A rosier account of RI-Australia relations

A rosier account of RI-Australia relations

Dewi Anggraeni
Contributor
Melbourne, Australia

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Australia and Indonesia, Partners in Development
Published by ACFOA, Melbourne, November 2003
A4 Paperback, 16 pp (English), 16 pp (Indonesian)
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Relations between Indonesia and Australia are often likened to a
roller-coaster ride, and we often hear, whenever we dip into one
of the troughs, the situation remains good on the people-to-
people level.

As is the case with oft-repeated phrases, this one also is
starting to lose its edge. We begin to doubt whether this
depiction is not just a way of tempering bad news, because if
that is so, how come we mostly hear in the mass media about
events of conflict and when there are differences of opinion?

How come we get the impression that the relationships between
the two countries are always fraught with bad feelings and
resentment?

Is it possible that good news is not so sexy to readers? The
publication of a booklet by ACFOA (Australian Council For
Overseas Aid) in November 2003, therefore, may relieve some
people and surprise others all at once, because it contains good
news and it is a good read.

Australia and Indonesia, Partners in Development, launched by
the Indonesian Acting Consul General for Victoria and Tasmania,
Tito Octavianus, at the Asia Centre of the University of
Melbourne, is published in both English and Indonesian. It is not
a narrative of what the two countries have achieved together, but
a compilation of accounts by a number of individuals who are
involved in various projects, who are thus able to tell their
stories from the ground level.

The involvement of these people goes beyond that of the nexus
the trainer and the trained, or the benefactor and the receiver
of money and kindness. It is in the blurring of these roles that
their stories become interesting.

There is the touching story of Rosy, the director of programs
at Yakeba (Yayasan Kesehatan Bali), a local partner of the Burnet
Institute. Rosy did not travel the often smooth university-to-
training-to-counseling path known by many, but has been herself a
client of Yakeba. She fell into drug-addiction after six years of
disgrace, hardship and humiliation -- a failed marriage, numerous
arrests, the birth of a baby while living on the streets, until
she was referred to Yakeba in 2000.

Rosy thus has the benefit of her own background experience in
carrying out her work as a counselor for those battling drug-
addiction and at risk for HIV.

While Australian volunteers who come to live and work in
Indonesia on local wages inspire admiration, they often
unwittingly invoke a degree of an inferiority complex in those
who benefit from their presence. These people know that the
volunteers have left behind a better standard of living, albeit
temporarily, to come and help them, while they, no matter how
hard they try, will never be able to match that kindness and
sacrifice. This booklet has shown that it is not necessarily the
case.

We read the stories of Chloe Olliver and Charles Spong,
respectively volunteers for Australian Volunteers International
(AVI) and AESOP Business Volunteers, which debunk the one-way
benevolence myth.

Olliver wrote: "In approaching AVI, I specifically requested
to be sent to live, work and learn in a Muslim-majority
community. After limited postgraduate studies in Islamic Studies,
I wanted to understand on a more personal level the complexity
and diversity of what it means in at least one community to live
under the guidance of Islam."

As she continued, her maturity and self-knowledge is decidedly
reassuring.

"I was not naive enough to believe that a couple of years in
South Jakarta would answer all my questions, but hoped that it
would at least open the gates to a more informed and personal
understanding."

While in his story Spong does not explicitly indicate that he
went to Palembang, South Sumatra, seeking to learn something, he
nonetheless implies that he ended up learning many cultural
aspects in a subtle way. Spong even unintentionally depicts, to
those who care to take notice, a community which respects other
people's religions and beliefs.

"...As they would be praying in the mosques, they would be off
work for four hours. They asked me where I prayed. When I said at
the Catholic Church, they immediately drove me to the local
priest. The following day they checked out whether I had prayed.

"They gave me a big smile when I replied, 'Yes'..."

The good news stories of people who have been able to benefit
from the projects managed by the various non-governmental
organizations in ACFOA and their local partners tell a great deal
about communities who are not short of talented members, but
needing that initial push to get going at their own steam.

In this era of seemingly full of tension and conflict all
around, the Australia and Indonesia, this book certainly provides
hope and optimism which is becoming increasingly rare, in
Indonesia, Australia and elsewhere in the world.