Indonesia Council Digest - July 2022
Jeremy and I were delighted to host our first Indonesia Council event earlier this month, as part of the Asian Studies Association of Australia conference in Melbourne. Unfortunately, the plague came to my home and I was not able to join in person, but the hybrid nature of the event meant I could Zoom in with support from Jeremy on the ground.
Instead of a keynote, we hosted a panel on barriers to research in Australia and Indonesia. It was an excellent and wide-ranging discussion, and I am very grateful to our panellists—Professor Kate McGregor, Professor Vedi Hadiz, Dr Saiful Mahdi and Dr Rebecca Meckelburg—for sharing their expertise and experiences with us. My only regret is that we did not allow more time. Nevertheless, it was a valuable starting point and we hope to be able to go into more detail at our dedicated session with BRIN representatives on 5 September (co-hosted with the Monash Herb Feith Indonesian Engagement Centre; registration details coming soon).
The main update coming out of the Annual General Meeting was that we plan to work towards incorporation in the next 12 months, joining most of the ASAA’s other sub-regional associations in doing so. IC members voted in favour of this proposal at the 2018 AGM and we feel it is time to get it off the ground. Incorporation is likely to include a paid membership structure, and we are hoping to work with ASAA to offer a joint membership discount like some of the other sub-regional associations are doing. We are committed to an inclusive membership structure that prioritises heavy subsidies for students and unwaged members. We’re also keen to explore what benefits we can offer our members, such as book prizes for emerging scholars, dedicated postgrad events and a special members-only area of our website. As part of the process of incorporation, we will also be seeking charity status so that you can make tax-deductible donations if you’re so inclined. Incorporation and a paid membership structure will provide a more sustainable source of income for the Council, allowing us to cover ongoing and one-off costs. We will be circulating ideas via this Digest and are also very happy to hear from you directly: iclistdata@gmail.com.
We wrapped up with a networking and nibbles event, subsidised by ASAA (thank you!). My disappointment at not being able to join was slightly ameliorated by my joy at looking through the photos from the event, some of which I’ve included below. A big thanks to the ASAA volunteers Isabella di Nello, Piper Edmonds and Diarmuid Cooney-O’Donoghue for helping on the night, and to Ariane Defreine from SSEAC for making sure it all ran smoothly.
More photos of the event on our Facebook page.
Don’t forget to send any news/updates to iclistdata@gmail.com. Till next month!
Natali
Please follow us on Twitter (@IndoCouncil) and Facebook (Indonesia Council).
WHAT’S HAPPENING...
2022 Indonesia Update
Registrations for this year’s Indonesia Update are now open! It’s 20 years since the last Indonesia Update on gender, so this is a timely update that will bring to centre stage gender relations in Indonesia. The draft program and registration details are available online, with plenty of great speakers already confirmed. Registration is free, and you can attend in-person or online – so what are you waiting for?
OTHER COOL STUFF
The AIFIS-MSU conference in June featured a special panel on Research Collaboration in Indonesia: Navigating Policies, Permits and Partnerships and they’ve been good enough to share the recording online. The panel features two representatives from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) in conversation with AIFIS leaders, and is followed by a public Q&A session. They cover topics including ethical clearance, research permits and visas, sharing of research results, and new directions in collaboration.
JOB!
Indonesian Studies Associate Lecturer/Lecturer (Education focused) at the University of Sydney
Application closes Tuesday 16 August 2022
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of Sydney offers one of the most comprehensive and diverse ranges of humanities and social science studies in the Asia Pacific region and is regularly ranked in the top 20 arts faculties in the world. The School of Languages and Cultures offers the widest range of undergraduate and postgraduate language studies in Australia and is a Centre for European, Latin American, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.
The Indonesian Studies Discipline within the School of Languages and Cultures is seeking to appoint an Associate Lecturer or Lecturer in the field of Indonesian Studies.
CALL FOR PAPERs
ANU Indonesia Institute Postgraduate Student Conference
Australian National University, 14-15 September 2022
Deadline extended: 28 July 2022.
The ANU Indonesia Institute Postgraduate Conference is hosting an interdisciplinary conference for students conducting Indonesia-related research at the postgraduate and honours level. All postgraduate and honours students enrolled at ANU or other universities who are conducting research on Indonesia are encouraged to attend and present their research. The conference will provide an opportunity for students to share their research in a supportive environment, to learn about Indonesia-related research being conducted by other students, to meet and network with students with similar interests, and to gains insights into how to publish their work and build a professional research career.
The conference will take place immediately before the ANU Indonesia Update, which will be held on 16-17 September on the topic of Gender Equality and Diversity in Indonesia: Identifying Progress and Challenges.
Registration due date: 28 July 2022. To register to attend or present a paper click here. For queries please contact: indonesia.institute@anu.edu.au. Registration is free of charge.
Australian Society for Asian Humanities Emerging Scholars Award
Applications are open for the Australian Society for Asian Humanities Emerging Scholars Award. If you work in the Asian Humanities and have an unpublished academic paper (5000-7000 words), apply now to be considered for the $200 prize (and the opportunity to update our CV with a 2023 ASAH Emerging Scholar Award!). Deadline: 31 January 2023
I’m happy to advise that we’ve got some interest in hosting the 2023 Indonesia Council Open Conference—stay tuned for more details to come.
PUBLICATIONS
Congrats to IC member Dr Jane Ahlstrand on her new book, Women, Media, and Power in Indonesia, published by Routledge. This book demonstrates the crucial link between gender and structures of power in democratic Indonesia, and the role of the online news media in regulating this relationship of power. Using critical discourse analysis as a theoretical framework, and social actor analysis as the methodological approach, this book examines the discursive representation of three prominent female Indonesian political figures (Megawati Soekarnoputri, Tri Rismaharini, and Susi Pudjiastuti) in the mainstream Indonesian online news media in a period of social-political transition. It presents newfound linguistic evidence in the form of discourse strategies that reflect the women’s dynamic relationship with power. More broadly, the critical analysis of the news discourse becomes a way of uncovering and evaluating implicit barriers and opportunities affecting women’s political participation in Indonesia and other Asian political contexts, Indonesia’s process of democratisation, and the influential role of the online news media in shaping and reflecting political discourse.
Max Richter also got a new book out: Riding the Mega Tropis: Life, Music and Work as a Jakarta Volunteer. As Max says, this book is about volunteering in Southeast Asia but it also touches on other, universal themes including 'establishing and maintaining cordial neighbourhood relations; dealing with hazards and disasters; interacting with government bodies and others to learn about, discuss or advance an agenda; catching up with friends, going for a browse or stroll or to a gig.' You can order direct from Max, via the link above or max.richter1984 [at] yahoo.com.
Engineering student Ivy He published an article in New Mandala in which she examines the process of Building Back Better through a case-study of Gunung Merapi in Java, Indonesia.
Also on New Mandala is this cracking read by Dr Wulan Dirgantoro and Dr Elly Kent about the controversy at Documenta 15. Read it for the behind-the-scenes insights it provides, and also for its sensitive approach to a difficult topic.
Our Deputy President, Dr Jeremy Kingsley, co-authored this piece with Dr Nadirsyah Hosen on the Australia-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, asking what needs to be done to ensure the agreement works for both countries.
If you published something on Indonesia recently and it’s not listed here, just get in touch: iclistdata@gmail.com. We rely on you to send us news and information. 😊
ACICIS update
Over 235 students have so far applied for ACICIS in-country programs running over Summer 2022/23 and first semester 2023. A supplementary application round has just been opened. Students keen to study in Indonesia with ACICIS in the first half of 2023 now have until Sunday 14 August (for short format programs) and Sunday 21 August (for semester programs) to get their applications in.
The path to restarting in-country study at scale in Indonesia remains rocky with the big shock over recent weeks being the significant increase in-country program delivery costs. Early indications suggest costs are up ~30% on pre-pandemic levels. Added to the current cost of international airfares, and the recent changes to Indonesian visa requirements, it is clear that—at least in the short term—student mobility to Indonesia will be a more costly proposition for Australian students than it once was. With the settings of DFAT’s New Colombo Plan yet to catch up with this changed reality, ACICIS is seeking to navigate these choppy waters as best it can. Most immediately, the consortium has begun expanding its staffing in Indonesia to cope with the significantly increased administrative burden arising from the new Indonesian student visa requirements.
MEET OUR MEMBER
This month in Meet our Members, we are featuring PhD candidate Yunie Rahmat. If you’re keen to be featured (or want to make a cheeky nomination for someone else), get in touch: iclistdata@gmail.com.
Yunie Rahmat
Tell us about yourself!
Hi I’m Yunie. I am currently a third-year PhD student at the University of Sydney, researching about the process of agrarian change in coastal regions of Indonesia. My study (and my life in Sydney) is sponsored by the Australia Awards Scholarship (so thank you Australia!). Prior to commencing my PhD, I worked as a lecturer at Urban and Regional Planning, Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Indonesia. And now I am happily living in Sydney with my husband and our 3-year old boy.
Where does your interest in Indonesia stem from?
Indonesia is a big and diverse country and it’s always been my aspiration to travel across the country, understanding people’s lives, and especially the relationship between people and space—hence human geography. My interest now is narrowed down to coastal regions, probably because I grew up in a small village in a coastal district in West Java (though I do not live very close to the beach). And besides, who doesn’t love beach and seafood, right?
How do you think organisations like Indonesia Council can improve Australia-Indonesia relations?
I think we sometimes under-estimate how conversation can help to shape or influence our perceptions towards others. I believe organisations like Indonesia Council can contribute to create or enable the kind of conversations that would bridge the differences between Australia and Indonesia through knowledge sharing and personal connection. And I think that being an organisation of scholars from both Indonesia and Australia puts Indonesia Council in a better position to be heard by both the public and the government.
What are some of the challenges and opportunities in the Indonesia-Australia relationship?
One of the major challenges of the relationship is the knowledge gap between the public in both countries. The absence or little knowledge that people gained from limited exposure to the people and culture in the other party often shapes their perceptions towards them. The challenge is then on how to create more opportunities and spaces for a quality interaction between people. The new “online world” opens more opportunities this interaction, at least as a starter to a more personal connection.
Tell us about your favourite Indonesian food experience
Coming to Sydney, I can only cook few Indonesian dishes (or any dishes). But when I realised that food is a cure to homesickness, I learned how to cook Indonesian dishes, starting with the food that I like. I successfully made karedok, pepes ayam, pepes ikan, nasi liwet, sate, ayam bakar, etc, but when it comes to my ultimate favourite food bakso, I failed. Nevertheless, living in other country has taught me a lot about respecting food and the people who make it.
What’s your favourite Indonesian idiom?
My favourite Indonesian idiom is probably seperti padi, kian berisi, kian merunduk, which means the more knowledgeable the person, the more humble he/she is. This idiom helps to remind me about humility, respecting other people and their views/opinions, and learning from others, regardless of their socio-economic or education levels.
[Last month’s PAY IT FORWARD question]: You’ve been asked by Foreign Minister Wong for a ‘big idea’ that will effect positive change in Australia-Indonesia bilateral people-to-people relations. What will you pitch to her?
Education plays major role in bridging the bilateral people-to-people relations between countries. Unfortunately, there is only a small percentage of Indonesians who can continue their education in Australia, mostly coming from the “privileged” groups. One of the biggest challenges faced by the “non-privileged” to study and/or work in Australia is English proficiency. My pitch to Minister Wong would be to recruit Australians to teach English and Australian history and culture to “non-elite” high schools and universities in Indonesia. At the same time, they would inevitably learn Indonesian language and culture. This could be a 6-months to 1 year program per batch. A complementary program would be to link Australian libraries with Indonesian schools, where these libraries can donate books and arrange online “book reading” sessions for Indonesian children, and the Australian community can participate in them.
PAY IT FORWARD: Finally, it’s YOUR turn to ask a question… Please suggest a question we can ask our next member!
You are President of the Indonesia Council, and the Indonesian Minister of Education Nadiem Makarim asks your creative advice on how to improve knowledge sharing and intercultural understanding between youth in Indonesia and Australia. What would be your best advice to him?
Be sure to check out the August Monthly Digest for our next featured member!
