Skin color: Indonesians still want to be whiter

The grass is always greener on the other side and here in Indonesia, that also goes for skin color. Ask a local where the most beautiful women in Indonesia come fom and most likely they’ll say Bandung Java. Ask them ‘why Bandung?’ and they’ll say, ‘because they have white skin’ Bandung enjoying a cooler climate.

On my 1st trip to Bali is 1993, I remember the trees on Kuta Bach were much shorter, and groups of dark skinned locals woud congregate under them, as paler tourists tried their best to get dark. In Bali I see locals wearing long pants and a sweater on boiling hot days, because they do not want to get dark. I pile on the layers when going for a ride because I can’t take that much sun, staying white not by choice, but by necessesity.

Strolling through the cosmetic section of any supermarket in Bali reveals skin care products, which ‘moisterize and whiten’. My sister in law is naturally pale, but uses products before going outside. A BBC article talks about this phenomenon in China and how globalization is turning it around in richer areas.