BALI, INDONESIA Green, deep green Chlorophyll blinds the eyes keen Black earth, brown aches Sticky mud between toes cakes. Tears irrigate the picture painted under the labouring harvest’s stricture Paddy, palms, coconuts, frangipanis Creations of peasant hands canny. Rice sold and eaten Suffices to keep deep want beaten But for the future there are no […]
Poem: Becak Driver
Calf muscles bulging, hard, straight Wheels peddles backbone straining great One whole family seated under the roof His foot on the peddle whirling, or is it a hoof? The grimace while he bargains The sad smile as he counts his gains The laughter as they smoke kretek together Men, poverty’s burden to the peddle […]
THE CHINESE IN INDONESIA – by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
THE CHINESE IN INDONESIA – by Pramoedya Ananta Toerby Max Lane 13 March, 2008 The Chinese in Indonesia, An English Translation of Hoakiau Di Indonesia (First Published in 1960) by Pramoedya Ananta Toer; Max Lane (Translator) About This Book Pramoedya Ananta Toer (1925-2006) was undoubtedly Indonesia’s most significant novelist and writer. After the 1960 publication […]
Free Public lecture: Crisis to come: Indonesia and the politics of 21st century underdevelopment
Date 15 April 2010, 6.30pm Seats are limited, so please register to attend: email renelson@unimelb.edu.au Title “The crisis to come: Indonesia and the politics of 21st century underdevelopment” Location: Elisabeth Murdoch Building, Theatre A, The University of Melbourne, Parkville Speaker Dr Max Lane Description Honorary Fellow Dr Max Lane will speak on The crisis to come: […]
INDONESIA: Politics: New progessive activists alliance
New Indonesian activists alliance calls for national protest action A new alliance or united front organization was formed in January in Indonesia to fight the current neo-liberal policies of the Indonesian government. Its leaflet calling for a January 28 protest action lists 17 organisations. These include student and trade union organizations (including transport and electricity […]
Indonesia, the new Pacific solution? Refugee rights and social justice in the Asia Pacific
Public forum: Indonesia, the new Pacific solution? Refugee rights and social justice in the Asia Pacific Date: Tuesday, 08 December 2009 Time: 18:00 – 20:00 A discussion forum with Pamela Curr and Setyo Budi Presented by Indonesia Solidarity Forum and the University of Melbourne Indonesian program Pamela Curr – Long term refugee rights activist and […]
INDONESIA: Education and social inequality
From the 1986-2006 cohort of students who entered first year of primary school in 1986: 27% did not finish primary school; 55.8% did not finish junior high school; 75.5 did not finish senior high school. (ESR, World Bank, 2007) Only 7 % of student who finished school came from the poorest 20% of the population. […]
INDONESIA: The President has dismissed the head of the national police
Why has President Yudhoyono not dismissed the head of the Indonesian national police as a response to the scandal the confrontation, or turf war, between the National Police and the Corruption Eradication Commission? Why has no leader of any parliamentary party a clear and strong call for such a dismissal? Perhaps they all remember what happened […]
INDONESIA: Parliament represents less than half the people
“The number of voters represented by the nine political parties that obtained seats in the national House of Representatives (DPR) following the 2009 legislative elections is less that who are not represented.” Kompas, November 13, 2009 James Balowski from the APSN website has translated and circulated the following KOMPAS newspaper article. For more background to […]
Review: Refugees and Rebels: Indonesian Exiles in Wartime Australia, by Jan Lingard
Refugees and Rebels: Indonesian Exiles in Wartime Australia, by Jan Lingard (Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2008) Jan Lingard’s book, Refugees and Rebels – Indonesian Exiles in Wartime Australia is a humane, interesting, informative and readable book. Every person interested in the history of the Australian and/or Indonesian people should read this book. It should be on the reading lists […]
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