What's It Like to Grow Up Left-Handed In a Country Where the Left Is Seen as So, So Wrong

Indonesian parents and teachers are always offering the same advice: "Use the good hand!" The "good hand" is the right hand. Now, it can be hard to be left-handed anywhere, but in Asia—especially in Muslim-majority Asia—being left-handed is more than just a difficulty. It's a sure-fire way to get left behind.

The left hand is the wrong hand in Indonesia. It's impolite, dirty, and something to be kept to yourself. Your right hand is for shaking, touching, basically everything good. Your left? Cleaning your ass. It's the hand reserved for all the dirty work.

So imagine how hard it is to grow up left-handed. When I was a kid, I favored my left hand. But my father took extra care to make sure I used my right instead. Today I'm ambidextrous, but I honestly use my right hand way more often. Why do our parents and teachers want to train the left-handedness out of lefties? To make our lives easier, we're told.

But lefties are still pretty common. Worldwide, between 10 to 12 percent of people are left-handed. About 1 percent are ambidextrous. Basically, we're the rare ones, and that should be a point of pride—maybe. But in Indonesia, differences like these are seen a negative.

"In Indonesia, people have a strong sense of collectivity," Elizabeth Santosa, a psychologist, told VICE. "It means they consider etiquette, norms, and customs very important. This oftentimes contradict scientific findings about psychology. That's why the use of the left hand is still taboo. We believe that the left hand is the bad hand… the hand used to steal. The hand used to clean ourselves."

So how does it feel to be left-handed or ambidextrous in a country that views the left hand as the sign of all things bad?

VICE: So you grew up in an Islamic Minang environment. Was it difficult being left-handed?
Hairum Fellayati: As far back as I can remember, people would remind me to use my right hand for important things, like eating. In Minang culture, we eat with our bare hands instead of a spoon, so it's not really a problem. But when we eat in public places, like school or a restaurant, I am forever reminded to use my right hand.

Was it hard to adapt as a kid?
To shake hands or to give or take something is easy. When I was a kid, every time I would take something with my left hand, my mom or someone older would tap my hand. The hardest part was to train myself to use a spoon. Even now I'm still not used to it. I feel pretty comfortable using my left hand in front of people who really know and understand me.

Do you think you faced cultural discrimination for being a lefty?
Maybe a bit. I was constantly told to use tangan rancak (the good hand) and maybe some of my friends teased me about using my dirty hand. But I would just ignore all of it because it's all just words. They never gave me an attitude or alienated me. I'm aware that in our religion and culture, the left hand is used to clean up after ourselves. Whatever. I was only teased in elementary school anyway. Now a days these people even say that left-handed people are more creative. [laughs]

So now you're proud to be a lefty?
Sort of. Because I am different from most people. Even in some cases I can use both hands. [laughs] I can get cocky.

VICE: Did you ever get in trouble for using your left hand?
Muhammad Reza Akhar: It was hard only because sometimes I forgot that it's common etiquette to use your right. For example, when I try to pay for food with my left hand and the seller is an old woman. And my friend, who's Javanese, told me that it's rude according to Javanese customs.

What did your parents thing when you were growing up?
They taught me the left hand wasn't the "good hand." But they never forced me to use my right hand.

Never? Even when eating?
Well, maybe when eating. They used to remind me to use my right hand and I tried my best to use it. Now I'm pretty used to it, although it's still hard to hold a spoon in my right hand. So most of the time I use my left hand. But when I eat with my hands, I can use my right hand no problem. So it's good right? At least I can follow religious teachings.

Do you find it difficult to live in a country where everything is made for right-handed people? I mean it's got to be hard to use scissors.
It's difficult, but, like it or not, we've got to adjust. It's the world of the right-handed people.

VICE: When was the first time you realized you could use both your hands equally?
Riki Putra: It was in 2014. I intentionally trained both hands to play guitar. I don't believe in 'talent.' I believe that if you want it enough, and you train for it, you can do most things.

So there is actually a video of you switching hands mid-performance somewhere online?
Yeah, you can see it here. Fast-forward to 3:20.

Which hand is the dominate one? Your right or your left?
Since I was a kid, my right hand is better trained. I play instruments with my right hand too. But there are reasons why I trained my left hand. Scientifically speaking, there's this theory that says that the left part of our bodies are connected to the right hemisphere of our brains. So I trained my left hand to develop my right brain.

But it's also because I used to live in Italy. I got bored and I started playing the guitar with my left hand. I got used to it I did it so that I was different from others since I work in the entertainment industry. Now I can write on the whiteboard with my left hand, and also play drums, bass, and guitar. I can write with either hand, but my handwriting with my left is slower and uglier. Is there an advantage to using both hands?
I feel that I'm more balanced between logic and creativity. My creativity runs free. It's wilder.

VICE: Do you think that our cultural beliefs make people discriminate against lefties?
Luna Nauli: Well, not explicitly, but there is clearly a more positive lean toward right-handedness compared to left-handedness. It could be because for centuries anything 'left' was considered the orientation of the devil, and the 'right' is well, the right one.

And yeah, there was definitely discrimination, though minute, within educational institutions. My religion teacher during high school always scolded me whenever I wrote, ate, or did practically anything with my left hand. He would say the left hand was 'the hand of the devil.' But I would just ignore him. [laughs] I guess those attitudes just apply to conservative or religious people because he was the only one in my entire school to take issue with that.

So are there any pluses then?
I guess. Since I was born left-handed, but most things are made for right-handed people, it forced me to adapt. So, in a way, I'm ambidextrous now. I'm right hand dominate when playing sports, but left hand dominate when playing musical instruments or drawing. Also it's kind of cool being slightly different form the majority of other people. [laughs]