Indonesia Etc. - Edition Lontar
Elizabeth Pisani
Published June 2014
- In the United Kingdom by Granta / United States by WW Norton
- Indonesia by Godown, an imprint of Lontar (http://www.lontar.org)
I dumped my bags in a hotel room disheartening, asked staff to empty the dead cockroaches and drove out to explore.
And explore Indonesia with a very keen eye and broadens the mind is what Elizabeth Pisani (EP) took a little over a year in 2011/12. It was first published here by Reuters in 1988 after backpacking the banana pancake circuit of northern Sumatra, Java and Bali in 1983. She left Indonesia in 1991 " after several differences of opinion with the military about the accuracy of [her] reports, especially around the civil war taking place in the northwestern province of Aceh. "
Ten years later, she returned with a PhD and spent four years as an epidemiologist and HIV specialist to assist the Ministry of health " follow the speed of an epidemic, he would prefer to ignore . "his experiences here and in other countries lead to his book Wisdom of Whores .
to his return in choosing what be explored in a large country, she opted for " the principle of random selection " thinking just trust that if it " got there and looked through the eyes of enough people in enough places, [she’d] be able to piece the fragments together in the nation's portrait as a whole to better understand the son binding the glorious disparity set . "
This meant that she explored places and cultures outside the mainstream Java and the usual haunts of tourists and most travelers. Beginning as" an occasional smoker drink hard ", she" set the pace of life in extraordinary places "and discovered a Indonesia" quite different from [she] thought [she] knew . "
villages and small towns of Sumba, Flores, the islands of the Moluccas until Kei Ternate, Aceh, West Kalimantan, Lombok, and cities Semarang, Surabaya and Solo were places she has visited, some revisited, usually staying in homes as a guest, often a result of a chance encounter. In this way, " you get to hear and see more than, say, a cafe where you get the opinion of the blustering, and it is this point of view, expressed in public, which is usually in history . "
Some of these places that I recognize from my own visits; Banda, Ambon and Ternate in the Moluccas, and Kota Tua Semarang in particular. In doing so, not only do I find myself smiling and nodding recognition, as in my opening quote but actually learning and understanding of aspects of Indonesia, which shone weakly in my consciousness, but now she put them to my attention seems so obvious.
EP provides the historical context in outline. For example, the fundamental basis of Indonesia Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (unity in diversity), and is based on the historical role of well appointed trade winds.
" They blew the southern China between December and March, and provided a rapid passage to India from June to September. In the intervening months, the islands were sitting in the pot Black fickle breath. during these months, traders sat in animated ports that have grown to meet their needs. They married local girls in every port and left them at the source of the goods for next visit . "
Then, with detailed descriptions, it stresses that the visitors of today's markets" will probably find much the same sights and smells that Marco Polo made seven centuries ago . "
Indonesia Etc. by Elizabeth Pisani
most cultures she encounters are still very rooted in adat , traditions carried across generations, but " villagers film a sacrifice ritual on their mobile phones [which] presents the nation's leaders with a headache. If coexist ancient and modern Indonesia that they should make laws for? "
She observes the clan system and suggests that what many call" corruption "can be described as" patronage. "Some" positions "are" reserved "for members of the clan, and exchanging elements of "homage" - pigs buffalo in weddings and funerals in rural areas, cash in the cities and government centers - traditionally a symbol of respect for the positions in a hierarchy [
In bureaucracies, which translates as an excuse that " Belum dapat Petunjuk " - "I have not yet received instructions" and Asal Bapak Senang (ABS) - 'as long as the father is happy "
However, it offers no excuses for the often blatant grab local funds for self-promotion the central dilemma.. modernization (read: "decentralization") in collective societies [is that] security that encompasses all of a shared culture is sold off in exchange for personal development. "
In politics, following reformasi and the dismantling of centralized Orde Baru Suharto, it is now" as democracy in that almost everyone has someone out there in the delivery system for them . "Therefore," disconnection between what comes out of the ministries of the central government in Jakarta and what is happening in neighborhoods is increasingly more pronounced . "
in the midst of serious, almost philosophical ruminations, there are small gems observed with a sardonic eye for seemingly innocuous. For example, it is quite there with his description of Padang restaurants ubiquitous and stressed that " while not all the food is appetizing, there will always be something you like ."
I romped through the book, reveling in the details from his comments (because it was " always scribbling in notebooks "). In nearly 400 pages, with a glossary, occasional notes, reading suggestions and valuable index, EP has written an always fascinating travelogue.
Very few of us have done more than scratch the surface of etceteras beyond our immediate environment, and Indonesia Etc. is surely the richest account of contemporary Indonesia still be published. There is a nation quite different from what we think we know.
The blog Elizabeth Pisani: http://indonesiaetc.com/