Indonesia needs to study Australia, scholar says

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia needs to study Australia because it is one of Indonesia's closest neighbors with whom it will always come into contact, a scholar said.

Despite crucial differences in cultural, social and political backgrounds, Australian studies in Indonesia are important if Indonesians are to understand its neighbor better, Wardiningsih Soerjohardjo of the University of Indonesia said yesterday.

"Differences in the historical and cultural backgrounds of the two are obvious, but I think these distinctive characteristics actually make studying much more attractive," said Wardiningsih, who heads the university's Australian Studies Center (PKA-UI).

Lack of understanding between the two countries was singled out as a reason for their turbulent bilateral relations throughout most of the 1980s.

Speaking during a discussion on diverse ways of studying Australia at the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ), she said an understanding of another country's history and culture can encourage one to better understand one's own cultural background.

The discussion, attended by about 20 participants from research institutions, the mass media and the Australian embassy, is part of the Australia Today Indonesia 94 promotion program, which was launched on Tuesday.

Director of the Australian Studies Center of the University of Melbourne, Prof. Chris Wallace-Crabbe, said that in studying Australia, Indonesians could "show us things which we had not guessed about our assumptions, our heritage ... and in finding out what is paradoxical about us, you can also harvest further insights about yourselves."

He pointed out that English literature, from which most of the studies are based on, tend to lead to a particular impression of Australian society.

This could raise misgivings among scholars since it "emphasizes works of the individual imagination...over steady empirical research," he added.

He concluded that in either a literary or a social science approach to Australian studies, the choice is either to establish large general truths about a nation or to research small empirical facts. "Either way, your need here will be for more books, journals and magazines. I hope that we, in Australia, can continue helping you with such resources."

The PKA-UI, which comes under the rector of the University of Indonesia, was founded in 1991 to develop research and studies about Australia. Its sponsors include the Australia Indonesia Institute and the International Development Program of Australian Universities and Colleges.

Wardiningsih explained that Australian studies in Indonesia from the beginning have been focused on being a discipline-based study, with an emphasis on humanitarian aspects.

About 320 students from the university's departments of history, literature, geography, archeology, political science, international relations and mass communication have joined the center.

During the discussion, the need for an Australian cultural center -- such as the Erasmus Huis of the Netherlands, the Goethe Institute of the German or the British Council -- to accommodate Australian cultural events overseas, was addressed.

"That idea was actually raised several times to the Australian government ... but there seemed to be no response," said Wallace- Crabbe. (pwn)