3. Background
Having experienced some years in Malaysia, I grew up learning a lot about other’s
culture. Malaysia consists of three main races that have totally different culture to
each other, namely Indian, Chinese, and Malay, and each has their own varieties
which are derived from the origin of their ancestor. Malay, is a race, but the culture
is surprisingly just as diverse as Indonesia as a nation. The north talks differently
than the south, and the east is just as independent as the west. Some locals even
inherited genes that is somewhat looks similar to the Papuans. I never expected to
noticed these things. Who would’ve?
Who would’ve thought that a Chinese could possibly not understand what the
other Chinese is talking, as one only speaks Mandarin, and the other only speaks
Cantonese. Who would’ve thought that not all Indians says ‘Acha’ to agree to
what you say. Indians themselves are of many subcultures that speaks various lan-
guages that rooted from ancient civilizations, that, maybe, they themselves did not
know. These findings somehow fascinated me. So then I think of Indonesia. We
proclaimed ourselves that we are of many kinds, but how much do we actually
know of that many things that made us?
4. When I was there, as an outsider, I had a chance to gain some insights from the
locals and also interact with some of the foreigners, an opportunity I rarely have
in my own country . Kuala Lumpur as one of the world’s cities famous for its edu-
cation, gave me an opportunity to know others of different nationalities, such as
China, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Phillipines, Iran, Canada, Nepal,France etc. Each of
them has their own story to share about their culture, especially during interna-
tional student events or gatherings. They always mingle with each other despite
communication problems due to languange barrier
However it is different for some Indonesian fellows that I knew there. Somehow
they had pulled themselves from intercating with foreigners and choose to befriend
only Indonesian. In most gatherings they usually never share any story about the
diversity of our history and culture, or they just acted like that they did not care.
What they knew was what they were told in social studies at school, such as tradi-
tional costume, musical instrument, dances and such, not about the true colors of
our culture in daily lives.
Although my knowledge was also very limited then, but it pushed me to dig more
and more about anything related to Indonesian history to share. Along the way,
I found out alot more than I expected. Infact, there is so much about this country
that may get you surprised, just as I did back then. It was like playing an adventure
game, but it’s just, that, it was real. You never knew what’s coming. One thing led
to another and kept on going eversince. And I want to share it with you.
5. Having studied here in the University of Indonesia, I found a lecturer who shares
similar curiosity and interest, Mr. Alie Djahri. We were once involved in an inter-
esting discussion about where Indonesians might come from. We shared about our
findings of what ‘minanga tamwan’ might refer to, about the possibility of Indig-
enous Taiwanese being the ancestor of Indonesian, and alot other things. Further-
more, He seems to have traveled so many parts of the world as well as Indonesia,
and bestowed with wisdom and ability to understand other cultures as well as
ours, deeper than the eyes can see. With my keen interest in searching for Indone-
sian background and the help of his knowledge of IMC and history and also his
links to some of big companies, I believe this collaboration will open more roots
of possibilities of Indonesian ancestry that will spark curiosity amongst the youth.
6. Is a project that creates awareness
about some facts of Indonesian
history and culture by connecting
them with other nations.
7. Messages
Did you know that the bakso that Obama l i k e s
Avocado is not even Indonesian, but it can be
found in any restaurant throughout the country,
just as in Mexico in a form of guacamole.
Just as the Papuans of the east, Acehnese of the
is also enjoyed by the Swedish, just that ,they eat it
west also looks so different than the Javanese in
with raspberry jam instead of chilli sauce.
the centre. Have you noticed?
Did you know that people of the Phillipines will
Did you know that Indonesian language is in
say ‘Selamat’ to thank you? Selamat means ‘con-
the same language family with Madagascar in
gratulations!’ in Indonesian.
the Africa?
Did you know that ‘Rujak’ is also known not only
Nenek Moyang ku Seorang Pelaut. ‘my ances-
by Indonesian , but also the Malaysian, Singaporean
tor was a sailor’. More than two thousand years
and Indian? It’s anything cut in pieces smeared with
ago the people of Sulawesi sailed across the In-
thick gravy of sauce and crushed peanuts.
dian Ocean and believed to have been the ances-
tor of the Madagascar people in Africa.
Did you know that there was a story of an Egyp-
tian Princess in Pajajaran history?
Most Javanese pronounced A as O, but Did you
know, that in Vanuatu, two is what the Javanese
Did you know that some schools in Australia
would say Loro?
teaches Bahasa Indonesia as an optional course?
8. Objectives
To create a sense of belonging with people from around the world
To facilitate interaction with foreigners
To build Indonesian identity and confidence in a different way
This project will involve people to find out themselves where they might come from, which
people share the same culture as theirs, which words of their language that resemble other
languages, what major world events have their ancestors involved in, and at the end they’ll find
out the buillding blocks of them as a nation. This hopefully will help them build their identity
and confidence as Indonesian in a different way, especially to face the world that have started
coming to our door steps recently.
9. Targets
The main targets are Indonesian youth that are currently staying, working or
studying abroad. There are millions of them right now. They are considered, some-
what, the real ambassadors of Indonesia for the people of the world. They directly
interact with the locales in their respective countries and somehow responsible for
creating an idea of how Indonesians are.What the locales might know about Indo-
nesia are probably revolves around Bali or the natural beauty, but not really about
the Indonesians. Therefore they need to be equipped with interesting information
that will attract the locales in their respective countries to interact with them.
10. will work out because
‘people that are somewhat similar, tend to blend-in’
11. Logo
This logo showcases the name of the project ‘Curious.id’ . The name embodies fundamental
spirit of the whole campaign which is building curiousity towards Indonesia as part of an
Indonesian identity. This means that Indonesian youth should take charge in creating their
Indonesian identity by understanding their culture by themselves.
The logo incorporates a question mark which is made of an ear-shaped curve and an eye.
These symbolize hearing and looking which means that this campaign require people to open
their eyes and ears to listen to their surrounding and take notice.
Underneath, the root arrow that leads to Indonesia. This sums up the idea of the whole cam-
paign which is rooted towards everything Indonesian. This also will familiarize foreigners
with the suffix “.id” as an indonesian web identity.
12. Typographic T-Shirt
The T shirt will be mostly words and incorporate images
and characters of the subjects where appropriate.
The logo will be printed at the back and will have a QR
code that if you scan it with your phone, it will lead you
to a website www.curious.id . Each subjects will have
different QR codes. This code is a unique feature of the
t-shirt that functions as a link and also as an interactive
feature that will attract people’s attention towards both
the wearer and the message printed on the T-shirt.
QR code is square-ish code (functioning as barcode)
13. Website
The website will have all the information about the campaign. It incorporates maps of the
world in which countries will be connected by lines to Indonesia. Each line, when clicked,
will open up an information box that shows the story that connects the two countries.
This website will also showcase feeds from its twitter page, T-shirts gallery, and supporting
facts about the subjects.
Twitter
The twitter page allows people to interact with the campaign. It allows them to share their
thoughts, feelings and most importantly ,findings, that may add up to the subjects.
It also acts as an information center where people can ask about the project and place or-
ders for the T-shirt.
14. www.
AddWib : gua baru tau nih
kalo ternyata Indonesia itu
pernah membuat sebagian
besar dunia beku #curiousid
#toba
Sophie : I never thought that
my country has that much
connection with other coun-
tries #curiousid
Bowie : i’m gonna treat my
swedish friend a bowl of
bakso soon. Can’t wait.
#curiousid #bakso
Gori : i like this, want to know
more about Indonesia
15. Company Endorsements
In a long run, this campaign is projected to be eventually endorsed by big compa-
nies from Indonesia such as, Unilever, Indofood, and/or Sosro that have been suc-
cessful in incorporating Indonesian culture to endorse their product. Endorsement
will be in a form of advertisements.
Partnership with Clothing Stores
To showcase and distribute the T shirts this project will join its effort with some
clothing stores in big cities throughout the country such as Bandung, Jakarta,
Surabaya, Medan, and Makassar.
