Anti-Americanism in Indonesia?

I’m occasionally asked about anti-Americanism by readers of my travel articles or websites. The questions come from Americans who are considering visiting Indonesia, or increasingly, planning on moving to Bali for retirement. For those of us who live in Indonesia, life here doesn’t seem very dangerous, but apparently the press coverage from America paints a different picture of Indonesia.

Unfortunately, too many people (including some clueless expats who reside in Bali) section off Indonesia into Hindu Bali and the rest of the country which is filled with Muslim terrorists or sympathizers. Fortunately for those of us who reside outside of Bali, the reality is somewhat different. While there is what appears to be an increase in Indonesia in the activity of what we can call “fundamentalist” Muslims, the majority of the folks here are more interested in making a living and raising their families than in trying to establish a state based on Shariah. I’ll leave the discussion of this issue for another post. What I want to address here is the perception that there is a tide of anti-Americanism among the common people.

Sumbawa is an island that is overwhelmingly Muslim, far from the urban centers of Java, and populated mainly by people who work the land in one way or another. The level of education is not very high; in the area where we live most of the adult women wear a jilbab when they are outside of their home. It would seem that this would be an ideal place for an anti-Americanism to develop, but in fact residents are very welcoming of all foreigners, and as the resident American, neither I nor my children have ever been involved in any incidents where our nationality became an issue. Similar to my experiences with Pakistanis when I lived in Pakistan, local residents dislike President Bush and his policies, but have favorable feelings about American citizens. We are often given gifts from our less fortunate community members such as goats, bushels of fruit, etc. The few expats whom I know that live in Sumbawa report similar interactions with their neighbors. The bottom-line: folks in Sumbawa are a friendly and warm as any that you’ll find in Indonesia.