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Australia Indonesia Association
Jan – March 2015
What’s inside
President’s message
Australia Indonesia Awards
Event and the winners
Majapahit Architecture –
Book Review
Jalanan – Movie Review
Recipe
KABAR – AIA News
Established in 1945
January – March 2015
Hi Everyone,
Hope you enjoyed the Christmas break after what has
been a busy time for most of us. Time to relax and
enjoy the cricket and the summer sunshine. In coming
weeks we will also have the opportunity to see
firsthand the Asian Football Championship being
played in Australia.
Boxing Day was a reminder of the tsunami that
devastated Aceh and other parts of Asia 10 years
ago, when over 250,000 people lost their lives.
No hiccups in the relations between Australia and
Indonesia over recent months. President Joko Widodo
has been inaugurated and his Cabinet appointed.
They face some difficult challenges in ensuring that
economic development continues, whilst providing
opportunities
for
infrastructure,
health
and
employment.
Greg Moriarty has finished his term as Ambassador to
Indonesia, returning to Canberra after a job well done.
He has been a keen supporter of the AIA, and we
wish him well in his new role. The new Ambassador,
Paul Grigson, will take up his position in Jakarta in
January. He has extensive experience, and we wish
him well with this posting.
The Indonesian Consul General Yayan Mulyana has
been busy getting out and about to visit the various
community groups. He recently invited all the groups
to a meeting at the Consulate to start coordinating the
various functions and activities over the next year.
The Consulate is also updating its directory of
AIA NSW Newsletter
organisations and contact details.
For the AIA it has been an extremely busy period
organizing the Australia Indonesia Awards and the
Scholarships. After months of preparation and
organization, the Selection Panel reviewed the
Australia Indonesia Awards nominations and the
Finalists announced. The winners were then
presented with their prizes at a Gala Presentation
Dinner attended by over 200 people, some travelling
from interstate and from Indonesia. Congratulations
to Alfira O’Sullivan, David Hill, and Frank Palmos on
winning the awards, and to all those involved with
the awards program. Please refer to the separate
article for details and photos. The net proceeds from
the night will be presented to the Nusa Tenggara
Association for their various projects in eastern
Indonesia.
The Presentation Dinner was also the opportunity to
present
the
AIA
student
scholarships.
Congratulations to Carson McGovern, Yr 10 (2014),
Merewether High School, and Caitlin O’Brien, Yr 11
(2014),Tumut High School, on winning the AIA
Commbank Scholarships to spend 2 weeks on an
“Immersion” course in Yogyakarta. Congratulations
also to Kiara Thomson, Yr 12 (2014), Woolooware
High School, on being awarded the “Lottie Maramis”
Scholarship.
Welcome to several new members who have
joined recently and many of the students who
applied for the various scholarships. Hope to see
you at the next function.
Jan – March 2015
KABAR
Australia
Indonesia
Awards 2014
On 29 November 2014, the
Australia Indonesia Association
(AIA)
hosted
the
Australia
Indonesia Awards Presentation
Night, where the Winners of the
Awards were announced. The
NSW Premier and the Australian
Foreign Minister through their
representatives, the Hon Charles
Casuscelli MP and Nickolas
Varvaris MP, spoke of the people
to people relationships being the
basis for government, business
and other relationships between
the two countries. The Indonesian
Consul General Mr Yayan GH
Mulyana also spoke about the
relations between our countries
and praised the AIA for initiating
AIA NSW Newsletter
these awards.
Eric de Haas, AIA President, spoke
of the concept of the “Australia
Indonesia Awards” program being
inspired by the “Australian of the
Year” awards. Politicians from both
sides of politics have spoken of the
underlying strength of the relations
between Australia and Indonesia
as being the “people to people”
relations.
There
are
many
Australians who in their own way
have
contributed
to
the
relationships.
The
“Australia
Indonesia
Awards”
aims
to
recognise and honour them.
In this inaugural year of the
Awards, nominations were called in
three categories; Art, Education,
and Media. Nominations closed in
September and were reviewed by
an independent Selection Panel,
chaired by Mr Bill Farmer AO, a
former Ambassador to Indonesia.
The Panel selected the three
finalists in each category, and the
winners in each category were
announced
at
the
Awards
Presentation Night.
The finalists came from all over
Australia and some are resident in
Indonesia. They ranged from
people with a lifetime involvement,
to those who are much younger but
have been an inspiration to others.
Mr Farmer and the other Selection
Panelists remarked on the difficulty
in choosing between finalists as
they were all very worthy of an
award.
Videos of each of the winners at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/
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ARTS CATEGORY
Alfira O’Sullivan
Dance artist Alfira is the founder of Suara Indonesia Dance, which builds peopleto-people relationships through educational tours and performance across the two
countries. Alfira leads her Indonesian-Australian artists to explore their Indonesian
identity in Australia through performance to preserve and honour her cultural
heritage. She provides community support through dance and music, including
tsunami and earthquake survivors in Aceh and Yogyakarta.
EDUCATION CATEGORY
Professor David Hill
David is Professor of Southeast Asian Studies and Fellow of the Asia Research
Centre for Social, Political and Economic Change at Murdoch University in
Perth. He is a distinguished academic, educator and founder of the Australian
Consortium of In-Country Indonesian Studies (ACICIS) in Yogyakarta.
MEDIA CATEGORY
Francis Palmos
Frank is a journalist, historian, translator, and author. Frank has researched early
Indonesian history for more than 20 years. His book "Surabaya 1945 - Sacred
Territory" is in digital form in Universities and soon to be published. In 1964 he
founded the first newspaper bureau in Jakarta, then served three two-year stints,
covering the rise and fall of the Communist Party and the subsequent civil upheavals.
President Soekarno and many cabinet members regularly called upon Frank to
translate for them.
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!
are made by Australian tourists each year. We do
business with Indonesia supplying their population of
240 million and importing natural resources.”!
“Indonesia presents Australia with opportunities for
growth as it seeks to become the worlds 7th largest
economy - Indonesia will always be Australia’s largest,
non-English speaking neighbour.”!
“Our winners can see this opportunity. Bahasa
Indonesia in a student’s toolkit will give them a
competitive edge in the Asian Century and we
congratulate our winners,” concludes Ms Tulevski.!
NSW Students Get Ready for the Asian Century!
Sydney, 19 November 2014 – This week the
Australia Indonesia Association NSW (AIA NSW)
announced the winners of its Indonesian
scholarships for high school students. The AIA
offers scholarships to support and encourage
students who are committed to the study of Bahasa
Indonesia.!
“This year only 190 NSW students sat Indonesian
for their HSC. While this number is small it is up
10% on last year and we want to encourage this
upwards trend with our scholarships,” says Mr Eric
de Haas, President AIA NSW.!
The winners of the Australia Indonesia
Association Commonwealth Bank 2015
Scholarship are:!
Caitlin O’Brien, Yr 11 (2014) Indonesian
Beginners Student, Tumut High School.!
Carson McGovern, Yr 10 (2014)
Indonesian Continuers, Merewether High
School.!
The winner of the AIA “Lottie Maramis”
Scholarship is:!
Kiara Thomson, Yr 12 (2014) Indonesian
Continuers, Woolooware High School –
planning to study at Sydney University.!
“We can’t understand why there aren’t more
students studying Bahasa Indonesia,” says Miriam
Tulevski, Education Convenor, AIA NSW.!
“Education has been part of Commonwealth Bank’s
strong commitment throughout the years. We
employ almost 3,000 people in Indonesia and we are
very supportive of this great initiative to improve
understanding and engagement between Australians
and Indonesians,” says Mr Ian Whitehead, Executive
General Manager, Indonesia, Commonwealth Bank.!
The AIA CommBank Scholarship is an expenses paid 2
week immersion course in Yogyakarta. Students will
stay in a home stay with an Indonesian family. It is
delivered by the Australian Indonesian Association of
Victoria and will take place in January 2015. Last year
the award was won by Maire Playford who became
School Captain at Macarthur Anglican School.!
!
Named after our enthusiastic patron who passed away
in 2013, the “Lottie Maramis” Scholarship is a $500
cash prize for a year 12 student continuing with the
study of Bahasa Indonesia at University.!
!
The Australia Indonesia Association of NSW is a notfor-profit, non-government organisation established in
1945 to encourage cultural exchange and to promote
friendship and understanding between Australians and
Indonesians. Activities include education initiatives,
talks, tours, dinners, fundraising and an annual AIA
Awards night celebrating contributions of Australians to
the relationship with Indonesia.
For more information about AIA Scholarships please
contact Miriam Tulevski on mtulevski@apmd.com.au.
“We’re friends with Indonesia – over 1 million visits
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Jan – March 2015
Bill Dalton's review of Majapahit Style, Bali Advertiser, republished with the kind permission of Bill Dalton.
This is an abbreviated version – for the full article please go to www.baliadvertiser.biz
---------------------
Majapahit Style by Made Wijaya
Regarded as the Golden Age of Indonesian
history, the maritime empire of Majapahit
reached its apogee in the 14th century. Though
it thrived for only 300 years (late 13th C. to
early 16th C.), Majapahit was Indonesia’s
greatest state, the last in a long line of Buddhist
and Hindu Javanese kingdoms. Islam had
ostensibly erased Indian cultural traditions by
the 16th century, yet Buddhist-Hindu traces can
still be seen in the rituals and architecture of
the kraton courts of Bali and central Java and
innumerable motifs and styles of the earlier
Hindu culture are found everywhere in
Indonesian art.
Made Wijaya’s new Majapahit Style answers
two overriding questions: how much of a role
has Majapahit played in Javanese and
Balinese history and how much influence does
Majapahti still exert in the Indonesia of today?
Though Wijaya may not be a professor
emeritus in Asian studies or the first to bring to
light the multitudinous connections between the
Majapahit and present-day Java and Bali, this
gifted amateur is certainly one of the most
passionate guardians and torchbearers in this
highly specialized field of study.
Only a handful of scholars, for the most part tottering nonagenarian Dutch retired academics, are still alive
today who have attained his level of erudition on the subject. The only other book published on Majapahit
cultural history is Majapahit Terracotta by Soedarmadji Jean Henry Damais. We have had hundreds of
scholars who over centuries have sung the praises of Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilization, but few who
have ever championed one of the greatest maritime empires the world has ever seen. Wijaya stands as the
foremost ambassador of this glorious civilization’s legacy in modern times. He is the Gibbon of the Majapahit.
Of course, no argument should be believed just because an authority makes it. To add backbone to his
assertions, Wijaya employs nothing less than brute force. On page after page he presents irrevocable proof
in hundreds of visual and historical examples, winning the reader over by sheer attrition. With his effusive
enthusiasm, Wijaya at times veritably trips over himself in his delight at discovering yet another bas-relief,
statue or motif that bears resemblance to the art of the long-lost kingdom.
With his colorful, discursive and spontaneous writing style, one sometimes gets the feeling that he
experiences some of his Eureka moments in the course of composition. The writing is pure esoterica made
engaging by the author’s passion for the subject. When he does break new ground, he coins or popularizes
new historical verbiage, i.e. Sundanese Majapahit, Cirebonesque, Majapahit Mengwi, etc., in the same way
that an explorer gives names to new unchartered lakes and mountains.
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Eight years in the making, Majapahit Style is Wijaya’s latest study of indigenous art forms in which all of his
past experience and knowledge has been brought to the fore. During the course of his research, he has
clambered over tombs and lichen covered Majapahit-era monuments across the archipelago, even in
remote corners of Sumatra, East Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi and Sumba. Many sites, virtually unknown to
the public and little promoted by the tourist industry, the author relishes bringing them to our attention.
Wijaya has been researching this subject for 40 years. Dubbing himself an “amateur archaeologist,” a “lay
scholar” and “architectural historian,” he was trained in classical Balinese temple and palace architecture.
His total immersion in Bali’s culture, religion and architecture, writing from an architect’s perspective and
using the language of an architect, attending hundreds of temple festivals and ancestor-worship rituals, he
has chronicled his observations in books and scores of articles and videography.
Living six years in a Brahman house, his exposure to Majapahit-era artifacts and rituals has given him a
sharp-eyed sensitivity, making him peculiarly qualified to be able to instantly make out a Balinese-style
thatched shrine in an ancient weathered Javanese bas-relief or recognize the relationship between the
water gardens of East Java and Bali’s own Tirta Empul temple. What a Java scholar would call a “carved
element” on an artifact, Wijaya instantly recognizes a decorative base for a holy water (tirta) vat found in all
Balinese Brahman houses today. What the rest of us see as just an old carved and painted timber pavilion
in on the east end of Madura, Wijaya sees a building style identical to those found in old palaces and
temples of Bali.
The reader’s experience is enhanced by the inclusion of a 4-page glossary. Not every professional term
used in the text – stylobate, plinth, yoni, menhir, dagoba, kendi, Bedoyo, etc.- is explained in the glossary
which confines itself to mostly Indonesian, Sanskrit, Hindu and regional terms, not architectural terms. A
bonus are narrated videos of the author’s firsthand experiences recorded in a DVD (insecurely) fastened to
the back inside cover.
I applaud this book because it vigorously reinforces Indonesia’s indigenous belief systems. The mellow,
syncretic , Javanese version of Islam is now under direct assault from imported less tolerant fundamentalist
sects such as Wanabism from Saudi Arabia. The lovely Javanese kebaya is now giving way more and more
to the jilbab head covering and even the full-body mukenah. A multitude of pre-Hindu customs, collectively
known as kajawen, are also under threat. As the largest Muslim-majority democracy in the world,
Indonesia’s soft, moderate Sufi-influenced interpretation of Islam stands as a bulwark against worldwide
Islamic terrorism.
In many aspects - dense academic language loaded with nuanced insights, rich and diverse illustrations –
Majapahit Style is a technical and scholarly work, a treatise on the erudite archaeology of Java and Bali. It is
an archival catalog of endangered Hindu Javanese architectural forms, carvings, decorations, art work,
stone and wood statuary and other precious historical objects before they are destroyed by fire, age,
erosion, neglect or demolition.
Though not light reading, Majapahit Style nourishes the mind with imaginative conjecture and surprising and
delightful images, some haunting. In the end, the message that this magnificent vanished kingdom has not
disappeared but has been absorbed, modified and assimilated into the fabric of the cultural life of presentday Indonesia is the book’s most valuable contribution to the scholarship of a long-neglected subject.
Majapahit Style by Made Wijaya, Wijaya Words 2014, ISBN 978-602-713-670-0, hardcover, 337 pages,
index, glossary, bibliography. Available for Rp1,770,000(Rp770,000 softcover) at Ganesha bookstores.
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Film Review: Daniel Ziv’s Acclaimed ‘Jalanan’
A film that takes the viewer deep into the lives of three people living on Jakarta's margins
Re-published with the kind permission of Inside Indonesia http://www.insideindonesia.org/current-edition/film-review-daniel-ziv-s-acclaimed-jalanan
By Sandeep Ray
Jalanan will go down in Asian cinema history as the
first feature-length documentary film from Indonesia to
have had a substantial cinema run. It has also won a
closetful of awards, including the prestigious Best
Documentary prize at Busan, Korea in 2013. Filmed
over five years, the film follows the travails of three
street musicians eking out a living in Jakarta.
A year after Jalanan’s release, its lead characters,
Boni, Titi and Ho are still being invited to talk shows to
star in small roles on TV and to perform to sold-out
audiences.
As a tribute to the extraordinary popularity of this documentary film about three marginalised residents of
Jakarta, Governor Basuki Tjahja Purnama (also known as Ahok) organised a screening for his staff in May
earlier this year. “
Guess what: ‘Jalanan’ screening moves Ahok to tears” headlined the Jakarta Post the next day. I finally
caught the film at a screening at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF), held in the Balinese town
that the film’s Canadian director Daniel Ziv now calls home.
Jalanan started slow; I felt eased into the characters’ backgrounds via the TV documentary convention of
parallel mini-biographies: the glib, devilish Javanese-Rastafarian Ho; the mellifluous Titi, tough, tender and
full of familial piety; talented Boni with the sad childhood and ridiculously boyish face. Soon these three
musicians began to sing their cracked hearts out, circulating through the city with vigour and indefatigable
faith in themselves. But while their talent, attitude and trendy fashion sense transformed them into cool cats
for a little while, deeper questions began to surface.
Like many perhaps, I was moved by the fragility of their individual lives. I found myself thinking ‘What makes
you pick up that guitar everyday and make your way through the grime and gore of the streets and travel
hundreds of miles on sweaty buses – just to keep on playing for a few coins? Why aren’t you giving up? How
can you be so talented and yet live under a bridge? Why do you let your husband smack you around? Why
are you invisible to the metropolitan system whose streets you pound?’ One doesn’t have to read
biographies of the famous to find lessons about human tenacity. As this film reminds us well, this quality is
evident in the lives of millions of people who end up in the crevices and fault-lines of society.
For me, the film intensified when Ho got picked up for busking and ended up in a holding cell. I have no idea
how the director managed it, but somehow we too were locked up in the cell with Ho. Ever been inside a
prison cell with a bunch of people arrested for the most inane of misdemeanours? A little girl can’t poo,
women sleep on concrete floors, cockroaches scurry and Ho croons on, spontaneously manufacturing
ballads, lifting spirits and hopefully embarrassing the hell out of anyone in the government who saw this film.
Here, the documentary morphs from gritty street-ethnography into socio-realist opera - a moving paean to
harassment of the people.
The movie isn’t the same after this point. This isn’t a tender, intimate account of buskers anymore; much
larger issues are at stake. We suddenly see our lead characters as civilians riding the omnibus of a
careening democracy, teetering on the edge of abandonment, only to stay afloat through their own
resilience.
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Jan – March 2015
Which Jakarta do you live in? The film asks this question of its local viewers. Is it the city where Ho has
furtive, illicit sex in a shack next to a main road, where dismal urban planning leads to Boni’s makeshift
home under the overpass to be constantly flooded, where Titi has to abandon her children and look for work
to send her father a few dollars to help with hospital bills? The film doesn’t sentimentalise. Rather than
evoke pity, it drives home that any notion that the poor deserve their plight is a capitalist confection. These
guys hold on to their dignity with admirable grit and a tenacity that would embarrass anyone confident about
their next meal.
The characters, however, manage to marinate their lives with love, humour and satire. Ho rhymes
'reformation' with 'masturbation' and pontificates on whether his country loves him back. Boni observes, as
he uses the toilet in a luxury mall, that while the shit of all classes mix, people just can’t do the same.
Titi visits her family back in her village in a lovely sequence that provides a breather from the urban squalor.
It reminds us of the importance of familial connections, even in the lives of people who appear to be
complete drifters. Her parents are gentle country folk who still can’t fathom why their daughter sings on
buses. They admit to once having secretly sold her guitar for a paltry Rp1,500. When her father, looking frail
in a white starched shirt, starts singing Japanese war songs, we know his end is near.
The buskers don’t just busk on. The movie works because they formulate concrete plans, and the director,
via his extensive filmic coverage—given definite shape through deft editing by Ernest Weiss-Hariyanto—
makes us privy to their individual journeys towards achieving their goals. When Ho splurges several days of
his income to surround his love-interest with plates of Padang food, we want him to get the girl but can't help
wondering about his ability to be responsible for a widow with three children. Later, when he tenderly cradles
her eight-month old baby in his arms, I am gobsmacked by the transformation.
Titi’s husband leaves her. Blinking her tears and indignity away, she studies for the equivalent of a school
certificate to try for a better life. Boni doggedly refurbishes his ever-flooding subterranean accommodation
despite constant threats of demolition.
At the film’s end, Titi gets her school diploma and makes a heroic speech honouring her recently deceased
father. Boni seems unfazed that his life could be uprooted with the single check mark of an urban
development officer, or the next floods. Ho marries his sweetheart, looking ridiculously formal in a clean,
pressed shirt. The audience cheers amidst sniffles.
In under two hours, the lead characters of Jalanan have toiled insufferably for their money but have also
dreamt, shagged, divorced, wooed, buried a parent, finished school, rebuilt a home, lectured us in
economics and regaled us with great humour and of course, awesome music.
Life been a little trying lately?
Film cast: Bambang ‘Ho’ Mulyono; Titi Juwariyah; Boni Putera; Director: Daniel Ziv; Editor: Ernest
Hariyanto/Republik Pictures; Producer: Daniel Ziv, DesaKota Productions, ITVS International & Republik
Pictures. (http://www.jalananmovie.com/)
Running time: 1 hr. 48 mins
Sandeep Ray (ray.sandeep@gmail.com) is a filmmaker and a doctoral candidate in the Department of
History at the National University of Singapore. At the IFDC (Indonesian Film Directors Club) Awards in
November 2015, Ziv was named Best Director for a Debut Feature Length Film.
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Jan – March 2015
SAMBAL MENTAH
Ingredients
2! kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced
6 !bird’s-eye chillies finely chopped
7! shallots, finely chopped
2! garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ tsp !roasted shrimp paste, crushed finely
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbsp! vegetable oil
1 tbsp !fresh lime juice
Roasting the paste before cooking helps mellow out the
flavour – to do this, wrap the shrimp paste in foil and
bake at 200°C for 5 minutes.
Makes about ⅓ cup
BALINESE SAMBAL
MENTAH: Serve this raw
Balinese sambal as a
condiment for grilled fish or
Combine all ingredients and stir well. Serve at room
temperature.
Contributions to Kabar
We welcome all contributions to Kabar from both members and non-members. If you have recently been to
Indonesia, eaten at an Indonesian restaurant, read a book or attended an Indonesia-related event, please feel
free to write an article including photos. Send all material to Melanie at melaniemorrison@bigpond.com.
The AIA Newsletter is produced by the Australia Indonesia Association. Statements made in this publication do
not necessarily represent the view of the Association or its members. For editorial, distribution, advertising and
membership contact the AIA secretariat. The next deadline is March 20 2015.
President
Eric de Haas
president@australia-indonesia-association.com
Vice President 1
Neil Smith
vicepresident1@australia-indonesia-association.com
Vice President 2
vicepresident2@australia-indonesia-association.com
Secretary
Paul Murphy
secretary@australia-indonesia-association.com
Treasurer
John Luxton
treasurer@australia-indonesia-association.com
Committee Members: Miriam Tulevski, Melanie Morrison, Sisca Hunt, Andre Iswandi, Ken Gaden, Marrilyn
Campbell, Katie Crocker, Sylvia Sidharta, Graham Ireland, Yohanna Cocks
GPO Box 802, Sydney NSW Australia 2001, Email: secretary@australia-indonesia-association.com
Tel/ Fax: +61 (02) 80784774! http://www.australia-indonesia-association.com © 2010
To foster and promote friendship, understanding and good relations between the peoples
of Indonesia and Australia
Bercita-cita membina persahabatan, saling pengertian dan hubungan antar-masyarakat
yang erat antara Indonesia dan Australia