Janet Edwards

University of South Australia, Australia
Exchange to East Java Universities, Indonesia

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the numbers of people in Indonesia. All of these people have somewhere to go, and all of them appear to be on the road at the same time. The most popular form of transport is a step three motorcycle that can carry up to six passengers and assorted produce. Referred to in Indonesia as a “sepeda motor”, it is often a family’s most valuable asset.

Not only are they used for moving whole families from place to place, sepeda motor is often an income producing asset, moving agricultural products such as vegetables, chickens, coconuts, cassava and a myriad of items to market. These items make the return journey as part of the family shopping, accompanied by assorted family members at a range of produce which sometimes might include building products. Indeed, I did see a passenger sitting on the rear of a sepeda motor with a large framed glass window on his lap. The window towered above him and he a had very tight grip!

When not in use by the family sepeda motor might be hired as an “ojek” or motorbike taxi, for short distances. There are whole economies in Indonesian society occurring every day at street level. Street vendors selling everything from hot food, gorilla masks, children’s toys, fresh fruit and any imaginable items populate the streets from sunrise to sunset. In a highly ordered and regulated Western societies, we forget the challenges that many of the world’s population face every day -- to make a living and feed their families.

Bahasa Indonesia is considered to be a simple language to learn. This is untrue. The vocabulary itself is simple and despite the language having no tenses, the variety of prefixes and suffixes that are used to express meaning makes learning the language complex and challenging. In addition to this, there are a number of dialects and regional variations that add to the complexity.

People often ask what I find appealing about places like Indonesia. For me it offers an opportunity to see how life is lived by large numbers of the world’s population. Life in most of Indonesia is lived in view of the public, simply because there are fewer private spaces. It is the appearance of chaos, and the surprise is that weight around every corner that excites me. The clutter, noise, smells and tastes that stimulate all of the senses.

The view of poverty that we do not see. We forget it exists. This reconnection with humanity is necessary to ensure that we do not shirk our responsibility to address the most pressing issue of our time -- poverty. My study has not only connected me with the Indonesian language but it has reconnected me to my humanity.

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