Backgrounds are a necessary component of correct perception. Backgrounds provide most of the salient details that form a full, unique story around the object/event. A foreground with no background has little meaning save its intrinsic (de)merits.
For example, a dolphin cutout may be swimming, leaping, or breaching depending on its orientation. One might be able to make conjecture based on its visible physical condition. If we introduce the background of a giant wave, the same dolphin might be considered majestic, wild, free. Against a background of a large pool with a wetsuit-clad human, the dolphin is captive and reduced to turning tricks for cash. The background gives the foreground meaning. It helps us know how to feel about the object(s) in the foreground.
The same holds true for events such as Endah and Rimbo’s assignation. I did not know how to perceive it precisely because I had nothing to inform me other than conservative Islam and “appropriate” Indonesian society. My fascination commingled with surprise and a vague sense of uncleanness stemming from my voyeuristic curiosity. Yet my deep-seated need to comprehend usually compels me to pursue further. Not that it was any of my business.
Background: Exhibit A
My language teacher pondered for a minute. She looked amused by the entire story, shock towards her Muslim sister set aside to unravel the mystery before her.
“Is it common for couples to dress completely differently while on a date?”
“Depends on the context. It’s possible if both people meet directly after work. If they are celebrating a holiday together or family event, they will most likely dress in matching outfits.”
“Okay. Is it common for someone to deliver a friend and wait for the date to finish?”
“It is rare, but it might happen… especially if the other one did not have a license and could not afford a gojek. But it is strange that his friend waits in the same area. Maybe The Tall One and Rimbo were ‘kongkalikong’. Tau, Pak Josh?”
“No. What does it mean?”
“When two people work together for evil or bad purposes, that is ‘kongkalikong’.”
“So you think Rimbo and The Tall One were working together for a bad purpose?”
“It sounds like that. Especially if The Tall One’s role was only to deliver Rimbo and wait for him to finish.” My teacher shrugged and thought for a minute. “Have you heard of Tindr?”
“Of course. Do Indonesians use it for hookups like in the US?”
“It’s common here. It’s very easy now because everyone has a smart phone. The most popular apps are Tindr and Bumbl… but there are also ones like Mingle. Many boys use Mingle to look for sex.”
“Many of my female speaking partners in Tandem tell me that male speaking partners often approach them to solicit nude pictures, pictures in bed, or sex…. but Tandem is a language learning app, not for dating or hookups.”
My teacher shrugged. We were clearly delving into cultural territory she had a passing knowledge of but never participated in. “Many Indonesians use apps for purposes outside the app’s intentions. Or maybe the app simply isn’t as it appears. Like the app Mechat. Ever hear of that one? I thought that was a social meet app. But ten minutes later, I thought ‘What is this?!’ I deleted it; haven’t looked at it since.” Her gestures and facial expressions took on the look of someone who unwittingly found her relative’s carefully concealed stash of porn. Consternation, repulsion, and amusement all played across her face as she reenacted her discovery of an app that was far more scintillating and scandalous than expected.
“Okay…. a different question. I often see writing on the backs of trucks saying something like, “If you’re a widow/divorcee and want a fun time, call me… and then at the bottom is a Whatsapp number. Are they serious? Do the ladies actually use that?!”
“Iya! I don’t know how often it happens, but it does happen. Especially in more rural areas like the villages. Maybe the husband is rarely home or working in another city, or the woman is single and bored.”
“But why does the writing always talk about widows and divorcees? Why not maidens or virgins?”
“To be honest, I’ve never thought about it. Maybe the word “janda” has connotations of experience. Like they prefer women who know what they’re doing?” She shrugged. Her vaguely scornful “Who knows?” expression ended that line of distasteful questioning.
“Basically, hookups do happen here. Lots of young men and women use apps or Whatsapp to arrange a meeting. Then they rent an Oyo or some other cheap hotel for a few hours? And they hope no one catches them?”
“Iya, it’s unfortunately common.”
I give my teacher credit for sitting through this conversation with me. Her composure never belied any discomfort as she talked at length about the immoral underbelly of Indonesian culture. Yet sex is a taboo topic in Indonesia, let alone with the opposite gender. It was certainly not a normal topic of cultural discussion at our language school.
Class was over. I stood up to leave. “Okay, thank you for helping me understand this, Teacher!”
“You’re welcome!” She smiled wide. “Don’t use apps to cheat on Bu Dana!!”
I froze with my mouth hung open, at a loss for a good rejoinder. I looked at Dana. Dana smiled at me. “Yeah Josh, don’t cheat on me!” I bowed stiffly at the waist towards my teacher. “…Yes, teacher, thank you. I am a good boy.”
Background: Exhibit B
My friend shook his head, bottom lip sticking out in thoughtful disapproval.
“Wah, Josh, it’s common. I’ve done it once yeah…. but I was just exploring. I tried it once, then kapok. Once was enough, it’s not my style. For me, there must be love.”
“So there is an entire subculture around hookups?”
“Oh yes! I met a girl who lived in Bandung, but she went on a lot of business trips. She used dating apps to meeting people in other cities. I lived in Jakarta at that time. We connected on Tindr and she said to meet her at some hotel in Jakarta. She told me to bring wine, and I thought, ‘Ok! I like to drink!’”
“Uh huh… was she Muslim?”
“Iya of course…. So I also bring weed, you know? And we meet up, talk, drink. But when we smoke… something she does bothers me, ya?”
“…….What?”
“She puffed and then blew out the smoke without breathing it into her lungs! She was wasting my weed!!“
I smiled, faintly certain that if this was the memorable part of the night, they had not slept together. “Terus?”
“Nothing else.” His faux-irritation subsided as he resumed his story. She fell asleep after the wine and weed, and I decided not to do it. It’s just lust, not love. We woke up in the morning and went home. A few years later, she got married. Now she lives in Bandung with her husband. I think she has kids too.
“Well then, it’s better that way. So you think what I saw was a Tindr hookup?”
“Yah I think so…. Or maybe it was kampus ayam. Do you know ‘kampus ayam’?”
“…..campus…. chicken?…. artinya?”
“Yeah, the name doesn’t make sense. I don’t know why the name is like that. But there are a lot of female students that come from really poor families, most from villages. They can’t pay tuition, or university fees, or textbooks. So other students or university staff, will pay them for sex. We call them ‘kampus ayam.’”
“Oh god…. that’s horrible. Is this really common?”
“Iya Josh… At my university (a notable private Islamic University), there’s at least one in every department.”
I confess that I had not expected such a dark turn. Yet the possibility made too much sense to ignore. It also fit all the unexplained circumstances in my story. “Did you know the ‘kampus ayam’ in your department?”
“No, but I know who to ask if I wanted to. Everyone knew who she was.”
In Search of a Good Ending
I tried to be as honest and objective as possible while relating my eyewitness account. Every remembered detail from the seemingly banal to the striking was recounted so as to gain every possible angle. I was not disappointed.
Each background was a distinct and exclusive possibility. Each one came with its own respective set of emotions. Every supposition shifted the meaning of the event as it replayed in my head. Fascination turned to incredulity and then to pity.
The actual truth of the event can only ever be guessed at. Only Endah and Rimbo (and possibly The Tall One) know everything. I hope that I had witnessed an arbitrary hookup. Two young people voluntarily making debatable life choices is far more preferable than prostitution for the sake of finishing university. Life almost stops during stormy nights… and stormy nights guard their secrets well.