Opinion | Why visitors to Indonesia should avoid using their left hand it may cause offence
When shaking hands, offering a gift, giving or receiving something, eating, pointing or touching someone, among other things, it is considered proper etiquette to only use the right hand. Using the left hand can be seen as impolite and offensive.
These days, when we are hanging out in Jakarta, my girlfriend often stares at my hands. She taps my left hand if I lift it up. “Right hand!” she says. And, doing my very best, I try to remind myself to only use my right hand.
Although I have sometimes mistakenly used my left hand, in general I still find locals treat me in a friendly way. My partner and her friends explain that locals can easily identify me as a foreign Christian based on my characteristics. Indonesian Muslims understand and tolerate the cultural differences between Muslim and non-Muslim communities. So they usually “forgive” the improper etiquette of foreigners, including the use of the left hand.
But left-handed locals might see discrimination if they don’t use their “good” hands, their right hands. I asked my girlfriend how a left-handed local would be judged, and she believes Indonesians have sympathy for those who are disabled, so they would be fine. In most circumstances, she says, Indonesians born left-handed should be “forgiven”, like non-Indonesian foreigners.
Indonesians will have to get used to seeing more outsiders using their left hands, as there is a significant increase in the number of tourists visiting Indonesia, according to MasterCard’s Global Destination Cities Index.
Bali, where the left hand taboo also applies even though the island is largely Hindu, was the nineteenth most visited region globally, with a total of 8.26 million international visitors last year. The number of international tourists visiting Bali in 2018 was actually more than the number visiting Hong Kong.
The number of Indonesian visitors travelling abroad has risen too, and the index ranks Indonesia as one of the 20 countries worldwide with the largest number of citizens travelling overseas in 2018.
But despite the cultural tolerance of most Indonesians, we should remember to use only our right hands in front of them.
In doing so, we can minimise any hard feelings due to potential cultural conflicts. No matter whether we are hosting Indonesian visitors or visiting Indonesia, we should do as the Indonesians do when we are in close contact with them.
I am making progress in adopting the Indonesian idea of proper etiquette, for the sake of my girlfriend and for cultural harmony. By respecting Indonesia’s cultural and religious norms, I believe I can earn the respect of Indonesians.
Right hand, please!
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