Remarks by
H.E. Mr S. Wiryono, Ambassador of Indonesia to Australia
At the Canberra launch of the book
Illuminations: The Writing Traditions of Indonesia
Menzies Building of the University Library, ANU
Canberra, 9 October 1996

Mr Robert Barnes
Dr Ann Kumar
Ladies and Gentlemen

I am honoured to be invited to this important and happy occasion, the Canberra launch of the book Illuminations: The Writing Traditions of Indonesia, taking place here at the Menzies Library within the ANU. The ANU is a prestigious institution which has had a long tradition of academic and intellectual interaction with Indonesia, and hence I think it only appropriate that the Canberra launching of this publication be held here. At a later date in New York, there will be a similar launching of this book, thereby making it known worldwide.

The completion of this work and its launching, mark an important development in the efforts to discover, record, understand and conserve Indonesia's manuscripts, along with the traditions they represent, which even to the Indonesians themselves are sometimes not known. This is due to the fact that while as a nation Indonesia has only been independent a little over fifty years, its multi-ethnic cultural heritage is both ancient and yet still in the process of continual interaction and assimilation to become Indonesian. Illuminations: The Writing Traditions of Indonesia is the first comprehensive look at Indonesia's manuscript heritage and represents a significant contribution to the understanding of Indonesia by the international community, and also the Indonesian people themselves.

This publication, being the result of international scholarly co-operation, is of tremendous value and an important achievement. It not only looks at the range of physical materials used in these Indonesian manuscripts but also examines the varied literary forms recorded within these manuscripts. This book will certainly facilitate studies of our culture, in particular Indonesian literature which is an important element in the process of Indonesia becoming a more culturally cohesive nation.

Indonesia is of course already a nation, but it is still growing into a nation and the Indonesian language is still growing into a more complete and mature language, enriching itself with an attitude of openness, adopting new words into its vocabulary, as well as adapting itself to the international way of communicating. A lot of us can speak Indonesian and English but it is not sufficient to simply think in the Indonesian way, we have to think globally if we want to be understood as a nation. Such efforts Indonesia is still making, and clearly the work done by Dr Ann Kumar and her colleagues is of great value to the students, writers, authors and others who are trying to establish and consolidate a better understanding of Indonesia.

In these days of more and more interdependence and in a fast-globalising world, of course English is the global language. However, regionally the Indonesian language is spoken by more than 225 million people - not an insignificant language. Its contribution to the world's literary life and culture is going to become greater and greater and therefore, I am pleased that scholars from Australia, New Zealand, the United States, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Germany as well as Indonesia have contributed their ideas in different articles.

The launching of this book coincides with the year in which Indonesia commemorated its 51st Anniversary of Independence. In this way it is also a contribution to the commemoration, a time when the Indonesian people are not only looking back into their history but are also thinking about their own continuing process to be a stronger nation, as well as their place and role in the world.

It is significant and commendable that the study and work is sponsored by the Lontar and Ford Foundations, both important organisations in Indonesia and the United States. Yet just as important, if not more so are the contributions by ANU academics who through this book enable us to share their respect for and love of their subject.

Currently we are seeing an increasingly more intensified cultural interaction between the two countries, in particular with regards to the teaching of Bahasa Indonesia in Australia. I am pleased and impressed by the enthusiastic effort among Australian schools - primary and secondary, as well as tertiary institutions - to teach Bahasa Indonesia. To me, this bespeaks a keen desire to promote the relationship between our two countries and educate students so that any remaining barriers of ignorance can be broken down. Either way, we deeply appreciate such a sensitivity and responsiveness to our culture. On the other hand, Indonesians have been learning English and at any one time there are 15,000 Indonesian students studying in Australia. These students are also contributing to the intensification of cultural interaction between the two countries.

However, what is even more encouraging is the fact that the teaching of Bahasa Indonesia is not only officially implemented as a matter of policy, but that there are also a great number of private initiatives taking place. A wonderful example of such initiative involves Warrnambool College, a secondary school 300 kilometres outside of Melbourne, who collected money, bought a computer and a fax machine, and donated them to SMA III, a high school in Yogyakarta. Furthermore, there are a number of schools in Tasmania who are eager to make contact with students in Indonesia and have requested the Education and Cultural Section of the Embassy provide them with e-mail addresses of high schools in Indonesia. There are schools in Jakarta, Surabaya, Ujung Pandang and Medan with access to such electronic communication and we are delighted that we have been able to satisfy the Tasmanian students request. Through their initiative these two schools are now able to communicate, either in English or Bahasa and improve their knowledge of both languages. From this we can see how the two countries are interacting at all levels - even at the children's level - which is very encouraging.

I would like to conclude my remarks by reiterating how important this publication is, not only in its detailed analysis of Indonesia's writing history and traditions, but also in its preservation of many of Indonesia's most rarest and valuable manuscripts. I commend, congratulate and am grateful to the editors, authors, publisher and sponsors from all the countries involved with the publication and I wish you every success with its circulation and receival.

Thank you.