Harry
Aveling
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This month we are very pleased to feature Indonesia Council’s very first President:
Harry Aveling.
Tell us about yourself!
I was born in Sydney in 1942 and began Indonesian and Malay Studies at the University of Sydney in 1960.
My classmates included Peter Worsley (later Prof at Sydney U), Stuart Robson (Head, Indonesian, Monash), George Miller (Head, ANU Libraries) and the poet Les Murray.
We were part of “the first generation”. Indonesia was barely 15 years old at that time. Since then, I’ve also taught in Indonesia (UI), Singapore (NIE), Vietnam (USSH, HCMH) and the United States (Ohio).
Where does your interest in Indonesia stem from?
My aunt gave me a map of Borneo when I was eight. I think she hoped I might be a missionary. (She was a very good Anglican.) Instead I became a missionary from Indonesia to Australia.
What is the nature of your engagement with Indonesia – are you an academic, a professional, an alumni?
I’m an academic and a lover of Indonesian poetry – most especially a translator. Translation is a way of bringing the most personal and emotional facets of Indonesian life to outsiders.
Have you ever been to an Indonesia Council Open Conference and if so, what is your fondest memory?
I was the Foundation President of IC. My fondest memory was seeing Indonesianists come together in one organisation at the first ICOC and hearing Herb Feith encourage us all to continue working together. We had been incredibly slow to form an Australian association of Indonesian focused scholars. “Don’t give up on Indonesia”, was his message to both the Australians and the Indonesians present.
How do you think organisations like Indonesia Council can improve Australia-Indonesia relations?
Definitely. The IC can work through humble channels – newsletters, meetings and other activities based on personal contacts – to bring people together. The interpersonal contacts at ICOC are fabulous.
What are some of the challenges and opportunities in the Indonesia-Australia relationship?
The challenges begin with the lack of language skills. Tak kenal maka tak sayang. They extend into difficulties that are part of the process of navigating opportunities to share formal and informal spaces. Because of the proximity of Indonesia and Australia to each, this sharing has got to be inevitable. It can be good, it can be bad. The Council can contribute towards a positive outcome.
Tell us about your favourite Indonesian food experience.
Discovering jus alpukat is high on my list.
Do you speak Indonesian and where did you start learning it?
Because of my early training and subsequent teaching at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, I speak Indonesian with a strong Malay accent. Our first generation has seen Indonesian language teaching boom, bust and stabilise. We have heard the endless refrain that the study of the language “has declined over the past few years” for many decades.
What’s your favourite Indonesian food and why?
I loved jus alpukat; the taste was great and I thought it was an even better way of “not drinking the water” (then I found out it was full of ice).
What’s your favourite Indonesian music/song/writer?
I read literature rather than listen to music. Top of my list is Dorothea Rosa Herliany, an extraordinary woman poet. I was reading Dee’s Supernova the other day; that is a brilliant work in quite a different way to Rosa’s.
What’s your favourite Indonesian idiom?
Sikik sikik njadi bukik (“sedikit-sedikit menjadi bukit” as they say on the BBC): slow and steady wins the race
[Last month’s PAY IT FORWARD question]:
What is a funny experience you had in Indonesia you would like to share?
I vividly remember leaving Taman Ismail Marzuki with the playwright Arifin C Noer. We were deep in conversation. Suddenly Arifin straightened up. He had left something behind at TIM. His wife. He ran back quickly. (Not funny for his wife but she was a very patient woman.)
And don’t forget to suggest a pay it forward question for next month 😊 :
Have you read any Indonesian literature?