- [Narrator] Indonesia is an archipelago nation
situated in southeastern Asia that is truly a treasure trove
of wonders and shocking stories.
From the immense biodiversity of its rainforests
to one the greatest mass murders perpetrated in
the 20th Century, Indonesia is a country that can be
hard to wrap your head around which is why we're here
to do it for you.
Here are the 10 Things You Didn't Know About Indonesia.
One of the least talked about incidents in the West
is the mass killings that took place in Indonesia
between 1965 and 1966.
During the height of the Cold War,
the US was taking every measure to combat communism
in the form of the infamous policy of containment.
This led to multiple US interventions abroad
in the name of containment both direct and indirect.
At the time, Indonesia was led by President Sukarno
who, despite not being a communist, did in fact,
allow for the presence of a communist party.
This policy of tolerance made the CIA suspicious of him
leading them to make attempts to discredit him.
After non-violent means had failed,
the CIA resorted to other, less pleasant, methods.
Over the course of months, the CIA began supplying the
Indonesian military with communications equipment,
small arms, and information, and started to directly support
then Major General, Suharto, who would later become
the dictator of the country for three decades.
The Indonesian military and some citizenry then began
a campaign of mass killings that included communists,
alleged communists, ethnic Chinese,
and anyone else they did not like.
To say it got out of hand is a bit of an understatement
because by the time it was done an estimated one million
people had been killed with some estimates as high
as two to three million.
Although, theoretically ideologically motivated,
much of it had more to do with petty gripes and thuggery
than anything else.
The Indonesian genocide will likely remain a dark stain
on this country's otherwise fascinating history.
The rainforests of Indonesia are home to some
of the greatest concentrations of biodiversity in the world.
Some scientists believe the Indonesian archipelago to be
the most species-rich region in the entire world.
Covering only one percent of the world's land area,
the Indonesian rainforests house 10% of the world's
known plant species.
Additionally, it contains some of the world's rarest
mammals such as the Sumatran tiger and rhinoceros
and possibly 17% of the world's bird species.
However, all this unique biodiversity is threatened
by the shadow of man-made destruction and greed.
Palm oil plantations as well as deforestation
are responsible for the rapid disappearance
of Indonesian biodiversity.
The great tragedy in all of this,
in addition to the destruction of plant and animal species,
is the potential for new medical discoveries and medicine
found in the rainforests that is being stripped away
everyday by human greed and indifference.
You might not think of the Chinese when you think of
Indonesia but there's been a presence of the Chinese
there for hundreds of years.
Unfortunately, evidence of discrimination against
the Chinese in Indonesia can be attested to
since their arrival.
And they remain an unpopular but persistent minority
in Indonesian culture.
During the mass killings in the 1960's,
many ethnic Chinese were targeted and executed for reasons
of alleged communism.
But the reality is that since the Chinese have arrived
they have consistently outperformed the local Indonesian
population in terms of economics,
which has created resentment towards them as outsiders
doing better than the natives.
It is unlikely that this situation will ever change
since human beings are tribal by nature and one tribe
doing better than another is something that most people
just cannot stomach.
Indonesian cuisine is colorful, intense, flavorful,
and unfortunately, largely unknown in the West.
It's only been in recent years that Indonesian cuisine
has gained worldwide recognition, in particular,
for dishes such as rendang, which is a spicy meat dish
that incorporates spices such as ginger, garlic, chile,
and much more.
Nasi Goreng, or fried rice, which is an unusual mixture
of garlic, tamarind, ground shrimp paste, and chile,
and satay, which is grilled meat served on a skewer,
often dipped in peanut sauce.
If you like spicy and pequinned food,
then you'll be right at home with Indonesian cuisine,
which covers the entire spectrum of color in the rainbow
of world cuisine.
Another episode of Indonesia's checkered past is illustrated
by the 1975 invasion of East Timor,
executed under the pretext of anti-colonialism.
But the truth is,
as is often the case with military interventions,
it had more to do with political ambition
and Indonesian nationalism than anything else.
After the popular government, under the revolutionary front
for an independent East Timor,
sometimes referred to as Fretilin, had been overthrown.
The Indonesian military set up shop on the island
for nearly a quarter of a century.
Little known to many is that the invasion had American,
British, and Australian backing in the form of
advanced weaponry and tacit approval.
Falling under the rubric of containing communism
since the overthrown Fretilin government
had been a leftist organization.
The end result of this was the killing and starving
of close to 180,000 people in East Timor at the hands
of the Indonesian military which only ended
when a combination of Australian peace keeping forces,
an UNTAET,
or United Nations Transitional Administration East Timor,
took control of the reigns.
Only after several years of UN presence was power
gradually ceded to the people of East Timor,
a situation which remains today.
You might be familiar with the Komodo dragon,
which is the largest living lizard species in the world.
Well, you guessed it.
You can only find them in Indonesia.
These massive lizards have deadly claws, massive jaws,
and are some of the most frightening animals around.
But they have also provided some interesting information
on the evolution of snake and reptile venom.
For the longest time, scientists thought that bacteria
in the mouth of the Komodo dragon would infect their prey,
eventually killing them.
But in the early 2000's, scientists discovered that,
in fact, the Komodo dragon possesses venom glands
that produce toxins that slow down blood pressure,
induce paralysis, and promote blood clotting.
Researchers have hypothesized that this simple venom
system might have been a precursor to the more advanced
venom systems in modern snakes since reptiles of the
Komodo sort are far older than snakes are.
The orangutan is an ape, closely related to human beings.
In fact, they share 97% of our DNA.
The name orangutan is derived from the Malay and Indonesian
word meaning forest person.
Orangutans are the only great apes that are found in Asia
and are unique to Indonesia and may not be around
much longer if the current trend continues.
Between active human malice,
in which people violently attack and kill them for being
an alleged nuisance, to the habitat destruction they face
in light of mass deforestation,
the orangutan's future is an uncertain one.
But the possibility of extinction in the next few decades
is very likely and would be a sad fate for our cousin.
Pollution is a problem in many capital cities of the world.
But the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta,
can give the Chinese a run for their money.
In fact, in a breakdown according to diseases,
the World Health Organization data revealed that 40%
of the deaths connected to air pollution were caused by
ischemic heart disease and another 40% was due to strokes.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease contributed 11%
of the deaths, followed by lung cancer at six percent,
and the acute lower respiratory infections
in children for three percent.
This report named Indonesia as the second largest
contributor to the deaths after the Western Pacific region
with 963,000 fatalities.
Much of this pollution is caused by the many vehicles
that are present in the city,
which makes it a tough choice,
give up on mobility or give up on your health.
Other thoughts tend to be more positive citing evidence
of the West when it was a lot more polluted and many believe
it's just a matter of time
until Indonesia cleans its act up.
Despite perpetrating a great deal of violence on its own,
Indonesia has been colonized more than once.
In fact, Indonesia,
known under the name of the Dutch East Indies,
was a colony of the Netherlands for close to 150 years.
This has had a lasting impact in that many people
in the Netherlands actually have some Indonesian
background in them.
Dutch rule lasted until 1942 when,
after having been occupied by German forces,
the Dutch lost the ability to control
their far flung colony,
which the Japanese empire took advantage of by placing
their forces on Indonesian soil.
The Japanese occupation lasted from 1942 until 1945
when World War II ended.
But one thing it did was spark a type of national awakening
in the form of a collective Indonesian national identity,
which is one that arguably still exists today.
Indonesia is sometimes called the volcano nation
because of a near constant chain of volcanic eruptions
dating back tens of thousands of years.
These eruptions have contributed to the beauty
of the Indonesian landscape forming new structures
and pathways on the one hand, but on the other hand,
are a constant danger to the population.
The United States Geological Survey has cited Indonesia
as one of the most geologically active regions
in the world today.
Sulfur mining is a popular economic activity as a result
but there's a constant danger.
Most recently, Mount Sinabung erupted killing at least
seven people with many, many more having to be evacuated.
The political instability of Indonesia almost goes
hand-in-hand with the geologically instability of the land.
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