Indonesia Etc.: Exploring the Improbable Nation
Indonesia Etc. – Lontar edition
Elizabeth Pisani
Published June 2014
– from the UK by Granta / from the US by WW Norton
– In Indonesia by Godown, an imprint of Lontar (http://www.lontar.org)
I dumped my bags in a dispiriting hotel room, asked the staff to clear out the dead cockroaches along with headed out to explore.
along with explore Indonesia which has a very keen eye along with widening mind will be what Elizabeth Pisani (EP) did for just over a year in 2011/12. She was first posted here by Reuters in 1988, having backpacked the banana pancake circuit of North Sumatra, Java along with Bali in 1983. She left Indonesia in 1991 “following several differences of opinion with the military about the accuracy of [her] reporting, particularly around the unfolding civil war from the north-western province of Aceh.”
Ten years later she returned which has a PhD along with spent four years as an epidemiologist, specializing in HIV along with helping the Ministry of Health “track the speed of an epidemic the idea could prefer to ignore.” Her experiences here along with in different countries lead to her book The Wisdom of Whores.
For her return, in choosing what to explore in such a vast country she opted for “the principle of random selection” figuring of which by simply trusting of which if she “got out there along with looked through the eyes of enough people in enough places, [she’d] be able to piece the fragments together into a portrait of the nation as a whole, to understand better the threads of which tie the glorious disparity together.”
of which meant of which she explored places along with cultures outside the dominant Java along with the usual haunts of tourists along with most travellers. Starting out as “a hard drinking occasional smoker”, she “settled into the rhythm of life in extraordinary places” along with discovered an Indonesia “quite different via the one [she] thought [she] knew.”
Villages along with smaller towns in Sumba, Flores, the islands of the Moluccas via Kei up to Ternate, Aceh, West Kalimantan, Lombok, along with the cities of Semarang, Surabaya along with Solo were places which she visited, some revisited, generally staying in homes as an invited guest, often following a chance encounter. of which way “you get to hear along with see more than in, say, a coffee shop where you get the braggart’s view, along with the idea will be of which view, expressed in public, of which most often makes the idea into history.”
Some of these places I recognise via my own visits; Banda, Ambon along with Ternate from the Moluccas, along with Semarang’s Kota Tua in particular. In so doing, not only do I find myself smiling along with nodding with recognition, as in my opening quote, although actually learning about along with understanding aspects of Indonesia which faintly glimmered in my consciousness, although right now of which she’s brought them into my focus seem so obvious.
EP offers the historical context in broad strokes. For example, the fundamental foundation of Indonesia will be Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity), along with of which will be based on the historical role of the aptly named trade winds.
“They blew south via China between December along with March, along with provided a fast passage up to India via June to September. from the interim months, the islands sat from the fickle-winded Doldrums. During these months, traders sat from the bustling ports of which grew up to meet their needs. They married local girls in each port along with left them to source cargo for their next visit.”
Then, with detailed descriptions, she points out of which visitors to today’s markets “will probably find much the same sights along with smells as Marco Polo did seven centuries ago.”
Indonesia Etc. by Elizabeth Pisani
Many of the cultures she meets are still very much rooted in adat, the traditions carried down through the generations, yet “villagers film a ritual sacrifice on their mobile phones [which] presents the nation’s leaders which has a headache. If ancient along with modern Indonesia co-exist, which should they make laws for?”
She observes the clan system along with suggests of which what many call ‘corruption’ may be best described as ‘patronage’. Certain ‘positions’ are ‘reserved’ for members of the clan, along with the exchange of items of ‘homage’ – via pigs to buffaloes at weddings along with funerals in rural areas, to cash in cities along with government centres – are traditionally a symbol of respect for the positions in a hierarchy.
In bureaucracies, of which translates as the excuse of which “belum dapat petunjuk” – ‘I haven’t received instructions yet’ along with Asal Bapak Senang (ABS) – ‘as long as father will be happy’.
However, she offers no excuses for the often blatant grabbing of local funds for self-promotion. The central dilemma of modernisation (read: ‘decentralisation’) in collective societies [will be of which] the all-encompassing security of a shared culture gets sold off in exchange for individual fulfilment.”
Within the political sphere, following reformasi along with the dismantling of Suharto’s centralised Orde Baru, there will be right now “so much democracy around of which almost everyone has someone somewhere from the system delivering for them.” So “the disconnect between what comes out of the central government ministries in Jakarta along with what goes on from the districts will be growing more pronounced.”
Amid the serious, almost philosophical, ruminations, lie smaller gems observed which has a sardonic eye for the seemingly mundane. For instance, she will be absolutely spot on with her description of the ubiquitous Padang restaurants along with points out of which “while not all of the food will be appetizing, there will always be something you like.”
I romped through the book, revelling from the details sourced via her observations (because she was “always scribbling in notebooks“). In nigh on 400 pages, which has a glossary, occasional footnotes, suggestions for further reading, along which has a valuable index, EP has written an always fascinating travelogue.
Very few of us have done more than scratch the surface of the etceteras beyond our immediate surroundings, along with Indonesia Etc., will be surely the richest account of contemporary Indonesia yet to be published. the idea will be a nation quite different via the one we think we know.
Elizabeth Pisani’s blog: http://indonesiaetc.com/
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Indonesia Etc.: Exploring the Improbable Nation
Indonesia Etc.: Exploring the Improbable Nation