with Ecky that this doesn’t happen only in Indonesia. However, I’m not going to discuss how people should behave when seeing a couple with rather big age different.
This post is about situations that a Caucasian guy may encounter when he decides to date an Indonesian woman.
General Situations
- Indonesian people will call you "Bule" (Boolay). Some of you may see this as a racist remark. Yet, for most of the time, this is just to identify you from other skin groups as you may do in your home country by calling people from Asia as Asians, African-American, etc. You should not take this too seriously. Trust me, being called Bule has many advantages.
- Many Indonesians have fascination with Caucasians because of the way they look. It is almost certain that you will be seen as a better “product” in term of appearance.
- You’re very likely to get a lot of smiles when you try to communicate with local people. And at this point you may have thought that Indonesians are friendly. Most of the time they are.
- People are likely to think that you have more money. Especially if you dress neat or wearing business clothing. People tend to see you as an important person with class (I guess this happens anywhere). If you dress like a backpacker, people would likely to call you "Bule Kere" (Boolay K-Ray), meaning not-so-rich or poor Bule.
- Many Indonesians see English as language of status. Meaning those who speak it are considered smarter, educated, and belong to a different social class. You might find people that seem too eager trying to communicate with you with their limited English.
- For the average Indonesians, they will call you Mister regardless of your name.
When you’re a Caucasian guy and decided to date an Indonesian woman
- It’s no secret that in many occasions, when a Caucasian man dates an Indonesian woman, she is usually considered not attractive by many Indonesians. So when you try to praise her as pretty or beautiful (in term of looks) in front of your Indonesian friends, don’t be surprised if you get strange vibes or almost-sincere smiles from them. If this happened, it is likely that your date is considered not attractive.
- Many Indonesians often ask question why Caucasian men usually pick Indonesian women that we consider not attractive. Many of us still don’t have a clue why. I guess it’s just the a matter of preference.
- If you want to date an Indonesian woman that many Indonesians consider pretty, ask around or buy local magazines. Don’t mention your target woman yet. If you do, people may say she’s attractive just to be nice.
- Indonesians categorize three types of beauty, pretty, sweet, and attractive. Pretty, is nice to look at and she worth to be a model. Sweet, is not that pretty but you would want to see her again and again. Attractive, doesn’t belong to pretty or sweet, but she has the aura that people feel comfortable being with her.
- When a Caucasian dates an Indonesian woman, people would likely to think that she dates him for money, and he for sex. This view is likely derived from many incidents where Caucasian men dump their Indonesian girlfriends when it’s time to go back to their home countries (usually because their work-contract expires). It’s not uncommon that those girlfriends got pregnant too, whom ended up being single parents.
- Don’t be alarmed that many Indonesian women that “hunt” for Caucasians are gold-diggers, and sorry to say, a lot of them are considered not attractive. Further emphasizing the view of she-dates-him-for-money-and-he-for-sex.
- Only a handful of Caucasians that we consider lucky to get a beautiful Indonesian partner. When this happens, your Indonesian female friends may wish that they can get a Caucasian too. As for your Indonesian male friends, they may think you are a lucky bastard (perhaps not directly), but the jealousy is likely there.
- Don’t be despair when people consider your date is not attractive. When you decided to marry her, people would likely to adore your kids. Because in many occasions, interracial-marriage produces what we Indonesians considered "better-looking" kids. This would likely to happen because your Caucasian gene dominates their looks (remember about our fascination with Caucasian?). Better-looking kids are the product of a process that we call "Offspring improvement". Many Indonesians have this strange opinion, which suggests that our appearance is somewhat inferior than that of Caucasian.
- Your Indonesian wife probably knew the term of "Offspring Improvement" and your children will be known as "Indo" kids. Meaning a cross breed between Caucasian and Asian. From a start, people are likely to adore your kids, and when they grow up, they may have a better chance to become models for ads and actors for Indonesian soap operas.
- Marrying an Indonesian woman does not necessarily mean that you marrying her alone. In fact, you practically marry her family. Don’t be surprised if some of your disposable income will go for the expenses of her immediate family members. This situation is true especially if she comes from a low-income family.
That’s about it. ![]()
I’m not trying to offend anyone by I’m writing this. I’m just trying to share a little bit of Indonesia that I know. Please correct me if any of the information above is inaccurate ![]()
Related posts:
- What Kind of Retirement You Want? About a month ago, I was having a conversation...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
January 11th, 2010
Aditya Fajar 2,068 views
Posted in 





