Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Easy life in Solo, Indonesia

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Easy life in Solo, Indonesia

My friend told me that the people of Solo are easy going, without any stress. Most people are able to make a living without having much worry. They work but also have time for family and friends. Life is not as hectic as in Jakarta.

There are factory owners in Solo, but each owner runs only one factory or business. They do not own many factories or try to make a lot of money.

I will visit Solo one day, and see the quality of life there. I was in Jogjakarta last year, and had a similar impression of this city.

8 comments:

kate said...: Mr Tan, what I understand from my relatives, who are Indonesian Chinese living in a small town a few hours from Jakarta, is -

Most of the business owners are Chinese. They make good money from their factories (good relative to their cost of living), but they pay very low wages to the indigenous people.

The indigenous are mostly lowly skilled and low in productivity, and as their nature is not ambitious and they don't "piah" and work hard, they get by with low wages.

In a way, the Chinese become rich because of the "laziness" of the indigenous. I would like to stress that most of the Chinese are not very rich compared to us, but they are rich compared to the indigenous. And of course there are the very, very rich, who buy 10 properties at one go here. That was why there was the anti-Chinese sentiments and riots ten years ago.; June 11, 2009 7:53 PM
Anonymous said...: Hi Mr Tan. I went to Yogyakarta recently. I must say , they have an easy going life without much stress. Although most of them dont seem to be very well off, i believe they are happy with what they have. It's very different from the developed cities where it's always a rat race.; June 12, 2009 12:15 AM
Anonymous said...: Whether one ia happy or not, comes from his heart. Some factors play a role too; for eg, rich or poor, healthy or unhealthy, etc.

Can a poor fellow (who has missed a couple of meals) or one who has serious illness be happy?; June 12, 2009 7:12 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: The advantage of life in Solo and Jogjakarta is the low cost of living and the loss stress in life. People have time for family and friends. They do not have to worry too much. It is easy to find a low paying job and earn enough to get by.; June 12, 2009 10:01 AM
Anonymous said...: Hi,

I have not been to any cities/towns in Indonesia but I guess people who are 'poor' by our standard are basically 'rich' in other ways; they have more time to enjoy life's basic needs namely family life, socializing with friends....which most of us sadly forego to chase after 'wealth'. ;-)Ame; June 12, 2009 1:48 PM
Anonymous said...: I think the more a society progresses the more stressful will its people become. It is unavoidable.

In an advanced country people have more wealth to spare and that creates stress, when it is easy to be cheated. Further, they worry about where to put their money, about the soundness of banks and that is added stress.

If they own a car they have to worry about escalating fuel prices, parking fees, ERP charges and insurance and repairs.

Why is it that people in Nigeria and India ranked so highly on the happinness index? Wealth is definitely not a factor.

Be happy with what you have and compare not with those around you. You will live a much less stressful and happier life.

There is no end to what you want. Just satisfy your needs.

Lost Citizen; June 12, 2009 3:32 PM
Anonymous said...: Two very different outlook. We and the Javanese have different enviroment and mental makeup. To them: 'makan tak makan, asal berkumpur' is the way of life. As long as there is togetherness amongst friends and family they are happy even if there is no food.

We in Singapore do not realise the value of this so much. In a HDB estate, some neighbours do not see the need to exchange pleasantries.

The kampong environment in Java also helps. Like in Marine Parade, the water fall next to blk 79 has no water and no large trees for shade. Sometimes we try to go for high sounding landscape style when a simple shady corner with large trees will do. We often ignore the simple things of life.; June 12, 2009 4:41 PM
Anonymous said...: Well, they bathe in the smelly canal. When you car or bus stops at the traffic light, these folks at risk to their own lives come by your window and either strum a guitar or try to sell your snacks and drinks. I don't think that kind of lifestyle is for me. I prefer to be chauffered all the way to enjoy a weekend at Bandung instead :); June 14, 2009 10:27 PM