THE SAMOAN CONNECTION

Finding Samoan roots in Indonesia

Where did the big brown-skinned people of the Pacific Islands originate? For Samoan public servant Tevita Simeki there’s no doubt his ancestors came from the Indonesian archipelago.

Thousands of years ago people from China slowly migrated south and then east. The evidence is based on DNA research, pottery fragments, farming methods and a few words.

Lua (dua) for two, lima for five and sefulu (sepuluh) for ten are widely quoted as examples of a distant shared past.

It’s a theory supported by many anthropologists, linguists and historians, though those who know Javanese are small, wiry-limbed people find the idea hard to grasp.

Tevita has no such qualms, and his beliefs were reinforced by three months in Java as a guest of the Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs studying culture.

“I learned so much from Indonesia,” he said. “Samoan culture is under constant assault from Western values and entertainment. Indonesians seem to have resisted this international pressure, holding on to what they have while still accepting Toyotas and McDonald’s.

“In Yogyakarta I was impressed to find a modern, developed city with Western technology yet the people are maintaining their own music and dances. There’s no sign the culture has been corrupted by outside influences.

“It’s the same with meals. Everywhere I went in Java I ate local foods, like fresh ayam kampung (village chicken), now hard to find in Samoa because so much food is imported and frozen. There’s a lot that we can learn in the Pacific from Indonesia.

“A big problem we’re facing in Samoa is the way families try to gain status by putting on lavish and costly ceremonies such as for weddings and funerals. These events are done to impress, but they can be financially crippling.

“That can happen in Indonesia but it seems to me that people in Java are able to keep these things in check.”

Tevita, 26, was educated in Fiji at the University of the South Pacific where he studied history, politics and geography.

After returning to his homeland he became a public servant and a rapid riser. He is now a senior internal affairs officer in the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development charged with preserving Samoan culture.

Last year the Samoan government approved his bid to take an all-expenses paid Indonesian Art and Culture Scholarship, joining 15 other handpicked bright young folk from other Pacific nations. The program, also involving applicants from other nations, has been running for seven years,

Tevita and his colleagues face a huge task trying to slow down the tsunami of Western civilisation threatening (along with rising sea levels) to swamp their isolated tiny communities.

Although Samoan families tend to be big, the population of Western (properly known as Independent) Samoa is less than 200,000 spread across 17 islands, some little more than sand spits. An estimated 70,000 live on American Samoa, a separate state.

As in Indonesia, tens of thousands have migrated overseas seeking work and better opportunities, though Samoa’s tropical laid-back villages look appealing to stressed-out city dwellers.

Samoa is about 4,400 kilometers northeast of Sydney and 3,700 kilometers southwest of Hawaii. It was previously a German colony, then administered by New Zealand. It became an independent republic in 1962.

It lies east of the International date line and like Java is just below the Equator. Though lush and fertile the soil is not worked intensively as in Indonesia.

More than half the 260,000 Pacific Islanders living in NZ are Samoans, some gaining fame as rugby players. Around 55,000 also live in Australia. Their remittances along with foreign aid help keep the Samoan economy alive. Local wages are low by Western standards, about three tala (Rp 10,000) an hour.

Tevita’s department is using television documentaries to promote Samoan culture, but the programs tend to be static discussions. The idea of getting across social messages using Indonesian sinetron (soap operas) where dramatic story lines reinforce traditional values is attractive, but there’s no money for big budget productions.

Tevita, who is also a dancer and musician, said he’d been impressed by the formal training of Javanese dancers in Yogyakarta. He liked the fact that artists could make a living displaying their skills and talents at important functions – something that hasn’t happened in Samoa though cultural groups do perform at tourist resorts.

Pacific island dancing, usually accompanied by rhythmic drumming, is vigorous, unlike the slow refined movements of hand and eye by Javanese performers. The Samoan handicraft industry is not well developed.

“We have limited resources – we’re used to that,” Tevita said. “Indonesia is resource rich but it’s the way you’re using your culture that I find so impressive. It’s not just in the hands of the old people – youth are widely involved and they are doing so with passion.

“We have museums in the Pacific but not arts centres as in Indonesia. This is something I want to introduce where young artists can be trained and our customs recognized, respected and preserved.

“It comes back to people knowing their true selves – who they are. Samoa needs to get back to its roots. Like Indonesians we are community people with decision-making undertaken at the local level through big meetings. The way to power and authority in Samoa is through service. This is what I believe and want to do.

“Our language is hierarchical, like Javanese. Different words and tones are used depending on whether you are talking up to authority figures or to ordinary people. The young are forgetting this.

”A particular issue not experienced in Indonesia is the influence of returning migrants who import Western ideas. This is something faced by all Pacific nations.

“Naturally Jakarta and the other big cities are a shock for people from the Pacific but we were all made to feel welcome. Although only one member of our group was a Muslim the rest who were Christians went without daytime food during Ramadan (the fasting month leading up to Idul Fitri) to give him support.

“I never felt homesick. Maybe our ancestors really do come from Indonesia.”

(First published in The Jakarta Post 15 May 2010)
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AMRIS HASSAN AND NZ

The tough task of boosting trade: Amris Hassan

Amris Hassan, 51, the Indonesian ambassador to New Zealand, ends his three-year term this month. (April) A former academic, PDIP politician and businessman he reflects on terrorism, lost opportunities and his bid to boost business and educational ties between the two countries.

When I took up the appointment in 2007 I wasn’t given any specific objectives, other than maintaining the good relationships that have marked our 50 years presence in Wellington, and improving Indonesia’s profile.

I decided the Embassy had to be active, like a corporation out to make a profit. I demanded and got more funds and have spent a lot of time using my position to push Indonesian manufacturers to lift their game by expanding into export markets.

That hasn’t been easy. Once they heard that NZ has only around four million people some companies didn’t see the need to make the effort. One food additive manufacturer told me that he could sell more products in Bogor, so why bother?

So I decided to do things the other way around and take NZ businesspeople to Indonesia. That’s yielded results. We now have NZ retailers importing outdoor furniture, shoes, clothes and other consumer products from Indonesia.

In some cases our goods, like women’s clothing, are more expensive than those sourced from China. But I’ve been able to show that Indonesian materials are higher quality, and that counts when selling to the Western world.

NZ exports huge quantities of dairy foods to Indonesia and around the world, and does so very efficiently. But any Tom and Jerry can produce milk. The art is to find the niche markets for products like gourmet cheeses and milks. There are millions of Indonesians like me who are prepared to pay for high quality foods.

There’s still a long way to go, but bilateral trade has expanded enormously. It was worth NZ $1.2 billion (Rp 7.8 trillion) in 2006. Now it’s almost doubled to NZ $2.2 billion (Rp 14.2 trillion).

There’s a great deal of goodwill towards Indonesia in NZ. It hasn’t always been that way. Indonesia’s profile as a nation ruled undemocratically by the authoritarian government of President Soeharto was not well received by Kiwis.

When I first went to Wellington I didn’t realise the level of egalitarianism in NZ, and the dislike of nepotism, bribery and corruption. It’s critical that Indonesian diplomats and official visitors go out of their way to mix with Kiwis and get to understand ordinary people, and not just government officials.

New Zealanders can be frank and direct, but that’s OK. You know exactly what they think. They are friendly and discrimination and racism is almost non-existent.

In attempts to establish pathways to ASEAN, some NZ prime ministers visited the Republic during the Soeharto administration and President Soeharto came to NZ in 1972. But the real breakthrough came when the late President Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) visited NZ in 2000.

Kiwis warmed to his humanity and liberalism. They said: ‘This blind guy can be a president? We had no idea Indonesia was so different.’ They became aware that the authoritarian era had passed and Indonesia had become the most democratic nation in Asia.

Then came the tragedy of the 2004 tsunami. Kiwis are emotional and sentimental people and responded with great generosity. People in the streets were collecting money for the victims.

In 2005 President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono came to Wellington and two years later Prime Minister Helen Clark made a serious trip to our country, despite Australian travel warnings.

At this stage official relations between Indonesia and NZ are at their warmest. Sadly, many businesses are failing to seize the openings these visits have created, particularly with education follow-ups. NZ must capture the opportunities in education. Indonesian students seeking to study abroad provide a big market.

NZ schools and universities say they want overseas students but to be frank they’re not doing enough to attract Indonesians. Maybe it’s the Commonwealth syndrome where efforts are concentrated on countries like Malaysia and Singapore, when Indonesia is NZ’s nearest ASEAN neighbor.

Or perhaps it’s because to most Kiwis, Asia is China and huge efforts have been put into developing contacts and trade with that country.

There are 20,000 Indonesians studying in Australia. That figure is 50 times larger than the number of Indonesians in NZ schools and universities. However we have already helped develop school and teacher exchange programs and these are progressing well.

Look at the long-term benefits of building contacts and networks in international relations through education. Vice President Boediono, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Marty Natalegawa and the President’s youngest son Edhie Baskoro have all been educated in Australia.

Yet NZ has a very high standard of education, providing students with a clean environment and costs are relatively lower. This isn’t just an academic observation. My children attended schools in Wellington and one daughter will return to study economics at university this year.

The other good news is that more Kiwis are visiting Indonesia. Garuda is planning to reopen its NZ service and should have flights to Auckland from Jakarta and Denpasar via Brisbane early next year.

Another area I’ve been keen to promote is the earth sciences. NZ is a leader in geo-thermal energy and can help us a lot.

Like Indonesia NZ is on the Ring of Fire and subject to earthquakes. The country experiences more than 14,000 tremors every year. NZ has been developing new technology to help soften the impact of big quakes and strengthen public buildings.

We organized a conference in Jakarta two years ago that was attended by a large number of Kiwi scientists explaining how they do things. Also present was the NZ Minister of Civil Defence and our Minister of Foreign Affairs.

A similar workshop in Yogyakarta was conducted a year later. As a result a new Geo Sciences Center will be opened at the University of Gadjah Mada.

Against these positives have been the problems of perception. Some still see Indonesia as a nation of extremists. Just when I think I’ve convinced people otherwise there’s been another bombing and I’ve had to start all over again.

The converse is that NZ is thought to be a part of Australia. There should be a NZ – RI Friendship Association. Similar organizations have been established by Germany and Japan in Jakarta. USINDO (United States-Indonesia Society) is another excellent model.

I don’t know whether I’ll go back to politics or teaching, but I’d really like to continue with the diplomatic service. We’ll see.

(First published in The Jakarta Post 29 April 2010)

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PENI SUPARTO

Revealing the invisible hand Duncan Graham

If President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was a football tragic like Peni Suparto, then Indonesia might be playing in the World Cup against Real Madrid.

But in an unreal world the leader of Indonesia is apparently into volleyball. That didn’t stop him verbally backing the nation’s chances of getting ahead in the global game when he visited Malang last month (March).

It was a brave move for a Jakarta politician not known for his football prowess or largesse. In the central East Java city soccer isn’t just another sport. It’s a life and death matter, or as some would say, more important than that.

“The president came to Malang to open the National Soccer Congress (KSN) because this is the heart of Indonesian soccer,” said Peni. “We’re the only city with two football teams. We’re fanatic, but don’t say our supporters are bonek (hooligans). They come from Surabaya. We’re Aremania.”

Arema is Malang’s top team, playing in the Republic’s Premier League. It’s named after Kebo Arema, a warrior hero of the 15th century Majapahit kingdom. Their emblem is a garish MGM-style lion, roaring from gang gateways around the city over the slogan Singo Edan – Crazy Lions.

The other team is Persema. Least said, soonest mended

Coaches who don’t perform to fans’ expectations get the graffiti treatment, their names qualified with unprintable abuse.

When he’s not talking up football as Malang City General Chairman of the All-Indonesia Football Association, Peni is the mayor of Malang, a position he’s held since 2003 as a Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (PDIP) politician.

Any challenger would need to be suffering acutely from incurable Aremania. Forget policies on fixing footpaths and plugging potholes; such municipal matters are boring, boring. There’s just one issue in the hilltown of one million, and it has nothing to do with keeping streets clean.

The KSN Malang moanfest attracted more than 500 delegates weeping about the state of Indonesian soccer. For a country with a talent catchment area of around 240 million, the world’s third most populous nation should be running rings around minnows like Spain and Brazil, let alone little Britain.

“The problem is management. We have to do this so much better,” said Peni, without going into details despite much shin-kicking. Instead he kept talking about an “invisible hand” which will direct Indonesian soccer in the future, when for many the game needs a most visible boot.

“We have a plan to make sure Indonesia will be Asian champions within five years and in the World League within 15 years,” he said. “Then our national team will be an Asian Tiger.

“Do you know why Malaysia is so good? Because they have professional management – and lots of money. There used to be money for sport when gambling was legal in Indonesia.”

The State-run lottery was abolished during the Soeharto era following pressure from Islamic groups.

Arema gets its financial support from a local tobacco manufacturer; in the politically correct West cigarette sponsorship for sport is taboo.

Peni was talking during a trip to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. Although the country has little more than four million people, the All Blacks rank number one in the International Rugby Board’s world list.

The Rugby World Cup will be played in NZ next year. Despite the domination of rugby, Wellington’s Phoenix soccer team has become the best in the country, competing internationally.

Being indifferent to sport in NZ is like being unable to talk Javanese in Java. The personable Peni was able to walk in both camps.

During his week in Wellington, where Peni headed a group of high school principals keen to develop close ties with NZ schools, the mayor took time out to check the city’s extensive sporting facilities provided by local government.

“When I was a kid in Kediri we had to play with a plastic bal,” said Peni. He’s no sofa barracker abusing referees while waving a TV channel changer at the screen.

For 21 years he played ‘the beautiful game’, as they say in Brazil, mainly as a striker. The mayor is a little lad and must have been a nimble sportsman to survive against the big boys. When not on the field he lectured in civil administration at the former Malang teacher’s college, now the University of Malang

Now he’s 64 but looks 50, proof sport can do magic things for a man’s well-being.

During his tour Peni came across two teams of seven year olds training during their holidays. They were practising on outdoor and indoor grounds, supervised by university students.

The contrast with most Indonesian cities was stark. Kampong residents will be familiar with the everyday sight of barefoot kids turning bitumen into soccer grounds, piles of shoes pegging out the goal posts.

However talented, the wannabe Maradonas will be struggling without boots and the chance to train on grass in a properly marked pitch with skilled adult direction.

“I agree facilities have to be improved,” said Peni. When reminded that a sports ground in the Malang suburb of Sawojajar is now the site of a petrol station he said nothing could be done because the land was privately owned.

“Football is egalitarian,” said Peni, watching little Kiwis dribble balls round plastic cones, then shoot for goal, doing their best to punch holes in the net.

“Anyone and everyone can play. We need talent scouts out in the regions looking for the next generation of players. We need professional quality coaches.”

Did this mean importing players and coaches from overseas? Now we’re talking serious money when the price of a top player is about equal to an aircraft carrier. Well, yes, but Peni wasn’t about to shout that from the stands to partisan crowds, not so crazy that they want to pay more tax.

“We’re nationalists. I want Malang to be Indonesia’s education city where we can exchange teachers and students – and ideas on improving sport in Indonesia.” And the cash?

“We need commitment, particularly from the national government.”

(First published in The Jakarta Post 20 April 2010)

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TRANSPARENCY IN INDONESIA

Sefton Darby
Publish what you pay


Corruption is tough to tame, as the government knows well. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged to beat the beast when he took office in 2004, but six years later it’s still biting.

Maybe a clean administration is just an ideal from outside being imposed on cultures with different values and histories. Not so, according to Sefton Darby, a director of the NGO Transparency International (TI) in New Zealand.

TI is the anti-corruption agency that’s ranked Indonesia 111 among 180 nations measured by its corruption perception index.

“I don’t see this as a Western hang-up,” he said. “Culture isn’t static. Individuals can change when given the right leadership. The evidence shows that in countries with well-run governments people live in equitable societies and enjoy better standards of living.

“However change is best when it comes from within.

“Transparency is a threat to the corrupt. It’s not just a nice thing, a good word. I’ve worked in many countries and met hardly anyone at the village level who hasn’t complained about the wickedness of local officials and expressed their frustration with corruption.

“Corruption damages the international perception of a country and impacts on investment. It pays in the short term but it always leads to disaster in the long run.”

Mr Darby was in Jakarta last month to take part in a four-day international workshop on transparency, backed by Inwent, a German non-profit organization involved in international training and education.

It was the first such workshop in the region. Participants included government, NGO and private company representatives from Afghanistan, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, the Solomon Islands and the Philippines.

Mr Darby said getting people away from their own countries to talk about contentious issues usually resulted in rational discussions, opening dialogue between groups that might be hostile to each other in their homeland.

He also attended meetings on transparency issues surrounding the huge Cepu oil field in Central Java, which is being developed by the US giant Exxon Mobil and the state oil company Pertamina. It is expected to be in full production by 2013 but the project has run into problems with local authorities and communities.

Mr Darby has long been involved with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), promoted by the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. This aims to persuade companies and governments to be open about incomes, royalties and payments from oil, gas and mining projects.

The slogan behind the philosophy is “publish what you pay” so everyone can determine whether the distribution of funds is fair.

The idea is to ensure that the exploitation of natural resources benefits all. This is a tough ask when there are so many competing parties and ideologies – shareholders, employees, local communities, bankers, foreign and local governments, and other companies that supply services and infrastructure. Soaking through all this are local politics, nationalism and debates over who owns what.

“Indonesia is not yet a member of EITI but is moving in that direction and I’m confident it will get there,” said Mr Darby. “When it does, that will be of enormous significance.

“Some companies and government agencies use the ‘commercially confidential’ argument to avoid releasing data. But not all companies have a monolithic view and corporations differ from country to country.”

Mr Darby, 35, is a New Zealander who has enjoyed a rocket-powered career. After graduating from Otago University in his homeland, he won a scholarship to study at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. He graduated with a master’s degree in international security.

He then worked for the UK Cabinet office as a policy adviser before becoming an assistant director in the Central Strategy Unit. A year later he was a policy analyst in the Department for International Development, which developed the first EITI communications strategy.

After working as a consultant with the World Bank, he started his own consultancy back in NZ, the country that ranks first in the TI index, closely followed by Singapore and Denmark. The UK ranks 17 and the US 19.

“I think that being a New Zealander helps my credibility, although NZ’s status as a country of minimal corruption isn’t widely known,” he said.

While this interview was underway, a senior minister in the NZ government quit because he’d used his official credit card for personal purchases of less than Rp 500,000 (US $54).

Although he’s been an infrequent visitor to Indonesia, Mr Darby has worked in countries with worse corruption ratings like Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

Many of the problems that bedevil Indonesia are not exclusive to this nation, and are often linked to rapid development of natural resources and sudden surges of money. Even when good transparency programs are in place, getting the information out can be tricky.

Not everyone can read a profit and loss statement, appreciate the issues of risk capital and returns on investment, or navigate through the fog of jargon that clouds the business of business.

Should information be aggregated or disaggregated? When people don’t get all the information they want – or can’t understand it – they believe bad things and make accusations.

“Just because an issue is complicated doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be explained,” Mr Darby said. “That’s the challenge. Transparency can’t fix every problem, but it can open a door to other issues.

“Indonesia, like many other countries, has a hyper-complex bureaucracy and social structure. But there has to be separation between the elites of politics and the economy.

“Driving cultural change is risky territory, best left to the locals. However, there are advantages in being an outsider. You’re not part of the local system and you can’t be easily pinned by accusations of being mates with so and so.

“The best you can be is an honest broker.”

(First published in The Jakarta Post 5 April 2010)

BLASPHEMY LAW: CURSE OR BLESSING?

Confronting blasphemy Duncan Graham

Indonesia normally makes international news only for terrorist attacks and disasters like landslips, ferry capsizes and aircraft crashes.

Reporting these tragedies tends to eclipse other significant but less startling issues underway in the world’s most populous Islamic country and third largest democracy.

A judicial review now underway has the potential to make this country of 240 million a more liberal society.

Indonesia’s Blasphemy Law is being challenged in the nation’s Constitution Court by Muslim liberals, backed by Protestants and Catholics, under the rubric of the National Alliance for Freedom of Religion and Faith. They claim the legislation is at odds with the Constitution that allows freedom of religion.

The reality is different. Indonesian citizens have to carry ID cards that include the holder’s religion. This must be one of six religions approved by the government – Islam, Catholicism, ‘Christian’ (meaning Protestant), Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.

Those with no religion or who follow another faith you are listed as Muslim by default. Visitor guides warn atheists not to disclose their views in any discussion with locals. Questioning a stranger about their religion is standard in even the most casual encounters.

The Blasphemy Law, passed in 1965, was allegedly designed to keep hotheads under control in a country where religious slurs can rapidly lead to violence, and it’s no dead letter. Here’s one example:

Last year in an East Java jail I met and tried to interview a group of 11 Protestants imprisoned for blasphemy.

The room was crowded, noisy and stiflingly hot. There was no furniture. Visitors had to squat on the floor at the feet of the standing guards.

No surprisingly the chat was not a great success. The nervous few who did agree to talk were reluctant to comment on their situation except in whispers.

That wasn’t the situation outside. Mainstream Christian leaders were keen to denounce the prisoners and staged a major public event to fulsomely apologise for their colleagues’ faults.

Stupidity would have been a better term. The men who’d been arrested and sentenced to jail terms of up to four years had been in a training seminar organised by the Indonesian Student Ministry, also known as Campus Crusade.

This organisation has been running for 50 years, though before this event it was barely known outside the Protestant churches and Christian universities. But this time they made a DVD of their activities. This fell into the hands of a Muslim leader Muhammad Nidzhom Hidayatullah.Nidzhom was the executive secretary of the local branch of the peak Islamic body Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI), the Indonesian Muslim Scholars' Council.
The 10-minute video showed about 40 people in a room, most dressed in traditional Muslim clothes – the women wearing headscarves, the men in sarongs and rimless caps. At the front a preacher waved a book that appeared to be a copy of the Koran.At one stage in the proceedings the book was put on the floor. In a grainy and shakily-shot scene the participants formed a ring and condemned the text with angry words and gestures.

Nidzhom is a moderate. Instead of using the video to trigger mob violence he discussed the issue with colleagues and local Protestant leaders, including
Pastor Johan Haryono.

"They (Campus Crusade) have walked too far, gone beyond the boundaries, been too emotional,” said Pastor Haryono."To be an evangelist is to love, but they are committing blasphemy against the Koran. That is evil. I have no idea why they did this."The tragedy is that we've lost the trust of Muslims and this must be retrieved. We have to improve our internal networking so this doesn't happen again."We are grateful to all the Muslim leaders. What they did was very good. They kept the balance." Despite this the police prosecuted and the courts convicted.

But the Blasphemy Law hasn’t just been used against insensitive fringe groups attacking other faiths. In the last two years fundamentalist Muslims calling themselves the Islamic Defenders’ Front (FPI) and claiming to be defenders of the law have been targeting Ahmadiyah. This is an Islamic sect that says Mohammed was not the last prophet.

Ahmadiyah mosques have been firebombed and worshipers assaulted. At one stage they were considering fleeing to Australia to seek asylum from religious persecution.

The present challenge to the legislation was triggered by these attacks, and FPI members violently ambushing a peaceful rally of liberals in central Jakarta. The legal action is being opposed by the Religious Affairs Ministry, which claims any change in the law will create chaos.

Also hostile are radical Islamic groups including the FPI, which has attempted to disrupt hearings. They say dumping the law will lead to Indonesia becoming a secular nation led by ‘neo-liberals’.

Despite some well-reasoned arguments there seems to be little chance that the law will be changed. Although those pushing for a judicial review have mustered an impressive list of authorities, they’ve lost their principal backer, the former president Abdurrahman Wahid, also known as Gus Dur.

A leading Islamic scholar and one-time head of the 40-million strong Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama, Gus Dur was a noted liberal and supporter of pluralism. He died last December after being sick for many years.

Even if the Blasphemy Law was dumped or modified its unlikely that this would have an immediate impact on society. There’s a long history of individuals ignoring laws they don’t like, and that includes public servants.

The addition of Confucianism to the list of Indonesia’s approved religions only occurred in 2000 when Gus Dur was president. But ethnic Chinese complain that local officials still refuse to acknowledge the change.

(First published in On Line Opinion Monday 22 March 2010)

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AUSTRALIAN-RI RELATIONSHIPS

IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO
Duncan Graham

We’ve just had a week of whinges, as Australians call complaints. Politicians, academics and the commentariat have been bemoaning the state of Indonesian-Australian relationships.

There’s been plenty of basa-basi but little frank talk, though to be fair Ati Nurbaiti (13 March) identified the flawed rule of law as an impediment.

Eavesdrop any group of Ockers at Ngurah Rai waiting for their Airbus and the key talking points are personal encounters with petty corruption and cheating. These experiences stick, eclipsing memories of a generous culture, cheap food and great bargains. It’s not a good look.

Nor is Australia’s maintenance of travel warnings. Anyone going overseas has to watch their wallet. If you can’t follow the news and keep your nose out of demos then you shouldn’t be in charge of a passport. Do Australians really need the nanny state to tell them to take care?

If it came to a toss-up between getting lost after dark in Surabaya’s Dolly, full of pimps, prostitutes and drunks, or Perth’s Northbridge nightlife district with its heavy police presence, then I’d prefer the East Java capital’s sleaze center anytime.

(And just for the record, my experiences in Dolly have been purely for journalistic research.)

There’s one simple way for us to get to know each other better. Make travel easier. Compare Indonesia’s visa-on-arrival (US $25 = Rp 230,000) with Australia’s pre-departure 14-page application form and AUD $105 (Rp 880,000) fee.

Australia allows Malaysians, but not Indonesians, to apply for visas on line. The cost: AUD $20 (Rp 168,000).

Apart from the easier visa system, Indonesian tourism is the pits. Despite an army of uninformed government tourism officials, lots of silly slogans and fatuous promotions, Indonesia can’t hold a candle to its nearest rivals.

Tiny sterile Singapore attracts twice as many tourists as this extraordinary archipelago, while uptight Malaysia doubles that again. The figures prove my case.

Tourism is a highly competitive mega business in Australia and the rest of the West. It’s powered by agents who really know their stuff. They’re licensed, work in comfortable brightly lit offices in shopping malls and enthusiastically offer holidays almost everywhere in the world.

Want to compare prices? Have a big glossy brochure in flawless English, thick with details of flights and special hotel deals. Free? Of course. Morocco or Manhattan? The Eiffel Tower or the Pyramids? No problems. How about a cruise? North, South, East or West? You choose.

Want a recommendation? Ask anything, the chances are the staff have been there and can give you the good oil, which in Ozspeak means the right information.

Compare this with the travel agents in Indonesia. The ones I have to deal with in Indonesia work in musty rooms with 15 watt lighting. They print out schedules using machines with so little ink it’s almost impossible to read dates and times.

So no wonder our favorite consultant missed her freebie flight to Singapore sponsored by an airline so she could be better informed of her product. She misread her own ticket.

Why pick Indonesia? Tour wholesalers overseas do a good job with Bali, but ignore the rest of the country. Want to know why? Take a look at the quality of some of the official websites, like that for Surabaya’s Tourism Promotion Board (www.sparklingsurabaya.com). Get ready for a gigglethon, like this encouragement for visitors to go shopping:

Not many really enthusiastic of it, but antiques bussiness have never decline. However, this bussiness needs time to make money. More old the antiques, more money we can get. It is also happened in Surabaya. Mostly start from hobby.

More serious was the site’s advertised exchange of 1 US dollar to 6,605 rupiah when this newspaper was quoting 9,231. Hardly a great invite to take the next plane to Juanda.

In blunt terms, terus terang, Indonesian tourism has to lift its game.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono highlighted the large numbers of Indonesians studying in Australia, Sorry Sir; these people are not a representative sample. Most are ethnic Chinese and the pampered sons and daughters of top officials who can afford the high fees.

The people who should really be studying in Australia for the greatest impact on their return are the smart young Javanese with brains but no cash. Then they could pass on the skills they’ve learned to their colleagues.

At the moment Australia offers just a handful of post-graduate scholarships. It could and should do much more.

So could Indonesia. The working holiday visa scheme for 18 to 30 year olds, included in last year’s Free Trade Agreements between Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand is still in its early stages.

The dogs are barking that RI officials fear this reciprocal deal will mean Indonesia will be swamped by young Westerners taking jobs from the locals.

What nonsense. Can you imagine Aussie students wanting to be satpam (security guards) or rubbish pickers for Rp 500,000 (US $55) a month? The only jobs they might do would be as English teachers – though the Ozzie twang might deter many school principals.

The scheme has let tens of thousands of young people from most European countries, Japan and elsewhere visit Australia and supplement their stay by taking short-term jobs. They get to boost their English and their wallets while learning about the customs, values and idiosyncrasies of their host country.

If Indonesians join the throng then people like me might no longer be confronted by angry young men tugging their wispy beards, like those who heckled a lecture I gave at an Islamic institution.

“Your country is evil,” they said, “it allows free sex.”

Had they ever been to Australia? “No,” they said, “but we know what you do.”

An isolated example of SBY’s ‘preposterous caricatures’? I wish. But little different from the Ockers who swear they’ll never visit Indonesia, but holiday every year in Bali.

(First published in The Jakarta Post 18 March 2010)

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A MILLION MOOS FOR LOMBOK

Coming to a plate near you: T-bone Lombok Duncan Graham

Could Indonesia achieve food self-sufficiency within four years? That’s the government’s goal with Rp 18 trillion (US$1.93 billion) allocated.

Ten per cent of the budget has been earmarked to improve beef production, with Lombok and Sumbawa destined to become the islands of one million cows by 2014. Duncan Graham reports on this slice of the ‘food resilience’ program:

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The cattle counters reckon they’re already halfway there. However there are huge fences to jump if the goal is to be reached, as Mataram University academic Dr Sudirman readily admitted.

“First we have to make sure that all farmers have enough to eat,” he said. “Otherwise they’ll be saying to us: ‘You ask us not to sell our cows so numbers can increase. But do you want us to die because we have no money?’

“There’s a culture of poverty in the province of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) and we have to change the people’s mindset. That’s going to be a really big job. There are many difficulties.”

Indeed. If all were to be listed this story would spill onto another page, so let’s highlight just a couple - country conservatism and farmer mistrust.

Indonesian rural folk got badly burned during the Soeharto era’s Green Revolution. Then heavy-handed bureaucrats forced farmers to abandon traditional practices, grow new crops and soak these with costly chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Now the rule of the gun has passed they’re going back to the old ways.

“We’ve learned the lesson,” said rural sociologist Dr Rosiady Sayuti. “Change has to be done carefully and slowly. We think the land can eventually support 1.5 million cattle and hope this will boost farm incomes by 50 per cent.”

Sounds worthy, but the base is low. There are 340,000 farmers in NTB. Their average income is less than Rp 1 million (US $110) a month.

To help the 4.5 million people in Lombok and adjacent Sumbawa adjust to sharing their tiny islands with so many belching bovines the local government sent seven experts to garner tips in New Zealand, a world leader in efficient farming.

The delegation, led by Dr Sayuti, head of the NTB planning board, covered disciplines as diverse as veterinary science, agriculture, politics, administration and law.

Why law? “Because adat (traditional community law) still applies in rural areas and must be considered,” said Professor Galang Asmara, Dean of Mataram University’s Faculty of Law. “For example, adat prevents the sale of animals under two years old and is involved in determining ownership of cattle and responsibilities in husbandry.”

Not all know-how from lush and temperate NZ can be easily transferred to the NTB, a tropical zone with limited rainfall and unusual animal diseases.

In the South Pacific islands there are five million beef cattle and 4.5 million dairy cows - and half a million fewer people than in NTB. Some Indonesians are already working on NZ farms and expect to take Kiwi skills back to their homeland.

Governor Zainul Majdi initiated the million moos plan in 2008. It has a Rp 10 billion (US $1.1 million) budget last year and a Rp 15 billion (US $1.6 million) allocation this year. Most of this money is going on subsidies to farmers. Technical aid is being given by Australia.

Traditionally farmers in Lombok have three to five cows kept in stalls known as kandang. The bureaucrats want farmers to form cooperatives with 40 or 50 animals. Then they’ll be given a lusty young Bali, Brangus or Simmental bull with good genes to boost herd quality.

Artificial insemination using semen from top bulls known to be efficient converters of grass into meat is also being used. Controlled mating is an important factor in improving management.

In Sumbawa, which is three times bigger than Lombok, mini ranches may be organised with the cattle grazing in paddocks. New high-value crops are being planned to feed the cows. Till now they’ve been chomping low-protein native grasses, usually cut and carted by their carers.

To keep crops thriving through the dry months irrigation projects are being considered, tapping underground water reserves. Big dollars will be required. Investors are being wooed.

With high yielding crops and new land opened to the plough the days of buffalo power will be numbered. So tractors will be needed, beyond the financial reach of individuals. Hence the importance of cooperatives where resources and equipment can be shared.

Vets are in short supply – only 150. Unless more can be recruited they’ll be run ragged, confusing snouts with rumps.

The more the delegation talked to The Jakarta Post in the NZ capital Wellington about the issues they’re encountering, the more the adequacy of the Rp 10 billion budget diminished.

Lombok has the exclusive right to export cows to other provinces – a trade first started in 1831. The idea is that NTB can become the nation’s quality livestock bank, helping meet Indonesia’s growing hunger for beef. Last October Lombok held a ‘calf harvest’ to show off its animals and rustle up interest in the ambitious cow-led recovery program.

Inevitably a development slogan has been coined – one cow, one calf, one year. Brain curdling tables and targets, graphs and strategies have been devised to educate the locals.

There’s another disparity: NZ farmers are the country’s elite with political clout. Well-established farms generate huge wealth. But in Indonesia farmers are way down the status ladder. If the NTB plan is to get legs it will need smart young hands-on people to understand the possibilities and convert power-point presentations into wells and pumps, fences and fertile fields.

Governor Zainul used the ‘calf harvest’ to prod another message. Mataram mall cowboys hanging around the city at night hoping to lasso a lovely should be heading back to the land and a halal (allowed) occupation.

But how are they going to keep them down on the farm after they’ve seen Kuta? Indonesians who get their hands dirty scratching for cash don’t score in the social hierarchy. Better keep fingers clean, find a government job with uniform and pension and be respected by neighbors.

“Government policy is to encourage young people to undertake further education and upgrade their knowledge of farming and the new techniques,” said Dr Sayuti. “We have to build awareness that farming is an essential and valuable profession for the nation . It should be a job done with pride and attract respect.

“You can be an optimist or a pessimist. I’m the former.”

(Picture above NZ agriculture is intensive: Muhamad Ansori (left) and Arik Asmedi, both from Blitar, East Java, milk hundreds of cows every day in NZ. )

(First published in The Jakarta Post 23 February 2010)

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