Expatriates stay calm amid anti-Australian sentiment

By Mehru Jaffer

JAKARTA (JP): Gone are the days when Australians would happily hop into anything that promised to keep them afloat to breeze into Indonesia at a whim or at will. Such was the spontaneity involved in the passionate love affair between the two neighbors.

Made Wijaya first sailed in 1973 to Bali from Western Australia on a leaking 35-foot ketch. Born Michael White, Made's first sight of Indonesia was the tip of Bali's Mount Agung rising from the Indian Ocean. "After a childhood of arid plains, and five days without food on a becalmed Indian Ocean I was moved to tears," one of the country's most famous Australians recalled.

Made Wijaya has not looked back since that fateful weekend several decades ago when he traded his tape recorder for a red Lurex sash and a batik to join in the Kuningan festivities, the most joyous day in the Hindu Balinese calendar. To be able to stay forever on the island and "be more Balinese than the Balinese", the Australian, also known as "stranger in paradise" taught tennis, gave English lessons, wrote columns for the Sunday Bali Post and designed scores of gardens and dream homes.

Darwin to Bali has remained a favorite route for scores of other travelers as well. However in recent days, it is East Timor that is spoken of in the same breath as Darwin; it is Darwin which has been grabbing the headlines instead of beautiful Bali. As for the love affair between Indonesia and Australia, it seems at the moment to be languishing somewhere in the deep freeze.

Ever since the referendum in East Timor there has been widespread criticism in Indonesia of Australia. The deployment of the Australian-led multinational peacekeeping force to East Timor (Interfet) has exacerbated tensions between the two countries.

Officials at the Australian Embassy warn that the security situation in Indonesia has deteriorated over recent weeks and may affect the welfare and safety of Australians living here. There have already been demonstrations at the embassy and the consulate in Bali, as well as the consulates in Balikpapan, Kupang and Medan. A number of threatening phone calls, including bomb threats, have been received by both Australian businesses and individuals, while the grounds of the Australian International School were firebombed early this month.

"It is not nice to have molotov cocktails thrown at you. But no, we have no plans of leaving the country," says Penny Robertson, principal of the Australian International School.

Penny is extremely proud of the work that the school is doing in Jakarta and would hate to give it all up just because some misguided citizens of both countries are spoiling relations between Indonesia and Australia.

"The problem at present is a problem between the governments of both countries. Why should we the people also create differences and hatred amongst ourselves and destroy what is a very precious relationship?" ponders Penny, who heads the school of 200 students between the ages of three years and 18 years, from 31 different countries.

Penny finds it very difficult these days to explain even to her Indonesian friends that Australians are not barbarians and do not want to colonize this country; that Interfet is a multi international force that has come to East Timor only with the consent of this government.

Before the economic crisis hit the country, the school had almost 300 students. Many expatriate families have now left, not just out of fear, but also because business is no longer booming in the country. They have moved on to other places, where the chance of earning a living is probably far more opportune. Out of a population of over 7,000 Australians in the city during the precrisis days, it is calculated that not more than 3000 Australians continue to live in Jakarta.

After trade, education remains one of the most important links between the two neighbors. There are more than 17,000 Indonesians studying in Australia this year with Australian aid continuing to support 300 students annually.

Appealing to people in both countries not to overlook the wisdom in concentrating on further strengthening economic ties, Sabam Siagian, president of the Indonesia Australia Business Council (IABC) insists that it is important for both governments to remain aware of the strategic significance of the bilateral relationship. He says the relationship is particularly important as his country slowly recovers from the disastrous consequences of the 1997 monetary crisis. Two-way trade between Indonesia and Australia is worth about US$3.52 billion annually.

An Indonesian wife of an Australian citizen and mother of two tiny tots feels no fear for her family. "It is those Australians who read only Australian newspapers and magazines who are afraid of us," she said, looking forward, as usual, to her annual vacation in Sydney in December.

Most members of the expatriate community talked to in the city, especially those of Caucasian descent, said that they have no plans to flee Indonesia in the near future unless, of course, their job was threatened. But they did confess to being much more careful these days about the taxi they hop into. They also try not to wander the streets of the city at odd hours, especially after dark, a precaution they would take in many other cities of this increasingly big bad world.