Helen Pausacker
Tell us about yourself!
In my day job, I am Deputy Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society (CILIS) at the Melbourne Law School, where I have worked since 1999, as a research assistant. As part of this role, I am joint executive editor of the Australian Journal of Asian Law with Tim Lindsey. I have also been a member of two Melbourne-based gamelan groups: Melbourne Community Gamelan (Solo-style) since 1991 and of Putra Panji Asmara (Cirebon-style, focusing on topeng or masked dancing), since 1999. In addition to playing music, I occasionally perform as a dalang (puppeteer) with MCG and as a bodhor (clown) with PPA.
Where does your interest in Indonesia stem from?
At school I was only able to study European languages (German, French and Latin). At university, I was therefore keen to study Indonesian and Japanese, to learn more about our region. In our first Indonesian lecture, the late Pak Pieter Sarumpaet taught us about ‘gotong royong’ and said, ‘You will learn more by working together. I will be happy if you hand in identical translations, if I have seen you working on them in small groups in the library.’ The messy, noisy, Indonesian department library became my home and my co-translators are still among my closest friends, over fifty years later.
What is the nature of your engagement with Indonesia – are you an academic, a professional, an alumni?
Over the years, I have worked in a number of different Indonesia-related positions, including administrative positions in the Indonesian Department at the University of Melbourne, project officer for an information project at the Australian Council for Overseas Aid and office manager for the magazine, Inside Indonesia. I have also done work as a language facilitator. In the academic area, I have been a research assistant in History, Agricultural Extension and, my last and longest position, Law at the University of Melbourne.
Have you ever been to an Indonesia Council Open Conference and if so, what is your fondest memory?
I have been to a number of Indonesia Council Open Conferences. I particularly like the fact that Indonesia Council conferences are smaller than many others, making them more relaxed and making it possible to talk in greater depth with each other. I also like the fact that Indonesia Council conferences have not charged a registration fee, which enables participation by postgraduate students and others not in full employment.
How do you think organisations like Indonesia Council can improve Australia-Indonesia relations?
The Indonesian Council provides an opportunity for academics and postgraduates from both Australia and Indonesia to share their research and form personal bonds. These, in turn, can lead to collaborative research, to feed into the policies of our respective governments. The Indonesian Council (and the ASAA) can also lobby the government, in an attempt to prevent further backsliding in support for the study of Indonesian language and area studies.
What are some of the challenges and opportunities in the Indonesia-Australia relationship?
In the wider communities of both Australia and Indonesia, there is little understanding of each other’s countries, which can at times lead to low levels of trust. While relationships between our governments are important, people-to-people relationships are essential to foster relations in all areas, from economics, geopolitics and law to culture. Scholarships for young Indonesians to study in Australia and for young Australians to study in Indonesia can provide great opportunities for developing these relationships and increasing understanding.
Tell us about your favourite Indonesian food experience
When I first studied pedalangan (puppetry) at the Akademi Seni Karawitan in Solo, Central Java (now Institut Seni Indonesia Surakarta) in 1976-77, there was no canteen. A woman would come to campus with a huge basket full of warm, freshly cooked rice, vegetables and pecel sauce, which she served in banana leaves. As she handed it to us, she would say, ‘Sèket’, or 50 (rupiah), and her tongue would remain slightly visible between her teeth. Not only was her pecel the most delicious I have tasted but she inadvertently taught me how to form the Javanese sound ‘t’.
Do you speak Indonesian and where did you start learning it?
I learned Indonesian at the University of Melbourne. After my degree I was granted a scholarship from the Indonesian government, the beginning of the Darmasiswa programme for non-ASEAN students, to study pedalangan in Solo. My first teacher said he would only teach me if I spoke Javanese, so I first spent an intensive six months, studying Javanese with a private tutor. I chose to use Indonesian as the medium for him to teach me Javanese.
What’s your favourite Indonesian food and why?
I particularly like tempeh: its flavour and its texture. I like it on its own, fried in pieces (but not with batter), as a snack, or in dishes such as sambal goreng tempeh or rendang tempeh.
What’s your favourite Indonesian music/song/writer?
I am particularly fond of Narto Sabdho’s songs, which are catchy. The only problem is that they become ear-worms for a few days, whenever I hear them.
What’s your favourite Indonesian idiom?
murah hati – ‘generous, magnanimous, kindly, open-hearted’ but literally, ‘cheap liver’. ‘Cheap’ often has a negative connotation in English but I like the fact that it is positive in Indonesian.
[Last month’s PAY IT FORWARD question]:
What is the most hilarious situation you have found yourself in Indonesia?
When I was first living in Solo and had just begun to study Javanese, I was asked by a fellow foreign student if I would water his potted plants, while he was in Jakarta. While walking through the kampung to his house, his neighbours called out to me in Javanese, ‘Where are you going?’ I replied, ‘I am going to water Mas Marc’s potted plants’. Well, that was what I thought I had said. Not knowing the word for watering plants yet, I had made up a verb from the noun, toya (High Javanese for water) to become toyani. The next week, in my Javanese class, I discovered to my horror (and amusement) that toyani is the polite way to say ‘urinate’. I pictured the neighbours looking up to Marc’s balcony on the second floor, wondering why I was urinating on Mas Marc’ plants and, as the water overflowed from the flowerpots and dripped down to the ground, saying ‘Those Westerners must have enormous bladders!’
?PAY IT FORWARD: Finally, it’s YOUR turn to ask a question… Please suggest a question we can ask our next member!
Indonesian language has incorporated many English words, sometimes altering the meaning of the original English word in the process of adopting it. What is your favourite Indonesian word derived from English?