For many families it’s back to school time. “Do you remember the day,” says Charlie, “when your Mum bought you a jumper at the beginning of the year that was too big, saying you were going to grow into it?” Louise remembers something different; she used to get hand-me-down jumpers and shoes from her brother. […]
Attitudes
In Memoriam: Founder of the Monash Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, John D. Legge (1921-2016)
A founding father of Southeast Asian studies in Australia, Professor John David Legge, passed away today at the age of 94. On 24 November 2015, staff and students in the Faculty of Arts at Monash University came together to celebrate the official opening of the John Legge Study Space in the Menzies Building at the Clayton campus. […]
Window on Australia launches in Indonesia
A month-long celebration of Australian stories and culture commences in Indonesia today with the launch of Window on Australia, a collaboration between the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s International Division, Media Nusantara Citra (MNC) and Indonesia’s leading online news site, Detik.com. Window on Australia allows Indonesians to engage with and learn about Australia from a range of […]
Paul Ramadge’s speech at Ari Sharp’s ‘Risky Business’ book launch
The book is a reminder that contemporary Indonesia is full of paradoxes, sometimes moving painfully slowly, at other times moving with almost terrifying speed. Some Indonesian entrepreneurs – the ones who build cities – like saying “We build the boat while we sail” Selamat malam. It is an honour to be invited to speak tonight. […]
Indonesia through the eyes of ABC correspondent Helen Brown
Jakarta is a city that knocks you around in the first year. If you survive that, use what you have learnt in year two, then invariably, Indonesia becomes the country that you can’t let go of. When I arrived in Jakarta in late 2010 for my posting in the ABC bureau as the Australia Network […]
Let’s Try Harder To Build Trust With Indonesia
At a conference on people-smuggling in Jakarta in mid-February, retired lieutenant general and former trade minister Luhut Panjaitan suggested Australia needed to reclaim “trust” if it wanted to rebuild relations with Indonesia. Not surprisingly, Panjaitan, a veteran of the invasion of East Timor, reminded the small audience of the loss of trust Indonesians felt over […]
Indonesia: A Golden Opportunity On Our Doorstep
It wasn’t that long ago that the world was mesmerised by the rise of Japan. I remember well the repercussions in the United States and elsewhere over Japan’s state-directed capitalism. Japan was, in the 1980s, the market to emulate. The Japanese had just-in-time management. Employees were loyal and highly productive. Japanese business models spread internationally […]