Owen – Thanks very much for your long comment. It’s my grammatical mistake, I’ll re-write the phrase.
Regarding your disagreement, what you wrote is actually what I thought and wished during my visit to Jakarta, but I admit my writing didn’t very well convey my intention. I do not agree either that developing countries are ‘destined’ to remain developing and they simply cannot be. What I meant was that, because not all the countries can be at the same stage of development, with or without colonialism, there would always be less developed countries.

I just wanted to give you some grammar help:

“Countries considered developing ones have been led to its current status by exploiting natural and human resources, and goods from developed countries through colonization.”

The correct way to say this sentence is using a passive as below:

“Countries considered ‘developing’ are often that way because they have suffered over the years at the hands of developed countries who ruthlessly exploited their natural and human resources during colonization.”

I personally do not agree with the below statement:

“Even if the developing countries were not put under colonial rules and developed themselves at their own phase, the result would not be so much different from the way they are now.”

Development cannot be separated from the Political situation in which it exists. Countries like Indonesia have suffered form colonialism. In its basic form, colonialism means “unequal trade”. If the military might of Europe had not been able to force unequal trade and keep colonial nations poor, we might all be speaking Indonesian, Hindu, or another developing world language. Developing Nations had (and still have) immense natural resources. If they had been able to utilize these for their own benefit rather than other nations they might all be driving mercedes these days.

Imagine if the Iraq government had been able to sell it’s oil and distribute the profits to its people in the form of infrastructure and low taxes for the last 100 years they would all be much wealthier than the USA or Europeans combined.

So I do not think it is possible to say that developing nations were always destined to be like that. They were forced into that state and could well have prospered under different circumstances.

Another friend of mine also told me that I don’t need to be ashamed of exposing my shoulders as I’m not a local. I think both of you are right but I wish I at least knew their generally accepted idea thus decided the extent of respect.

인도네시아 내 화교를 표적으로 삼아 일어난 폭동에 대해서 같이 간 동료로부터 들었어요. 그 당시 이 친구가 자카르타에 있었는데 인니들의 걷잡을 수 없는 분노와 무자비함에 많이 놀랬었대요.

I have close Indonesian and Malaysian friends and both of their grandparents are from China. I’m curious to ask them how they see their communities and their interactions with the native in their respective countries.

그런데… 밖에 나가면… 에휴! 교통도 오염도 방콕보다 심하고 길거리에서 구걸하거나 걍 가만히 있는 사람 넘 먾라서… 인도 수준이 아니지만, 그래도…

About the exposed shoulders. What your friend says is not the whole story. I’ve seen women exposing their shoulders, mostly in restaurants and hotels and the like, and most were Chinese-Indonesian. But when they go out, they cover their shoulders. You’re Korean, so you *look* Chinese to them – many Koreans were victims of this confusion during the last riots against Chinese. So they might have thought you were a Chinese who was flaunting the rules. However, you’re neither a local citizen, nor a Muslim. They don’t apply to you – and they shouldn’t try to enforce them on you. Nothing to be ashamed of…

인니사람들이 화교를 되게 싫어해요. “짱깨들이 인니를 이용해서 돈을 너무 많이 번다고” 해서 중국으로 내보내야 한다고… 50년대에 수많은 화교들이 추방됐다. 오늘 인니에 남아있는 화교들이 인니의 경제를 통제하고있다…

I’ve been in the two Muslim countries in the region that have large Chinese communities, Malaysia and Indonesia, and there are so many differences between the two countries. Despite all its faults, Malaysia is certainly a more peaceful place, and a more reasonable one…