- Indonesian people prefer to stay indoors and don’t like getting tanned
This could explain why Indonesian people are crazy with shopping malls, especially those from Jakarta. There’s a few reasons to this:
First – shopping malls in Indonesia are air conditioned. If you live in Indonesia or have been to Indonesia, you know that because of it’s geographic location, Indonesia has a hot and humid weather with an average of 30+ degree celcius which means that it makes you sweat easily and you might need to shower several times a day.
Second – there is this notion that in Asia that if you are tanned, it means that you have been working hard in the field to provide for yourself and your family which indicates that you come from a lower socio-economical background.
Third – it would make perfect sense to stay indoors, seeing that the air is quite polluted especially in bigger cities like Jakarta.
Photo of Bundaran HI, Jakarta Pusat. Courtesy of: theprashanta.wordpress.com
Courtesy of: www.tagged.com
- Indonesian people don’t like the beach and if they do, they swim nearly fully covered
Besides the fear of getting tanned and to avoid being sweaty, Indonesia also has the highest Muslim population in the world so modesty is king. Swimming with almost no clothes on, i.e: in a bikini for girls is socially banned in the most part of Indonesia. Unless these places are popular among tourists like Bali.
- The whiter you are, the more appealing you are
Being white as opposed to having a tan in Asian culture is considered as more attractive and it is believed among the locals that you must be pretty well off. It is no surprise then that the whitening products from face creams to body lotions and even the makeup are all catered to this market for Asian people to get fairer and fairer. Some of these brands below are a big hit among the locals in Indonesia:
Ponds White Beauty Face Wash
Courtesy of: marthasovianna.blogspot.com
Martha Tillaar Dewi Sri Spa Whitening Body Mask
Courtesy of: www.lelong.com.my
Pixy Whitening and Brightening line – Toner, Cleanser and Cream
Courtesy of: www.diaryofaproductjunkie.com
I hope this gives you a bit of a background about what you should know about Indonesia and Asian culture in general. Thoughts? Comments? We’d love to hear from you.
Local Culture Guide 
I understand the cultural origins, but the idea that women want to lighten their skin with harsh chemicals saddens me. They are already beautiful.
Take it from a guy who is “Irish White”. You can still see me after the lights are turned out.
I think people want what they can’t have. In Western countries, people want to be as tanned as possible. While in Asia, the opposite is true. They want to go lighter, so people will perceive them as coming from a higher class family.