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| Discover Indonesia in Malaysia! |
by Farah 'Fairy' Mahdzan
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| After one hour of pacing around Toys 'R' Us in Midvalley Mall to look for a birthday present for my 8-year old niece and finally settling on a colorful clay cake set, I saw this banner which, understandably, made my heart beat a little bit faster than usual:
 A Discover Indonesia exhibition right here in Kuala Lumpur! Since I eat, live and breathe on Indonesian culture, I was very revved up about this event. I was pretty certain that the exhibition was going to be keren (cool)!  I arrived at Midvalley at around two o'clock on Saturday. The exhibition was held at the mall's third floor in a big hall, situated right next to the massive food court. I had planned to eat first before entering but apparently there was some big hoo-hah going on. I can honestly say it was the really loud dangdut music that made me divert from my path to the food court and into the exhibition hall. Ada apa sih?
 On my way in, I couldn't resist but take a picture of these funny Balinese umbrellas. Lest you have never been to an Indonesian event, I can tell you that you'll always see these sort of payungs placed conveniently right at the entrance of where the event is taking place. I've attended enough Indonesian functions to think that they have some sort of fetish with brollies!
 The scene above would explain the playing of the really loud music: there was a fashion show going on! The female models were among some of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. Men in the audience were sweating and drooling profusely at the sight of these ladies on golden high heels and in tight batik wear. I couldn't blame the men; these luscious models were gyrating (ngebor!) their rear ends so erotically to the beat of the dangdut music that I was half-expecting to see Muslim extremists come barging into the hall to take the women into custody on the basis of morality offences. Heck, they made Shakira look like a well-behaved Catholic school girl. Inul Daratista would have been proud.
 The Indonesian male models were not going to do the fashion show without taking any prisoners either. As the handsome fair men cat walked confidently across the stage, adorning the trendiest batik men wear, you could almost hear the women in the audience sighing in unison, their heartbeats literally stopping at the mere sight of the men's mouth-watering faces and bodies. I was tempted to call the paramedics at one point because I thought I saw a woman falling unconscious as a male model got too close to her seat. I canceled the call after I saw her hastily reviving again after her husband prodded her waist.
 Ahh, all the beautiful Indonesian people! Despite a near miss of a heart attack, I truly enjoyed the fashion show. The models could have been wearing rags for all I know, and I'd still think they were gorgeous. Sigh.
 Now it was time to check out the booths. I was on the look out for odd artifacts. Not so much for buying; I just liked looking and taking pictures. And boy did I discover some really interesting items. Hog Table
 This jati (teak) wood table set was the first thing that caught my eye as I entered the exhibition hall (how could it not have, it was placed right near the entrance!). I can safely say that hog motives are hardly a popular choice among Malaysian Malays looking to purchase a family table set. Toilet Seat Cover
 Anyone care for a really fancy and intricate Indonesian toilet seat cover? I bet if our family guest bathroom had one of these installed, our guests would be peeing in their pants because they'd spend too much time admiring the thing before lifting it up to use the toilet. The encased 3-D turtles are mesmerizing. Reflexology Slippers
 Having back problems? Headaches? Try these foot reflexology wooden slippers. If you look at a pair closely enough, you'll see that each protruding stud bears a tiny inscription of a particular body part. When you put on these slippers and walk around with them, the wooden studs massage the inscribed zones of your soles and stimulate the blood veins of that particular body part, thus supposedly ridding you of the body aches. Wearing a pair of these slippers is a painful affair for me. I honestly can't imagine how some people can call this relaxing therapy. To me it's foot 'painology.' My uncle in Perlis had a similar pair of these hard Indonesian slippers. Once I overheard him telling my dad how the slipper had a vulgar word written on it. I giggled because I knew which word he was referring to without my uncle saying it: the Indonesian word for buttocks means something else in Malaysia, referring to a certain part of the female body. I shall stop there. Brooms?!
 I really wasn't expecting an exhibition of this prestige to showcase such ordinary items as brooms! Perhaps they are special penyapus? 
Surya Brooms must be the sweeper of choice in
Indonesia to have come this far.
Harry Potter would have felt welcomed here.
Him, and the potong rumput (grass cutter) man. Marble Animal
I thought this marble tiger was a brilliant piece of
artwork.
He's a hefty cat at RM700 if I am not mistaken, maybe even more. Wooden Motorbike
I liked this wooden carving of a motorcycle too, it's
really neat.
If I were a motorcycle freak, I'd probably buy it in a minute. Thank goodness I wasn't. I don't think I could have afforded it. Freddy the Batam Guy
 I spoke to Batam-native Freddy (the guy on the left), who was manning the Batam booth. His booth leaned more towards providing investor information on Batam. I asked him why Dagadu, the popular t-shirt brand from Jogja, was not present at the exhibition. He claims that Dagadu was invited to partake in this event, however Dagadu declined. Freddy thinks that the cost to fly in to Malaysia with their products and to set up the booth deterred Dagadu from coming to KL. Midvalley Mall was charging USD$2,500 for the space of one booth. In Indonesian rupiah, that's about Rp.21, 250, 500*! That's quite a bit of money to invest for only a few days of exposure. But I am confident that hip and trendy Dagadu products would have done well among the Malaysian teens who were bored stiff looking at typical old people stuff like kain batik and handbags. Sayang. I also learned from Freddy that the furthest Indonesian participants were from Jawa Timur (East Java). Remembering that I had a friend in Kalimantan, I asked if that part of Indonesia was present, to which Freddy replied no. Agri, if you're reading this, I think you should do something getting Kalimantan to participate in the next Discover Indonesia exhibition in KL. Batam Plants
  Here's a freaky-looking plant brought in all the way from Batam. The yellow tag on it is the plant quarantine tag from the Malaysian government. Aquarium
 If you're a fish fan, or just started caring for fish just because you were inspired after watching Finding Nemo with your kids, maybe you should consider getting an alternative-looking kind of aquarium like this uniquely Indonesian one. Gazebo
Can't afford a real Indonesian gazebo for your house?
Then get a mini one!
Wooden Javanese Dolls
 Ever since I made that trip to Jogjakarta last December, I have not been able to look wooden Javanese dolls such as these without feeling nostalgic. I want to go back there one fine day. The Kapubaten Solok Booth
 This is the Solok government's booth (West Sumatra). Evidently that's what kabupaten means: government, or rather, an administrative area (regency) in Indonesia. Try saying kabupaten 3 times nonstop. Kabupaten, kabupaten, kabupaten. Man, that word sounds really strange, to me at least. Kabupaten, kabupaten, kabupaten. Why can't they just use kerajaan for government like we do here in Malaysia? Hehe. There wasn't much at this booth, mainly just those scarves that you see pinned on the wall. They also had some food items such as kripik (chips) and rendang. The woman offered to sell me rendang, I politely declined. Like as if Malaysia doesn't have rendang lah. I did ask if they sold teh botol. The people there all seemed highly amused at the question. Woman: Mau teh botol Sosro, ya? (Want Sosro tea?) I think the woman thought I was a cheeky Indonesian girl trying to sound Malaysian or something. Please don't say it's my fault; I can't help it if I start speaking Indonesian around Indonesians and if I tend to stutter between that and Bahasa Malaysia, thus blurring the lines of who I really am. It is complicated being trilingual you know. Now I'm thinking Sosro should also consider participating in Discover Indonesia exhibitions to promote their popular magic potion tea in Malaysia. I didn't walk away from the Solok government booth feeling too down though. I saw something there that made me laugh so loudly I almost dropped my PDA camera.
The late Princess Diana in a pink Indonesian shawl! Priceless deh! (Kabupaten, kabupaten, kabupaten. It still sounds weird!) More Umbrellas...
That's it. Indonesians are officially umbrella-loving people in my book. Well folks, I truly enjoyed myself at this Discover Indonesia fair. You bet I will come back again next year. Won't you join me? 
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| WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT Discover Indonesia in Malaysia!: |
#41. Hi there, sekali lagi about Kabupaten…kabupaten… kabupaten (hati-hati tersilap ucap he..he),Nak tambahin informasi tentang Pembagian Daerah di Indonesia.. Moga bermanfaat ye.-Indonesia secara administratif terbagi 33 Daerah Tingkat 1 (setingkat Negeri di Malaysia) yang terdiri atas 30 provinsi, 2 daerah istimewa (Jogja & Aceh) dan 1 daerah khusus ibukota (Jakarta), provinsi ini dikepalai Gubernur (seperti Menteri Besar di Malaysia), hanya Provinsi Daerah Istimewa Jogjakarta yang dikepalai seorang Sultan. Selanjutnya tiap Daerah Tingkat 1 ini terbagi lagi atas Daerah Tingkat 2 (setaraf Luhak) bernama Kabupaten (dikepalai Bupati except di Aceh namanya bukan Bupati tetapi Ulee Daerah, hey I just realize that seharusnya it spelled Ke+Bupati+an=Kebupat ian not Kabupaten ya?) atau Kota/Kotamadya/banda r (dikepalai Walikota). For example : Provinsi Riau terdiri dari 9 Kebupatian (Kampar, Kuantan, Rokan Hulu, Rokan Hilir, Indragiri Hulu, Indragiri Hilir, Siak, Bengkalis dan Pelalawan) dan 2 Kota iaitu Pekanbaru dan Dumai. Di daerah-daerah Melayu Sumatera, Kabupaten sering ditukar dengan istilah Negeri (meski hanya dalam julukan saja, misal: Bengkalis-Negeri Junjungan atau Indragiri Hilir-Negeri Sri Gemilang..atau Jambi-Negeri Angsa Dua) -Tiap Kabupaten atau Kota selanjutnya terbagi atas wilayah mukim (setaraf Laras) bernama Kecamatan (dikepalai Camat) atau Distrik (dikepalai Kepala Distrik, -in Papua region only- ), for example Kota Pekanbaru, Provinsi Riau terdiri dari 8 Kecamatan yaitu : Tampan , Rumbai , Bukit Raya , Sail , Senapelan , Limapuluh , Sukajadi dan Pekanbaru Kota. -Terakhir setiap kecamatan/distrik terbagi atas kumpulan kampung yang bernama Kelurahan (dikepalai Lurah), Desa (dikepalai Kepala Desa), Lingkungan (in Sulawesi Utara only, dikepalai Ketua Lingkungan), Mukim(in Aceh Darussalam only, dikepalai Kepala Mukim), Nagari (in Sumatera Barat/Minangkabau only, dikepalai Wali Nagari), Kampung (dikepalai Ketua Kampung), Dusun dan Batin. For example Kecamatan Senapelan di Kota Pekanbaru, terdiri 3 Kelurahan dan 3 Kampung, iaitu Padang Bulan, Padang Terubuk, Saga, Kampung Bandar, Kampung Baru dan Kampung Dalam. -Dah tamat ke? Not yet baby…Tiap Kelurahan, Kampung, Desa, Mukim, Lingkungan, Nagari, Dusun atau Batin dibagi lagi menjadi RW (Rukun Warga) dan RT (Rukun Tetangga). Jadi… Indonesian complete address would go this long: Doel Sabeni, Jalan Pelan-pelan No.12 RT.003/RW.05 Kelurahan Kampung Melayu, Kecamatan Jatinegara, Kotamadya Jakarta Timur (usually we don’t quote Province name). Panjang sangat ye? Visit kpu.go.id for clearer map of Indonesia’s provinces, kabupaten and kecamatan. Makaseeh ya.. Posted by Raden Awang on 14-Oct-2005, 12:34 MYT
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tq n salam hangat dari Malang 
But sometimes it's just more convenient for me to bring my PDA.
What a way to put it... "nose-bleed material."