In Reply to: When you shake hands posted by mimpi manis on Tuesday, 10. July 2007 at 15:07 Bali Time:
that can be very confusing at irst is that many adult Balinese do not commonly use their own name but use that of their eldest child. Thus two of my longest time colleagues in Bali are Pak Muli and Pak Eka and are always called that because their eldest children are Muliarta (Muli for short) and Eka. In actual fact their actual names Wayan Sumatra and Wayan Sujanto but they would only use these in formal office situations. Many women also use Ibu 'child's name in same way. This makes it even more important to always use the Pak/Ibu or you will end up calling someone by their child's name.