Indonesia in The World
Indonesia is always forgotten.
When people think of Asia, they are thinking of China, Japan, Korea.
When people think of Southeast Asia, they are thinking of Thailand and Malaysia.
When people think of the Muslim world, they are thinking of the Middle East.
We are voiceless in the global narrative about the world we live in. For them, we don’t exist. They think Indonesia is an exotic place of “uncivilized people” without all the social intricacies. They don’t know we have our own intellectual history that spans across millennia. They are not aware of our throve of excellent literature like Pramoedya Ananta Toer or NH. Dhini. Of course they know Bali, one of our thousands island. But other than that? We are just non-existent.
One high school student in Cambridge, the most educated city in the United States, asked me in the bus. “Where is Indonesia?” Is it an island bigger than Singapore?”
The trip from Harvard to Cushing street soon became a basic geography lesson for the kid.
Don’t you think it’s a problem of the less-educated person! Sally Kornbluth, MIT President, asked me during my graduation ceremony under the great dome building. “Now my question is…” (I was getting ready to answer a complicated question)…”How did you learn about this fellowship?”
I didn’t expect that to come from the leader of the United States’ most reputable university. Maybe I was one of the victims of the United States’ social propaganda: the Hollywood and QS World ranking. I though MIT as the place for the best minds in the world. While I did meet some of them there, I never thought the president was not well-informed enough to understand that Indonesia also has an internet connection. After the graduation, I told my colleagues that I supposedly answer: “Oh, I know the fellowship from the whispering rambutan tree in my backyard,” *grinned
So why all these rants?
As someone who live in two different worlds: that are rural Sumatra and the global cyber world, I have always been contemplating about my identity. Who am I really? Does my voice matter? Who am I speaking for? Why is it important for me to speak? Am I biased?
- to be continued!