Why dont Indos give back change?

When you think how "much" even just a 1,000rp note is, why would I even bother asking for a 100rp coin. If I saw 5,000rp note on the floor I wouldn't even stop unless literally to pick it up and give it straight to the nearest anak near me.
I use my card for everything but with cash I just can't be arsed with the smaller dirtiest notes, I just leave them on the counter or say to the cashier "tips / THR / ang bao / zakat" etc etc
Not to sound sombong but for me personally it really just isn't worth my while.
 
I've seen plenty of people use coins taped in rolls at supermarkets & mini marts etc. Some actively encourage it.

Our kids exchange rolls of coins for notes at Indomaret or Alphamart who are only too happy to accept them.

Apparently banks don't want coins, not even in rolls, my wife reckons it's because they're too lazy to count them.
 
Apparently banks don't want coins, not even in rolls, my wife reckons it's because they're too lazy to count them.
By law banks can't refuse to take them and get regularly reprimanded by Bank Indonesia for not respecting the regulation.
In order to fly below the radar and avoid to refuse them officially, some bank have requirements which are de facto prohibitive such as accepting Rp 100 coins in bulk of minimum Rp 500.000 for example, meaning that your grandson will perhaps be able to bring the celengan/piggy bank that you and your son have patienly filled over the years. That is if FPI didn't manage to have a draft law decreting the celengan haram nationwide passed by the DPR beforehand of course.
 
I'd rather have them say 'not enough change' (usually less than Rp 500 anyway)..,.or I just round down the total....than getting the infamous Golden Truly candies....(remember grocery shopping in the late 80s for some of you?)
 
By law banks can't refuse to take them and get regularly reprimanded by Bank Indonesia for not respecting the regulation.
In order to fly below the radar and avoid to refuse them officially, some bank have requirements which are de facto prohibitive such as accepting Rp 100 coins in bulk of minimum Rp 500.000 for example, meaning that your grandson will perhaps be able to bring the celengan/piggy bank that you and your son have patienly filled over the years. That is if FPI didn't manage to have a draft law decreting the celengan haram nationwide passed by the DPR beforehand of course.
This being Indonesia, the most common celengans in my childhood were actually shaped like a rooster. I think that design is still popular today.
 
This being Indonesia, the most common celengans in my childhood were actually shaped like a rooster. I think that design is still popular today.
In Manado, all our celengans are the traditional pig, but to my great surprise, I have found some pretty nice one too in JKT.
 
In Manado, all our celengans are the traditional pig, but to my great surprise, I have found some pretty nice one too in JKT.

Also the word "celengan" itself betrays its origin...

Celeng = boar/babi hutan.
 
Indeed. A Celengan in the form of a rooster is a bit weird.
As far as I can dig, it used to be in the form of a pig during Majapahit era, hence the name. After Islam arrived about that time, the pig design became rare, at least in Java. A google image search of “celengan tanah liat” will show mostly roosters, along with pots (kendi), tigers, etc.

Today they have all sorts of modern figures, including Doraemon and Hello Kitty. I’m sure somebody makes a nice western-style piggy bank too, but that wasn’t common.
 
Here is a chicken one that has been around for ages. Probably has the old coins in it.
 

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As far as I can dig, it used to be in the form of a pig during Majapahit era, hence the name. After Islam arrived about that time, the pig design became rare, at least in Java. A google image search of “celengan tanah liat” will show mostly roosters, along with pots (kendi), tigers, etc.

Today they have all sorts of modern figures, including Doraemon and Hello Kitty. I’m sure somebody makes a nice western-style piggy bank too, but that wasn’t common.

So actually I went on Google out of curiosity how the ancient Indonesian model and the more common western model came to share the same animal (pig). Turns out some speculate that the piggy bank originated in Indonesia, or at least by way of Indonesia from China.

Learn something new every day...

 
Thanks for the enlightening origins history, gentlemen.
 
Here is a chicken one that has been around for ages. Probably has the old coins in it.
I heard that certain old coins are worth tens of millions of Rupiahs to collectors. If that thing is not empty, it could be worth something.
 
Bought in a Yogya alley years ago, I have a soup bowl full of old coins, from the short stint of post-Japanese occupation Dutch rule, if I remember correctly. Probably worth about what I paid for them.
 
The greatest benefit of coin (particularly the copper one) for me

Screenshot_20201130_060714.JPG
 
If it is theft, whether being short-changed or even a maid stealing my kids' clothes upon job termination, I've learned to let it go. Sure, I try to be more proactive with preventive measures, but I find it more of a burden to always be on guard. It eats away at you.

I have bigger fish to fry, such as the colleague who is constantly playing office politics, playing the noble victim when asked to be more professional. Then there was my so-called friend who I was tight with for years, suddenly deciding to steal wine from my house. I don't care how hard the times are, there's just no excuse for such transgressions. The point is - choose your battles.

If I let the small injustices get to me, then I will undoubtedly lay that stress on to the next cashier, or our next maid. That'll definitely make me the bad guy, and at the end of the day I just want to live here in peace. Well, as much as possible until I can travel abroad to decompress.
 
How you deal with the pettiness depends on a number of factors for us, not the smallest of which is the setting ie kampung vs metro.
 

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