Friday, July 31, 2009

Bitching Westerners

Westerners pay more for stuff in Indonesia.

A westerner's average salary are mostly many times for than the average Indonesian yearly wage ($2-3k?).

I don't mind people complaining, it's a national past time in Germany for example, and I have lived there quite happily for years.

The thing is, once you hand over your cash, you have no one to bitch about but yourself.

Someone hoodwinks you? You are the idiot! You don't like higher prices, don't pay them, no one is sticking a gun to your head!

6 comments:

David said...

John, once you have tried living in Indonesia, on a wage, not the dollars you brought over from home, I think you will find your comments here to be quite unfair. Much of the time, it is not a choice, but an unavoidable given. As much as I loved living in Indonesia, in many respects I am certainly glad to be home in a country where what one pays for basic necessities is not influenced by the colour of one's skin.

Unknown said...

My comments could well be unfair, I always try to write to get some sort of reaction. In order to try and learn about these things.

---

I wonder how I would have liked Indonesia if I wasn't white. Perhaps if I was African or Chinese or even just Indonesian things would be a lot different.

I suppose what I am saying is that many westerners fall for Indonesia partly /because/ of the positive stereotypes Indonesians have of us.

I find it ironic when westerners complaining about the flipside of those stereotypes.

David said...

Yes, that's true, many Westerners do have it good in Indonesia, and certainly many times we (those of us who live or have lived there) whinge about things which are simply "different field, different grasshoppers" to use a translation of an Indonesian saying. On the whole, however, it is very difficult to go one day without an (another) opportunistic Indonesian willingly making life hard(er) simply because they assume we have a certain-sized wallet because of the colour of our skin. That's what makes living there incredibly frustrating at times. And there's not much you can do about it short of (idiotically?) paying up, or refusing, and whinging in both cases and either leaving with what you wanted or going home empty-handed. :-)

Cheers

Nana Podungge said...

Love to read the discussion both of you and David here, John.

delvi said...

mester this bag is Rp.10.000 only. but because you are a bule the price is $.10 only. take two i'll discount $.15 only deal ja?
hi hi hi hi

oigal said...

Mmm.. To be fair, its often more frustration or disappointment than anything else...Lets be honest the stuff being flogged is most often crap anyway so to have to pay skin tax on crap..is well just crappy..

Would anyone mind if the extra cash was actually used to clean up and restore the local temple..nagh not on your life..

Short term stupid greed... the idiot driver who rips you off and blows the opportunity to enjoy weeks of extra and easy cash...

Best one..sorry no change Mister..Fine wait here for an hour and I will go and get some..

Its amazing that Indonesia has still not cottoned onto the fact that Westerners will actually pay a premium for clean facilities and qaulity products and come back again and again..but thats why they have lost the race for the tourist dollar..first world rates for fourth world crap.