Guard your facial expression

When you're upset in public, groaning or moaning is considered rude and bad manners. Indonesians always strive to avoid expressing their annoyance in front of a large crowd. When two people disagree, they typically try to work things out in private.

It is crucial for Indonesians to keep someone's face from being ruined. Indonesians would always try not to insult you when you ask them for their honest opinion. They will speak politely and with consideration. If you upset an Indonesian, you'll know it when they start to avoid you. The idea of "face" is crucial to grasp since group cohesiveness must be maintained. Avoiding the source of humiliation is the idea in Indonesia ("malu"). As a result, people are exceedingly cautious about how they behave and communicate. Although it is unrealistic to expect a foreigner to grasp the subtleties of the idea, it is nonetheless important to monitor one's behavior.

Never make fun of, yell at, or otherwise offend somebody. Always keep flaws secret and deal with them privately. Similar to this, no one or group should ever be publicly blamed. One example of the face/shame principle in action is the indirect method in which Indonesians communicate; they never want to make someone feel bad by responding negatively, so they word their questions in a way that makes it clear what they really mean to convey. When the intended meaning is "No," Bahasa Indonesian has 12 ways to say it as well as several different methods to convey "Yes"