Bali Car Rental & Transport

Balinese are more direct than the Javanese who are taught as little children to lie, as in ‘If you stop crying, there’s an ice cream man in front of the house.’ They want to tell you only what they think you want to hear.

The Balinese though are more straightforward. In business dealings they come more quickly to the point. On Bali, every driver uses the horn; on Java, no one does. The Balinese also work harder than the Javanese, are easier to train, and complete their lobs. They make better houseboys, waiters, porters, and drivers. After all, they’ve been dealing with Westerners and their myriad idiosyncrasies since the 1930s.

The Balinese have a strong propensity for jealousy (irihati) or envy of other Balinese and Indonesians, especially in the upper classes. They gossip, slander, and make snide remarks behind the backs of other people in their compound or village. A banjar can be a veritable hotbed of gossip—some mischievous, some vicious.

But the Balinese are very adept at hiding jealousy, envy, and anger. When Balinese men drink, they might lose their temper and become excitable over perceived insults or discourtesies, particularly if they lose face, Otherwise, they’re passive.

Anger is not shown openly. Loud voices are considered vulgar, and the more vehement the discussion, the quieter a Balinese is likely to become. In a quarrel with a Balinese, Westerners are assertive, confrontational, and openly angry. Westerners think they are being frank and down-to-earth, but Balinese find them rude and offensive.

After a fatal car accident, relatives of the deceased can be seen sleeping at the accident site. Or as a village court decides what to do with a thief, he’ll nod off. If you’ve been away and come back to find your ibu or houseboy asleep in the atternoon, you know that something has been lost, broken, or stolen. When pushed beyond this temporary catatonic state, a Balinese may ‘run amok’, an extreme cultural reaction to overpowering stress.

Balinese rarely show anger but when they do, they erupt without warning like a volcano.