Last week I made the mistake of arriving on time to a seminar. It was scheduled for 9am and my coworker even advised me to leave at 8am in case the traffic might delay my arrival. Following my more realistic estimation, I left at 8:30am and arrived at 8:55am- to a completely empty conference room and overly eager greeters. Should have known this was coming. Jam karet, or rubber time, is pervasive in Indonesian society- even the airplanes are notorious for being late. Last month I was invited to attend Tifa’s Board Meeting so that I could learn more about the grant-making process and I was surprised to realize, when I showed up at exactly 12pm, that even though the meeting was held at fancy Jakarta hotel it could still begin two hours late. Thankfully another coworker showed up on time and we got a head start on the buffet lunch as we waited for the others.
Honestly, by now I kind of enjoy jam karet; the luxury to leave and show up whenever is most comfortable for you without worrying that others will find your tardiness rude. The thing I just can’t understand is why do some Indonesian’s still show up on time and how do you know for sure if an event will be late? No one wants to make the mistake of assuming it won’t start on time but then arrive rudely 20 minutes after an event has begun.
I have found a couple consistencies thankfully. Internal office meetings, never start on time in Indonesian offices; conferences or seminars with attendees from different organizations, also never start on time, and moreover, showing up late is completely fine, as is not silencing your cell phone to a string of text messages announced to everyone by some popular hip hop song or even holding a whispered conversation. I know that this custom hasn’t pervaded the community of Westerners here yet because when I showed up late to a breakfast with friends from the embassy and blamed it on the traffic, my apology was necessary. Beyond that I am still testing this phenomenon out, kind of feeling my way through the dark and trying not to make any blunders.
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