Daily Life

Of course, the daily life enjoyed in different areas of Indonesia has its own specific aspects – and these are apparent in many different spheres of life. In this chapter, I deal primarily with everyday life and work – which set the living conditions by which people live. In Indonesia's large cities, where people from many ethnic backgrounds live together – but in rural areas, lifestyles are much more diverse. Having said that, there are still many underlying similarities in the lifestyles of rural people across Indonesia. One factor which is common to all regions is growing rice – the main crop that feeds the entire country. Today we begin to notice the incessant creep of globalisation into the lives of people living in even the most outlying areas – we see the erosion of traditional life. It often happens that having had their school education, children will move to the big city, in search of a more modern lifestyle.