Americans baffled by Indonesia’s minimum wage

Americans have been left in shock after an Indonesian expat told them about his home country’s minimum wage.

Americans react to Indonesia's minimum wage. Picture: TikTok / stevenapriliano

An Indonesian man living in the US has left a group of Americans in shock after revealing his home country’s minimum wage.

First the expat, Steven Apriliano, asked each person individually in on TikTok what they believed Indonesians made in a month.

The guesses started at $US3000 to $US5000 ($4500 to $7500) and as each was told no, they slowly dropped the value of their guess.

However, it appeared nothing could have prepared them for the answer.

Each American was in disbelief as Mr Apriliano informed them the minimum wage was actually about $US300 or 4,500,000 Indonesian rupiah ($500).

“What? That’s actually insane. That’s crazy,” one said.

“What? You’re lying,” another said struggling to believe it could be true.

“That is insane. And people live? And they’re OK?” a third concerned American asked.

“I’m assuming everything priced there is a lot cheaper than here,” said one.

The minimum wage varies throughout Indonesia’s provinces.

In the capital, Jakarta, the minimum wage increased from IDR4,641,854 ($460) to IDR4,901,798 ($480) this year.

But in Bali, it’s significantly less at just IDR2,713,672 ($270).

Mr Apriliano’s video on TikTok has been viewed 1.3 million times since it was uploaded in mid-July.

This man struggled to believe what he was being told. Picture: TikTok / stevenapriliano

While this woman expressed her concern at the low number. Picture: TikTok / stevenapriliano

The comments were filled with Indonesians clarifying they were “not OK”.

The video got another 2.8 million views after being uploaded by a popular Jakarta Twitter account, which said the Bule (an Indonesian word for foreigners) experienced culture shock finding out their citizens’ salaries.

Meanwhile, a Canadian man living in Australia was also left stunned when finding out how much Aussies get paid in a retail job, adding it’s far more than what he expected.

“Right now I’m looking for work, and I went into a retail place, and I was asking how much they get paid,” he said in a now viral TikTok.

“For their casual work, they get paid $31 an hour. That’s insane. To compare, in Canadian dollars that’s $28 or, in US dollars, it’s $21 an hour.”

“So imagine working at Walmart and making $28 an hour in Canadian [dollars],” he added.

The minimum wage in Australia is $23.23 per hour or $882.80 per 38 hour week (before tax), according to the Fairwork Ombudsman.

It’s compared to $CAD16.65 per hour — $A18.80, while in the US federal minimum is $US7.25 per hour — about $A10.90.

He described it as “absolutely crazy” how much Aussies get paid for labour work. But many were quick to point out wages weren’t reflective of the cost of living crisis such as escalating rent and grocery costs.