15 posts tagged “indonesia”
Interesting opinion piece. I don't follow Asian politics as closely as I used to and have only been vaguely aware of what has been happening in Thailand. I wonder if the Indonesians on Vox agree that the situation in Indonesia is starting to improve? It is 13 years since I was in Indonesia proper (a short holiday to Bali doesn't really count). I was working in government there during the dying days of the Suharto administration so got to witness some of the corruption and lethargy first hand. I even spoke to older Indonesians who claimed that things were better under the Dutch than they were under Suharto. I would love to think that this description was an accurate one:
"Indonesia in 2008 is a stable, competitive electoral democracy, with a highly decentralised system of governance, achieving solid rates of economic growth, under competent national leadership, and playing a constructive role in the regional and broader international community."
I don't usually do anything special for ANZAC Day but happened to be in the city with the kids on Saturday and saw lots of old diggers out and about. Seeing them always makes me feel sad. After we got home, I got out my grandfather's medals to show the kids. He was stationed in Balikpapan in Indonesia during World War II and, despite a general reluctance to talk much about his war time experiences (except to me), seems to have kept a lot of things from that time, including letters home, ration books, leave passes, tickets, photos etc etc. Here are a few photos of some of the items.
I have been meaning to scan them for the family and then maybe see if the War Memorial in Canberra would like any of the items as they would have better means of preserving them than we would. I am thinking with the letters that I will probably have to re-type them as they are so faded now that they wouldn't scan well. Some might even be written in pencil so it is amazing that they are still legible at all.
After the war, grandad returned to his former profession of painting but had to give this up eventually as he had sustained damage to his hearing which also affected his balance (an issue when you are climbing ladders for a living). He had always been interested in electronics and got a job in the physics department at the University of Melbourne (constructing circuits and things for the students). He also ran his own television and radio repair business in his garage at home. My brother still has the old sign.
This is him on the right at my university graduation in 1989. I was surprised that he was so keen to come along as his hearing was so bad at that stage and he preferred to stay away from noisy functions. I remember when I did invite him, he said "I thought you'd never ask".
He lived to the ripe old age of 97 (pre-deceased by his wife and eldest son - my dad - by several years) and managed to remain at home for almost all of that time. It is interesting reading his wartime letters (which were mostly written during his training in Sydney and Townsville, before being sent to Indonesia) as he seemed like quite a different person back then. He was always rather cantankerous when I knew him (although not to me so much) but he seems quite sentimental in his letters and talks about missing his wife and children back home. I'm not sure if it was the war that changed him or subsequent his loss of hearing (which isolated him from a lot of the people around him). It makes me think that you never really know anyone completely.
Terima kasih banyak, Indonesia.
Back in August, I wrote a post for the Friday 13 group listing '13 things I love about Indonesia'. It has been my most commented on post on Vox - mostly lovely comments from Indonesians saying how much they like it. I have just found out why it is still getting attention months after I posted it. It seems that back in September, someone re-posted it on the KasKus forum which is described as the 'largest Indonesian community on the web. There are 10 pages of nice comments in the thread. I feel so honoured!
And for those who couldn't read the original post, here is a translation in English.
Because this Sunday is Indonesian Independence Day, I will try and write a post in Indonesian. The topic: thirteen reasons I love Indonesia.
1. Indonesia is a neighbour to Australian and it is important to "Love they neighbour".
2. Most Indonesians are friendly, kind hearted and love to laugh.
3. Indonesian good is delicious, especially gado gado [a cold salad with peanut sauce], beef rendang [this is slow cooked beef in a kind of coconut curry sauce] etc.
4. Indonesia is a great place to travel as it is quite cheap and there are so many beautiful and interesting places to go.
5. Indonesia is a good example of a truly multicultural society. Yes, there are many problems but it is still a big achievement to unite so many different people under the one flag.
6. The Indonesian language is colourful and always evolving. It can also be understood in other countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.
7. Indonesians Muslims tend to be more moderate than in some other parts of the world, such as the Middle East. This is important because the majority of the worlds Muslims actually are Indonesia. This gives Indonesia an important role in advancing peace and promoting mutual understanding between the religions of the world.
8. The majority of Indonesians are short. This means that I can feel tall (or at least not so short) when I am there! ;)
9. Indonesia is a great shopping destination.
10. Indonesian culture is so varied and interesting, for instance, wayang (puppetry), modern theatre, music, dance etc.
11. Indonesians ask the questions that everyone else is afraid to ask!12. It is quite cheap and easy to visit Indonesia from Australia.
13. Some of my favourite vox neighbours [eg, Connie, Susan, Melisa and now Aya] are from Indonesia.
Terima kasih banyak, angotta2 KasKus!
I just learned from my neighbour Adeline that 22 September is World Elephant Appreciation Day so that is as good an excuse as any to post some of my photos from the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary in Malaysia which relies on donations from tourists and others to help it continue with its work in relocating and caring for the elephants which come from various parts of Asia. Most of the elephants have been translocated to Kuala Gandah because they are orphans or because they were "encroaching on plantations or population centres" and therefore in danger of being shot or harmed. More on the translocation team's work here.
The facilities at Kuala Gandah were actually pretty basic (although apparently quite a big improvement on what they used to be). I think that they probably could have charged visitors a lot more than they currently do (currently donation only) to help fund better care for the elephants. We had previously visited another elephant sanctuary in Bali, Indonesia, which is a very commercially run operation. I don't know enough about it to know whether or not the elephants have a better quality of life in this sanctuary compared to Kuala Gandah. For instance, one of the money making schemes at the Bali sanctuary is elephant art. I don't know if this is a good thing or not? Do the elephants enjoy doing or is it just a means to an end? Also does all the money raised go back into caring for the elephants or is some tour company becoming very rich from it? Would be interested in Adeline's (or anyone else who knows about these things) views on this.
From the weekend Sydney Morning Herald:
Ship-shape … Daryl Guse, from the Australian National University, with the long-hidden rock art at Djulirri in the Wellington Range, Arnhem Land.
Photo: Rick StevensLatest related coverage
Window into the past
Audio slideshow: An amazing discovery of Aboriginal rock art dating back more than 15,000 years, gives voice to the indigenous population and how they dealt with change.James Woodford
September 20, 2008HIDDEN in rugged ranges in north-west Arnhem Land, a spectacular treasure-trove of Aboriginal rock art is set to rewrite the history of Australia.
In a find that has stunned archaeologists and anthropologists, a vast wall of about 1500 paintings chronicles the history of Aboriginal contact with outsiders, from Macassan prows and European sailing ships to 19th-century steamships and a World War II battleship.
Alongside exquisite rock art more than 15,000 years old are paintings that capture some of the 19th and 20th centuries' most important technological innovations - a biplane, bicycle, car and rifle - as well as portraits of church ministers, sea captains and traders.
This indigenous version of a history book rivals anything similar in the world and holds the key to Australia's ancient and modern history, according to scientists who have just returned from an expedition to the Djulirri rock shelter in the Wellington Range. The Griffith University archaeologist Professor Paul Tacon, one of five scientists who travelled to Djulirri, said it was of international significance, unprecedented in artistic and technical merit and telling a new story of contact between Aboriginal people and the world.
Contrary to the popular view that indigenous Australians were isolated on their island continent, waves of other seafaring visitors arrived long before British settlement. For hundreds of years there may have been an export economy in northern Australia driven by the Chinese appetite for trepang, or sea cucumber.
While it has long been known that Macassans traded with Aboriginal people, the accepted date for this was in the early 18th century. The team of scientists believes it may have begun centuries earlier.
"This rock art dismantles the popular identity of Australia being a nation first visited by the British," said Dr Alistair Paterson, of the University of Western Australia, also on the expedition. "It goes against the idea of the Bicentennial and convicts."
The first rock art expert known to have seen the shelter was George Chaloupka in the 1970s. But the exact location was lost until a doctoral student at the Australian National University, Daryl Guse, relocated it by working with a local Aboriginal elder, Ronald Lamilami.
Apart from conducting the first full recording of the Djulirri art, the team of researchers discovered thousands of other rock paintings previously unknown to science.
Their trip was the first part of a three-year national program to uncover the archaeology of first contact with Aboriginal people around Australia. But the researchers fear that, without urgent government support, the Arnhem Land sites could be severely damaged. Tourism is rapidly expanding in the Wellington Range, says a Griffith University archaeologist, Dr Sally May, and one of the most important rock art sites, known as Malarrak, is being severely degraded by visitors.
Mining companies are also sweeping into the area. The range is a prime site for uranium and other exploration. Mr Lamilami wants an indigenous ranger program established to ensure the sites are properly managed.
I am actually surprised that Makassan contact normally dated as 18th century. From what I understand, there is loads of evidence of long standing contact between Northern Australian indigenous people and Indonesian sailors, for instance, in the art and the language and even some cultural practices. There is no reason to think that this wouldn't pre-date the 18th century as the Makassans getting all over the place long before that, I thought.
Now to hope that all this amazing art is properly protected!
Following on from my alternative Vox hunt posts, I have set up a group called World Holiday Photo and Post Challenge, the purpose of which is to learn and post about different holidays that may be occurring in different parts of the world. Please consider yourself invited to come and join if you haven't already. The group is also kind of a reaction to the North America focus of so many of the Vox questions. In the group description, I have also included a link to a calendar to see what holidays are coming up. One that caught my attention this week was the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. I have long been interested in the story of Ganesh, the elephant headed boy. This account of the story is from Wikipedia:
The Origin of the festival lies in the Holy Hindu scriptures which tell the story of Lord Ganesha. Lord Ganesha (or Ganapati) (the names mean "Lord [isha] or [pati] of Shiva's hosts [gana]") was created by goddess Parvati, consort of Lord Shiva.
According to the legend, Lord Shiva, the Hindu God of resolution, was away at a war. His wife Pavarti, wanted to bathe and having no-one to guard the door to her house, conceived of the idea of creating a son who could guard her. Parvati created Ganesha out of the sandalwood paste that she used for her bath and breathed life into the figure. She then set him to stand guard at her door and instructed him not to let anyone enter.
In the meantime, Lord Shiva returned from the battle but as Ganesha did not know him, stopped Shiva from entering Parvati's chamber. Shiva, enraged by Ganesh’s impudence, drew his trident and cut off Ganesha's head. Pavarti emerged to find Ganesha decapitated and flew into a rage. She took on the form of the Goddess Kali and threatened destruction to the three worlds of Heaven, Earth and the subterranean earth.
Seeing her in this mood, the other Gods were afraid and Shiva, in an attempt to pacify Parvati, sent out his ganas, or hordes, to bring the head of the first living being with his head towards the north (the auspicious direction associated with wisdom). The first living thing they came across was an elephant. So they brought the head of this elephant and Shiva placed it on the trunk of Parvati's son and breathed life into him. Parvati was overjoyed and embraced her son, the elephant-headed boy whom Shiva named Ganesha, the lord of his ganas.
These days:
Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, is widely worshipped as the supreme god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune.
I have seen lots of representations of Ganesha in art or sculpture. This one resides in the National Museum of Indonesia in Jakarta and provides a reminder of Java's Hindu past:
I don't know if the holiday of Ganesh Chartuti is still celebrated in any of the Hindu parts of Indonesia, such as the island of Bali.
My yoga teacher, who is very interested in Hindu philosophy and beliefs, has a small statue of Ganesh in the room where we do our yoga, so expect she will have something to say about this holiday at this week's yoga class.
As mentioned previously, we have been having such a troublesome time lately with the kids apparently doing a tag team thing with being sick or injured or having some other minor crisis requiring us to take time of work. I just feel fortunate that my boss has kids so is quite understanding about it all. I bumped into a neighbour at the station this morning and moaning to her about it all. She is Muslim from Indonesia and said that this is pretty typical for the month leading up to Ramadhan (Muslim fasting month) as it is believed to be the time when the ancestors hang around causing troubles. I'm not sure if this is a belief shared by all Muslims or just Indonesian ones*. I also wondered whether it is only Muslim ancestors or all ancestors who get up to tricks during this month. If the former, I thought perhaps next door's ancestors had taken a wrong turn and mistakenly ended up at our place.
In any case, today feels like a better day. Not only is it the first day of Spring (in the Southern Hemisphere anyway) but Ramadhan has begun so hopefully the neighbourhood ancestors will feel sufficiently placated and not trouble us any more for a while.
Best Ramadhan wishes to all my Muslim friends on Vox (and their ancestors)!
*Feel free to correct me if this is not an accurate reflection of Muslim beliefs. The train arrived as we were talking so I didn't get a chance to get a full run-down on all the ancestor business and am quite interested in learning more about it.
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