Background of Indonesian domestic helpers

Indonesia is a Muslim country which comprises of 13,677 islands; known as “Thousand Islands”. It has over 100 ethnicities with a population of over 206 million. About 95% of Indonesians are Islam while the remainders are Christians, Catholics, Buddhists and Hindus. Indonesian is the official language which is derived from Malay.

Islam are particular about etiquette. When they meet someone they know, apart from usual greetings, they also give their blessings and wishes, with a lot of “God bless you”, “please”, “thank you”, “sorry” etc. Grace, humility and amiability are the virtues of Islam.

Indonesians are famous for their hospitality and modesty. They always dress appropriately; especially when visiting their friends, and they respect elderly very much. Different ethnic groups in Indonesia have various traditional customs and habits.

Indonesians normally prefer Indonesian and Chinese cuisines; and rice is their staple food. They prefer drinks like tea, coffee and fruit drinks. They prefer beef, mutton, chicken, duck,
and fish and also eat internal organs of poultry and prefer boneless food.
The authentic Indonesian dishes usually come with chili or pepper.
Indonesians have particular habits such as enjoying sitting with bare feet (especially in
the countryside). Islam do not eat pork and do not drink alcohol, so do most Indonesians.
Many Indonesians are fun and humourous. However they deem head as a sacred body
part, which represents one’s dignity, thus they abstain others from touching their heads.
All of our selected domestic helpers are from East Java, Indonesia. They are
conservative, obedient, honest and hardworking. They undergo Cantonese training
before they come to Hong Kong; hence, they are capable of communicating
in Cantonese.