Why visitors to Indonesia should avoid using their left hand – it may cause offence

Shaking hands, offering a gift, giving or receiving something, eating, pointing or touching someone in Indonesia? You’d better not use your left hand
Why? It’s the one traditionally used to clean yourself after going to the toilet; however, as tourism increases, people are becoming more understanding

Jason Hung

Published: 3:00pm, 2 Nov 2019

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After Hong Kong, Jakarta is the city I visit most in Asia. I often drop by the capital of Indonesia to visit my girlfriend. With more than 200 million citizens identifying as Muslim, Indonesia is the most populous Islamic nation in the world and I often face distinct differences between the lifestyles of people from Hong Kong and people from Indonesia.

When my girlfriend and I dine out in a restaurant in Jakarta, do the groceries or see her friends, I sometimes use my left hand. My girlfriend gets annoyed when I do because Indonesians don’t like it and think it’s rude.

In Indonesia, the left hand is traditionally perceived as the hand used to clean oneself after going to the toilet.

When shaking hands, offering a gift, giving or receiving something, eating, pointing or touching someone, among other things, it is considered proper etiquette to only use the right hand. Using the left hand can be seen as impolite and offensive.

Indonesians will take offence if you use your left hand there. Photo: Alamy

These days, when we are hanging out in Jakarta, my girlfriend often stares at my hands. She taps my left hand if I lift it up. “Right hand!” she says. And, doing my very best, I try to remind myself to only use my right hand.

Although I have sometimes mistakenly used my left hand, in general I still find locals treat me in a friendly way. My partner and her friends explain that locals can easily identify me as a foreign Christian based on my characteristics. Indonesian Muslims understand and tolerate the cultural differences between Muslim and non-Muslim communities. So they usually “forgive” the improper etiquette of foreigners, including the use of the left hand.

A woman takes a shower in the garden of a remote Indonesian village. In Indonesia, etiquette is everything. Photo: Alamy

But left-handed locals might see discrimination if they don’t use their “good” hands, their right hands. I asked my girlfriend how a left-handed local would be judged, and she believes Indonesians have sympathy for those who are disabled, so they would be fine. In most circumstances, she says, Indonesians born left-handed should be “forgiven”, like non-Indonesian foreigners.

Indonesians will have to get used to seeing more outsiders using their left hands, as there is a significant increase in the number of tourists visiting Indonesia, according to MasterCard’s Global Destination Cities Index.

Bali, where the left hand taboo also applies even though the island is largely Hindu, was the nineteenth most visited region globally, with a total of 8.26 million international visitors last year. The number of international tourists visiting Bali in 2018 was actually more than the number visiting Hong Kong.

I am making progress in adopting the Indonesian idea of proper etiquette, for the sake of my girlfriend and for cultural harmony

The number of Indonesian visitors travelling abroad has risen too, and the index ranks Indonesia as one of the 20 countries worldwide with the largest number of citizens travelling overseas in 2018.

But despite the cultural tolerance of most Indonesians, we should remember to use only our right hands in front of them.

In doing so, we can minimise any hard feelings due to potential cultural conflicts. No matter whether we are hosting Indonesian visitors or visiting Indonesia, we should do as the Indonesians do when we are in close contact with them.

I am making progress in adopting the Indonesian idea of proper etiquette, for the sake of my girlfriend and for cultural harmony. By respecting Indonesia’s cultural and religious norms, I believe I can earn the respect of Indonesians.

Right hand, please!

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