Pam
Allen
This month, we are delighted to feature Pam Allen from the University of Tasmania. From now on, we will only be featuring paid-up / subscribed members of IC so if you want to be featured, please sign up as a member 😊
Tell us about yourself!
I taught Indonesian language and literature for almost 40 years, in schools and most recently at the University of Tasmania, until my retirement in 2016. In retirement I’ve been able to focus more on being a literary translator. I continue to go to Indonesia regularly while also enjoying life in beautiful Hobart. I also relish my role as grandmother of three delightful grandchildren.
Where does your interest in Indonesia stem from?
It was accidental really. Languages – French and German - were my forte at school, and I assumed I would continue to study them at university, until a far-sighted career counsellor (remember this was in the early 1970s) at Devonport High School suggested I take up an Asian language, as Australia’s future lay in that region. So off I went to ANU, where I opted for Indonesian, knowing nothing about the country, because I thought Chinese or Japanese would be far too hard. I visited Indonesia for the first time when I was 19, and I was hooked. My brain got rewired on that visit.
What is the nature of your engagement with Indonesia – are you an academic, a professional, an alumni?
I hold an adjunct academic position with the University of Tasmania. But my engagement with Indonesia is much more than academic – see above comment about having my brain rewired. Indonesia is a part of who I am really.
Have you ever been to an Indonesia Council Open Conference and if so, what is your fondest memory?
Yes I’ve been to many and I always find them so fulfilling – new people, new ideas. Probably my fondest memory is hosting ICOC in Hobart in 2012, with Barbara Hatley and Steve Miller.
How do you think organisations like Indonesia Council can improve Australia-Indonesia relations?
Well this is the 64 million dollar question isn’t it. We Indonesianists know how important that relationship is but getting that message across to non-Indonesianists is so hard. I’ve spent 50 years of my life trying to do it! One thing that might help is if there is a way the Council could play a corrective role to the negative images of Indonesia the media delights in promulgating.
What are some of the challenges and opportunities in the Indonesia-Australia relationship?
We’re neighbours, which brings both challenges and opportunities. The media revels in bad news stories about Indonesia. (Every time an Australian dies in Bali, even if from natural causes, it makes front page news.) Despite our geographical proximity, culturally there are significant differences that need to be respected on both sides. But there are opportunities in areas like environmental protection. And the experiences afforded by programs like ACICIS are invaluable.
Tell us about your favourite Indonesian food experience
There are so many! Perhaps my fondest memory is introducing my daughters, then aged about 8, to martabak in Padang. A walk down the road to the kakilima became almost a nightly activity. And then, in a sweet twist, about 10 years later I visited my daughter while she was doing an ACICIS program in Yogya, and she took me to her favourite nasi bungkus warung. So many memories revolve around nasi bungkus.
Do you speak Indonesian and where did you start learning it?
Yes. ANU in 1973, with Pak Soebardi and Yohanni Johns.
What’s your favourite Indonesian food and why?
It’s pretty hard to go past Padang food. No restaurant can make rendang like the Minangkabau people do! But wait – there’s also ayam taliwang in Lombok. With plecing kangkung. Or gurami bakar.
What’s your favourite Indonesian music/song/writer?
By now I’ve made my demographic pretty clear so you won’t be surprised that I’m an Iwan Fals groupie from way back.
What’s your favourite Indonesian idiom?
Sambil menyelam minum air (Have a drink while diving – roughly equivalent to ‘kill two birds with one stone’)
[Last month’s PAY IT FORWARD question]:
What is an unexpected similarity you found between Indonesian and Australian culture?
Sport can be a great unifier of people.
And don’t forget to suggest a pay it forward question for next month 😊
Have you ever made a mistake when using Indonesian numbers and/or currency?