Quiz – Indonesian Culture
This quiz is for the students at my partner school in the United States – the gifted 4th and 5th graders at San Antonito School, New Mexico. It reflects my own personal experience in my own little corner of Indonesia and does not reflect any official position of the people of the United States, the people of Indonesia or anyone else.
There may be more than one right answer. I have put the answers in after every 5 questions so you can just keep going and not have to scroll down.
1) How many people can ride a motorcycle in Indonesia?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
E) 5
2) What is the speed limit?
A) You must obey the posted speed limit.
B) You must be slow and cautious.
C) There is no speed limit.
3) You may but a baby in the basket of a bicycle and drive it on a busy street
A) Never
B) Only if the baby will not fall out.
C) Any time you want
4) If you wake up and there is a 2 inch cockroach crawling on your chest you should
A) Scream
B) Think of the Indonesian word for help
C) Squish the cockroach
D) Gently put the cockroach outside
5) Muslims are required to pray how many times a day?
A) Three times a day
B) Five times a day
C) Once a day
D) Once a week
E) Whenever they want
1E I often see 5 people on a motorcycle: Father in front with a child on his lap, Mother in back with a child on her lap and a baby tied to her back with a sarong.
2C There is no speed limit that is posted on the roads.
3C I often see parents carrying children in baskets on their bicycles.
4C This is an ethical question. I can’t tell you what you should do; I can only tell you what I did. Two nights ago I woke up and felt something crawling on me. I swatted my chest really hard, then grabbed my nightgown and the bug in my fist and squeezed it as hard as I could. Then I walked over and dumped the dead 2 inch cockroach out the window and put on a different nightshirt and went back to sleep.
5B Muslims are required to pray 5 times a day. They can pray more if they want to.
6) Muslims pray
A) Quietly to themselves
B) Sitting in a quiet place
C) Loudly while they kneel at a mosque
D) In Arabic while they stand, sit, bow forward and put their heads on the ground
7) How many islands does Indonesia have?
A) 17
B) 170
C) 1700
8) Which one is NOT an island in Indonesia?
A) Java
B) Bali
C) Papua
D) Fuji
E) Kalimantan
9) Where are Komodo dragons found?
A) The island of Bali
B) The island of Java
C) The island of Komodo
D) A tiny island near Flores
E) The are mythical and do not exist
10) At what age do girl children wear a Muslim jilbab / headscarf?
A) 1 year old
B) 5 years old
C) 8 years old
D) 12 years old
E) Whenever they want
6D Muslims pray in Arabic while they stand, sit, bow forward and put their heads on the ground.
7C Indonesia has approximately 1700 islands.
8D Fuji is not an island in Indonesia, it is East of Australia. Java, Bali, Papua and Kalimantan are all islands in Indonesia.
9D Komodo dragons are found on a tiny island near the island of Flores, in Indonesia.
10 A,B,C,D and E I have seen small girls 1 year old with the jilbab and all other ages too. Some parents let their girls choose when they want to start, some tell them when to start.
11) How do most students get to High School?
A) Walk
B) Ride a bike
C) Ride a motorcycle
D) Take a car
12) What is the life expectancy in Indonesia? Hint, in America it is approx. 80 years old
A) 85 years
B) 75 years
C) 65 years
13) Ducks are
A) Free to walk wherever they want
B) Herded from place to place by a Shepard - Duck herder with a long stick.
14) Chickens are
A) Free to walk wherever they want
B) Kept in a cage
15) Rabbits are
A) Free to walk wherever they want
B) Kept in a cage
11C Most of the students at my High School ride a motorcycle to school.
12C People live for an average of 65 years in Indonesia. I am now 62. Teachers at my school are required to retire at age 60.
13B Ducks are herded from place to place by a Shepard - Duck herder with a long stick with plastic tied to the end of it. They can herd about 50 – 100 ducks at a time.
14A & B Most village chickens are free to walk around. Chickens produced at big chicken farms are stacked many layers high in little cages.
15B Most rabbits are kept in cages but this morning I saw 2 running free. I think they escaped.
16) How many times a day do people in Indonesia eat rice?
A) 1 time
B) 2 times
C) 3 times
17) On Sunday morning, most children
A) Go to church / mosque
B) Watch cartoons on TV
C) Go for a walk with their friends
18) French fries are usually eaten
A) Cold with catsup
B) Hot with catsup
C) Cold with no catsup
D) Hot with no catsup
19) In Indonesian, Guru means
A) A spiritual teacher
B) A teacher
C) A type of native food
20) If you rent a motorcycle you will be given
A) Instructions on how to drive it
B) A driver who will sit in front of you
16C Indonesians eat rice 3 times a day. If you eat a large meal without rice, it’s called a snack, not a meal.
17C On Sunday most children get up early, just as the sun is coming over the horizon and go for a walk. The most common day to go to the mosque is Friday when men and boys go for prayers at the middle of the day.
18A My ibu-mama makes me French fries often, because she knows I really like them. She always serves them to me cold with catsup.
19C In Indonesian guru means teacher. In India it means a spiritual leader.
20B We are not allowed to ride on motorcycles. They are the most common form of transportation. People rent them with the driver who takes them where they want to go, kind of like a taxi service.
21) It is okay to pick your nose in public
A) True
B) False
22) The most common greeting when someone sees you walk by is
A) Hello
B) Assulamu alaikum, the Arabic prayer
C) Where are you going?
23) The polite thing to do when you go into someone’s house is
A) Take food with you
B) Take off your shoes before you go in
C) It is not polite to go into someone’s house
24) At the start of each class the students
A) Stand and greet the teacher
B) Sit and wait for the teacher to begin the prayer in Arabic
C) Say “Hello, Oma.”
25) “Oma” means
A) Grandmother
B) Teacher
C) Then name Colleen roughly translated in Indonesian
21A It is okay to pick your nose in public. People do it all the time. Just like we would wipe the “sleep” out of our eyes, here, they wipe the goo out of their noses.
22C For me the most common thing people ask me is, “Where are you going?” My most common answer is, “Walking.” Which indicates that I am walking for exercise without any particular destination.
23B The polite thing to do when you go into someone’s house is to take off your shoes before you go in. It is polite to eat and drink their food. People sometimes invite you in but don’t really expect that you will come in but they are honored when you do.
24B At the start of each class the students sit and wait for the teacher to begin the prayer in Arabic.
25A Oma means Grandmother.
26) The prayer times for Muslims are
A) 6am, 12 noon, 3pm, 6pm and 9pm
B) 12 noon, 3pm, 5:30pm, 8pm and 4am
C) Approximately11:37am, 3:03pm, 5:37pm, 7:13pm and 3:53am
27) The royal colors of East Java are
A) Purple and gold
B) Green and silver
C) Brown and yellow
28) Most mosques are
A) Green
B) Red
C) Blue
D) Made of natural stone
29) The Indonesian flag is
A) Red and white
B) Red, white and blue
C) There is no national flag
30) Most children sleep in bed with their parents
A) Till they are 3 month old
B) Till they are 1 year old
C) Till they are 5 years old
D) Till they are 10 years old
E) They don’t sleep in bed with their parents.
26C The prayer times change by a minute every few days. They are calculated based on the time of sunset and when the first thread of light is seen in the dark morning sky. The calendar for my school lists the most common 7 prayer times, although only 5 are required. I don't know why the first prayer is listed as the one at 11:37am.
27C The royal colors of East Java are brown and yellow.
28A Most mosques are green.
29A The Indonesian flag is red for bravery and white for virtue.
30D Most children sleep in bed with their parents till they are 10 years old. At least that’s what my language and culture teacher told us was common.
31) Most families have how many children?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 5 or more
32) The proper way to greet your teacher is
A) Politely say, “Hello, teacher.”
B) Take her hand and press it to your forehead if you both are female or both male
C) Bow and put your hands together with fingers pointed upward
D) Students do not generally greet their teachers.
33) For PE / Gym class most girls wear
A) Pants, long sleeve shirt and jilbab / headscarf
B) The regular school uniform – long skirt, long sleeve shirt and jilbab / headscarf
C) Shorts, short sleeve shirt and no head covering
D) Shorts, short sleeve shirt and jilbab / head covering
34) If you are sick with something like a cold some one will usually
A) Take a coin and rub in on your back so that it makes long red stripes
B) Do a special dance to make you feel better
C) Sing a special song designed to heal you
35) Children drink out of baby bottles till
A) They are about 1 years old
B) They are about 5 years old
C) They do not drink out of baby bottles, their mother’s nurse them
31 B Most families have 2 children. There is a national campaign – Two is Enough – to limit family size because the island of Java is the most densely populated on the planet.
32B &C The proper way to greet your teacher is to take her hand and press it to your forehead if you both boys or both girls or bow and put your hands together with fingers pointed upward if you are of different sexes. Boys shouldn’t touch girls and vice versa.
33A For PE / Gym class at my school most girls wear pants, long sleeve shirt and jilbab / headscarf.
34A If you are sick with something like a cold some one will usually take a coin and rub in on your back so that it makes long red stripes. At least that’s what they do in my family.
35B Mothers generally nurse their babies for 1 or 2 years, but all during that time they are given bottles and they continue to drink out of a bottle until they are about 5 years old. At least that’s what I’ve seen. My 1st Ibu-mama had a new grandbaby and she would let the baby nurse on her, even though there was no milk, kind of like a pacifier.
36) If you go into a restaurant and see toilet paper it will usually be
A) On the table
B) In the bathroom
37) A favorite activity that high school students engage in is
A) Playing with a Rubik’s cube – called a revenge cube in Indonesia
B) Standing together with girls holding each others hands
C) Marbles
D) Jump rope
38) Which are the animals that a Muslim may NOT eat
A) Bats
B) Pigs
C) Dogs
D) Cows
39) When one of my students sees a dog it
A) Determines if the dog is friendly and pats it
B) Immediately goes away from the dog and watches to see if the dog will bite
C) Tells an adult who calls the dog catcher
40) Java, the island I live on, is about the size of
A) England
B) The United States
C) A large city in America
36A If you go to a restaurant and see toilet paper, it will usually be on the table. People tear off pieces and use them like napkins. The plumbing system in Indonesia is not designed for using toilet paper. People wash off with water.
37A&B A favorite activity that high school students engage in is playing with a Rubik’s cube – called a revenge cube in Indonesia and standing together with girls holding each others hands.
38A, B &C Muslims may not eat pigs, bacon or any pork products. They also are forbidden to have dogs, for food or pets, unless they have an excellent reason, like they need a dog to protect their farm. Also, they are not allowed to eat anything that has fangs: bats, snakes, etc. They can eat cows and beef. Hindus on the island of Bali do not eat cows, because they are considered to be sacred animals.
39B When one of my students sees a dog it immediately goes away from the dog and watches to see if the dog will bite. When I asked them to write stories about an important event in their lives, many of them wrote about being chased or bitten by a vicious dog. Generally, only Christians have dogs. I don’t know if there are dog catchers on Java.
40A Java, the island I live on, is about the size of England.
41) How many languages are spoken in Indonesia?
A) One – Indonesian
B) Five main languages
C) 731 languages
42) How many languages do the 10th graders at my High School study each week?
A) 1 - Indonesian
B) 2 - Indonesian and English
C) 3 - Indonesian, English, and Arabic
D) 4 - Indonesian, English, Arabic and French.
E) 5 – They have a choice and can pick Indonesian plus 1 or 2 other languages.
43) About 10% of all plant species in the world are found in Indonesia.
A) True
B) False
44) Indonesia is the world’s largest plywood exporter
A) True
B) False
45) The cost of a 4 hour train ride from my city to Surabaya is
A) 60 cents
B) $6.00
C) $60.00
D) $600.00
41C 731 different languages are spoken in Indonesia. Most of my students speak high, low and medium Javanese at home and with friends. High is the most respectful. There is a super high level which is used for ceremonies and most people can’t speak it but recognize when it is being spoken. Because there were so many different languages, when the country was unified, they developed one national language, Indonesian, and that is the language that is taught when children start school.
42D The 10 the graders at my school must learn Indonesian, English, Arabic and French. Students are not given choices about what subjects they study. Every 10th grader takes the same subjects. Every 11th and 12th grader takes the required subjects. There are no options. Once a week, 10th and 11th grades are free to go to the “club” that they signed up for at the beginning of the year: English club or Journalism club, etc.
43A True. About 10% of all plant species are found in Indonesia. It has a very high bio diversity.
44A True. Indonesia is the world’s largest exporter of plywood.
45A The cost of a 4 hour train ride is 60 cents. Train rides are the cheapest way to get around Indonesia. The cheap trains are not air conditioned and there are no assigned seats. Sometimes you need to stand. People bring lots of luggage, shopping and animals with them on the trains. It’s a fun, crowded, sweaty experience
46) Fried chicken is usually eaten at
A) Breakfast
B) Lunch
C) Dinner
47) Eggs are usually eaten at
A) Breakfast
B) Lunch
C) Dinner
48) Fried tofu is usually eaten at
A) Breakfast
B) Lunch
C) Dinner
D) As a snack
49) How many kinds of bananas are in Indonesia
A) 3
B) 5
C) 10
D) More than 20
50) Tropical forests cover what percentage of Indonesia?
A) 75%
B) 50%
C) 25%
D) 5% - Indonesia is so densely populated that the area is used for growing rice.
46A B & C Fried chicken is eaten all meals
47A B & C Eggs are eaten at all meals
48 A B C &D Fried tofu is eaten at all meals and snacks too.
49 – I don’t know the answer. My guess is D – I’ve seen so many different kinds of bananas, maybe someone can look it up and tell me how many kinds of bananas are in Indonesia.
50A Tropical forests cover 75% percentage of Indonesia. At least that’s what it says on the fact sheet that the Indonesian Consulate gave us.
Remember all these answers are NOT official, they are just things that I've observed and found interesting.
Collins Family July 2009 
