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On Being Indon

Last week I talked to somebody and she was furious about one thing, that is being called "Indon". Apparently, she does not like to be called "Indon" by Malaysians. Ha? Yes, Indonesians are often called "Indon" in Malaysia and apparently that term is considered harsh to some Indonesians.

(Appart from Indon another term that is commonly used there in Malaysia is "Bangla", for people from Bangladesh. I don't know how Bangladeshi feel about this.)

To be frankly, I don't feel the insult of "Indon" (in Malaysia) or "Indo" (in Singapore). It's just a name. Maybe I am just too insensitive? I don't know. How about you (if you are an Indonesian)?

To our friends in Malaysia, please don't call Indonesians "Indon", since some people are offended with that term. Peace ...

Comments

Anonymous said…
karena mungkin kita nggak ngerti 'term' nya disana.

anggap kaya' hermione ketika baru masuk hogwart dan di bilang 'mudblood', si harry mana ngerti,...
:P
Ulul Azmi said…
me neither. they are used to calling themselves as malay as well. why the hard feeling?
Anonymous said…
Karena asalnya kata 'Indon' itu dipake buat bicarain orang Indonesia yang jadi TKW itu, Pak. Jadi bersifat konotatif karena kesannya kita 'babu'. Dipakai dalam konteks kita sebagai orang yang strata sosialnya rendah.

Saya sendiri tidak tersinggung, akan tetapi bagaimana dengan TKW kita di luar negeri, bahkan teman-teman saya (anggota Paduan Suara) yang konser di Malaysia pun waktu masuk restoran diwanti-wanti supaya yang kulit Melayu jangan masuk duluan, ntar disangka 'Indon'.
Anonymous said…
panggilan "indon" itu panggilan yg merendahkan kita oom ...

stop calling us indon or i'll get the f4*k out of you malaysians :X
Anonymous said…
jadi inget artikel di berkala soal indon ini pak.

http://berkala.itb.ac.id/?p=74
kangtustel said…
Dulu ada rekan kerja saya orang Norway juga paling risih dan gak suka kalau dipanggil "bule" sama orang2 Indonesia, persis sama seperti kasus orang Indonesia yang juga gak suka dipanggil "indon" sama orang "malays" (baca: malas)... jadi kayaknya ini fenomena yg bukan hanya dirasakan orang Indonesia aja Pak.
Anonymous said…
Saya lahir di Indonesia, cinta Indonesia, hidup sederhana, yang pasti bukan orang kaya.

Tapi saya dipanggil "monyet makan babi" oleh orang-orang yang katanya lebih Indonesia dari saya.
Dan itu hanya karena mata saya sipit.

Yah... elus elus dada deh.
Lebih baik dipanggil Indon daripada dipanggil monyet makan babi.
Priyadi said…
copied from my comment on ong's blog:

from my observation, Indonesians don't mind to be called 'indon' UNLESS they have been in Malaysia or Singapore before. maybe because Indonesians are felt like unwanted minorities there and Malaysians generally don't want to become Indonesians they used to see there (maids, construction workers, etc).

same thing happened with other similar racial designation like 'cina' in Indonesia or 'negro' in north america. regardless of our intentions, we generally no longer call them 'cina' even if that's the most correct term. instead we call them 'keturunan' or even 'chinese'. interestingly, the same thing doesn't happen with the word 'bule' even if it is obviously much more derogatory :). maybe it is because Indonesians really want to become the 'bules' they used to see here :).

with that in mind, you can expect an euphemism to the word 'indon' in Malaysia sometime soon :)
sepertinya ephi ada benarnya,..
jadi utk cegah salah persepsi, sebaiknya kalian(malaysian) ubah salamnya menjadi indo...n nya dihilangkan saja toh lebih bagus kedengarannya :D...
Anonymous said…
Yes, indon is the the way mostly people in malaysia and singapore calling indonesian javanesse especially low-low worker to insult their existence in the land, even the media use this term to justify thing, like anti Indonesia gov.
but when you looking good and stylish in singapore and english well and doing malay accent actually, they wont insult us. So, i can say, indonesian coming from batam, medan dan sekitarnya karena mereka fasih berdialek melayu, mereka tidak pernah dipanggil indon, jadi mostly untuk orang jawa dan sunda yg memang gak pernah mau pake dialek melayu. Karena orang melayu gak seneng kalu kita ngomon pake dialek indonesia, jawa/sunda karena kebanyakan dialek itu dipake oleh para low worker, mereka merasa bahasanya tercemar( karena originally bahasa indonesia berasal dari melayu ), so they bow their anger to javanesse not to all indonesian! so if u've aleady know the scene, i hardly recommed not to use this term. simply it hurts.
Anonymous said…
udah jelas kata "indon" itu punya makna menghina. kalau denger kata indon gue jadi ingat kalo hollywood suka menghina orang hitam dgn "nigger".

gimana kalo kita bilang orang malaysia jadi "moron" ? mulai sekarang koran - koran indonesia kalau refer orang malaysia dgn moron aja, biar skornya 1:1.
Si Thony said…
Sekedar informasi saja, komunitas di dunia maya (khususnya kaskus.us) menggunakan "Malingsia" untuk menyebut orang dan negara Malaysia.

Hal ini mungkin sekali berkaitan dengan aksi-aksi Malaysia atas batik, angklung, sipadan & ligitan dll.
Anonymous said…
Saya kutip dari http://berkala.itb.ac.id/?p=74
Bagaimana caranya supaya citra Indonesia bagus? Mengutip kalimat diplomat terkenal mantan duta besar RI di Australia Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, “If you want to change the perception, you should change the reality first.”
Kelompok Diskusi 4 X 7 = 27
Anonymous said…
aku juga merasa direndahkan LHO.....
kesanya orang INDON itu kurang bagus.
Apa lagi saya juga menjadi TKI di Malaysia pokoknya kalau sudah dengar orang ngomong dengan kata INDON, rasanya gimana........ gitu.
Gimana sih caranya supaya citra orang INDON disini eh...InDoN lagi. Maksudku "INDONESIA" disini bisa lebih bagus..??
Anonymous said…
pokoknya aku serasa agak gimana....gitu kalau sudah dipanggil dengan kata orang "INDON"
A said…
Aku rasa orang Malaysia panggil orang Indonesia ni perkataan "INDON" bukan nak menghina tapi senang dan ringkas.Perkataan "INDONESIA" kan panjang dan susah nak disebut.

Aku pernah juga panggil perkataan "INDON" tapi tak pulak aku nak menghina bangsa Indonesia

Di Malaysia ni ramai orang asing datang cari kerja.Bangladesh,Nepal,Vietnam,
Cambodia,Philippines,Indonesia.
Semuanya OK bekerja.Tapi ada juga yang tunjuk samseng.Rogol anak orang,rompak,pukul orang.
Tak semua yang buat tapi orang-orang macam inilah rang Malaysia benci.Dahlah datang sini tanpa izin(tak semua) lepas tu buat samseng.
CUBA ORANG MALAYSIA BUAT BEGITU DI NEGARA KAMU.KAMU MESTI MARAH BUKAN?

Tiap tahun kerajaan Malaysia habis wang hantar pulang orang kamu yang datang sini.Kami tak minta duit pun dari kerajaan kamu.Sebab kita BERSAUDARA(kata PM Malaysia).Tapi wang yang digunakan adalah wang kami yang bayar tax.

MORALNYA:Jangan cetuskan provokasi.
aku tak pernah nak hina Indonesia tapi orang kamu yang terlalu sensitif.
Amalina Amri said…
I am a daughter of Indonesian-Malaysian couple. even though i live in Malaysia, when my friends call indonesians as Indon, i feel kurang enak. thus i maintain my way of calling Indonesians as 'Orang Indonesia' even it is a bit difficult (too long). But i believe with heart, they have no bad intention for calling like that. and there is no hidden meaning for 'Indon'.

peace
Unknown said…
setahu saya .
arti dari kata "indon" adalah preman .
jdi kita orang indonesia seperti preman dmata mereka .
apa tidak terbalik ?
bukannya mereka yg seperti preman mengklaim pulau" kita dan lagu" kita ?

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