Language and Culture Notes

1. The question, Apa pekerjaan Anda? (What is your job?) elicits a job title for an answer. Thus, a response could be Saya guru, or Saya pilot.
2. Pak Iban, which is the shortened name of Pak Sariban, is made into an acronym by associating the words Indah Bersih Aman Nyaman with IBAN. This is not a common acronym but rather a creation based on Pak Sariban’s devotion to cleaning up the neighborhoods of Bandung. As evidenced in this article, Indonesians enjoy playing with words to create rich meanings through the use of such folk etymologies.
3. The selokan, water drainage ditch, is very important in tropical areas with seasonally heavy rainfalls. If the ditches become clogged with garbage or other debris, the area floods and the resulting standing water creates the perfect environment for mosquitoes to breed. Thus, keeping the streets free of garbage so that the drainage ditches remain open and able to direct the heavy rainfall to the rivers is critical for maintaining a healthy environment free of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever and malaria.
4. In this article Pak Sariban is referred to as beliau because he is a respected community member. The pronoun beliau is used to refer to a respected third person such as a teacher, a boss, or anyone high status.