EPILOGUE

By: Dr Yeoh Seng Guan

17 July 2009

This year’s study trip faced a quick succession of issues that threatened to extinguish its annual coming-of-being. The most serious were the global outbreak of the A (H1N1) virus (in early May) and the Indonesian presidential elections (in early July). Both invoked the unsettling specter of chaos and danger, and questioned the wisdom of persevering with the trip. Early on, another worry was the slow uptake of places which I suspect would have been quite different if touristic Bali was the advertised destination instead.

At the end of it all, I believe the remarkably colorful and graceful city of Yogyakarta fulfilled the promise of providing a portal into the multi-textured complexity of Javanese culture and society as evident in the many stories, videos and photos featured in this blog. If this particular trip has awakened and/or sustained an appreciation of how communities create an array of meanings and relationships in order to live meaningfully for this cohort of travelers, the key motif of these trips has been kept intact.

As in previous years, a venture of this nature would not be possible without the goodwill and help of a number of key people. Firstly, my appreciation goes to Dr Aris Arif Mundayat, the Director of Pusat Studi Sosial Asia Tenggara, Universitas Gadjah Mada, for readily agreeing to be the host institution and for providing various leads. Grateful thanks are also due to the many individuals, civil society groups, and kampong (village) residents for their generous sharing of knowledge and experiences. Without the graceful and tireless assistance of our student guides from Universitas Gadjah Mada in so many areas – Nana, Ike, Adi, Ambar and Arum - this trip would have been clueless. Lastly, a special word of gratitude goes to Nurina Malinda and her sister Diah Martengsari for all the months of background logistical support. Nurina is a veteran traveler of the study trips to the Philippines (2007) and Cambodia (2008), and her enthusiasm for this particular trip to her home city was infectious.

This is the fifth year in which the “In Search of” study trips have unfolded in the diverse human settlements of Southeast Asia – Penang (Malaysia), Bangkok (Thailand), Baguio & Sagada (Philippines), and Siem Reap (Cambodia). In comparative terms, this year’s cohort of enthusiastic and capable student travelers hailing from different countries is the most extensive – Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Admittedly, at times this proved to be a formidable multicultural challenge requiring patience and forbearance for all concerned. But I am also happy to report that they rose up well to the occasion. The sight of young men and women from different cultural backgrounds striving together to successfully tackle a common task placed at their feet despite all the odds gives one cause for hopeful optimism. For the first time, this year also saw the participation of two alumni and former travelers, Aron and Eunice, and their presence enlivened the motto of Monash University, ancora imparo – “I am still learning”.

These memories of Yogyakarta will live on

WRITER'S PROFILE: Dr Yeoh Seng Guan has been scheming study trips for students of Monash University’s School of Arts and Social Sciences since 2004. In his free time, he continues to research, film, and write on urban subalterns in Southeast Asia.

Accommodating the Accommodation

By: Eunice Phang Poh Ee

17 July 2009

Kevin Copeland: I'm gonna have a BF!
Marcus Copeland: Oh, my God, she's gonna have a b*tch fit!
Hotel clerk: No, don't d-d-d-don't have a, a, a BF now.
Kevin Copeland: I wanna speak to your supervisor! Better yet, I'm gonna write a letter!
Marcus Copeland: You, are in big, trouble!
Kevin Copeland: Dear Mister Royal Hampton. I am a white woman, in America….

(A scene where Kevin appropriated the “power and superiority” by disguising as a white woman and make demands he never enjoyed as a black man. )

The movie White Chicks crossed my mind the moment I stepped into our hotel. This is no Royal Hampton. It’s THE Hotel Puspo Nugroho. The hotel that was so unbearable that it gave the fellow pathfinders a sense of togetherness. For once, there’s something that everyone agreed upon, the accommodation could have been better…..WAYYYY better. Maybe this is Dr Yeoh’s little trick to make us bond.

So how should I start describing Puspo Nugroho, I guess the fact that I have no pictures of that place to show in this article meant a lot – staying there are not memories I’d want to keep. The smell of the dingy room, the cockroaches that lurk in the toilet, the grimes that stained the sink and the blanket that we used oh-so-reluctantly are just traumatic to us city kids. Nonetheless, we survived without a scratch, just a few miserable nights and the lust for our sweet, sweet bed at home.

Puspo Nugroho halls

In fact, the hotel WAS supposed to be way better but things just did not go according to Dr Yeoh’s plan. Following him and Aron one night through the streets of Losmen and Sosrowijaya, I found paradise. There’s a reason for Dr Yeoh’s eagerness to show us the hotel we were supposed to stay in – Setia Kawan, an artsy-fartsy place perfect for us artsy-fartsy arts students. As he skillfully led us through the alleys which he knows like the back of his hand (from all the hotel scouting), he explained why we were stuck in the dingy hotel instead of THIS. Ta-da!

multiple views inside Setia Kawan losmen, all retrieved from google

The room rates began at Rp.80,000 per night, the environment was fabulous and there were Internet services near the lobby, perfect for the editorial team. To top it all off, the rooms were air-conditioned (not as environmentally friendly like Puspo).

Then we stopped by Bladok , equally posh with a private swimming pool and a tad higher price.

And why you wonder did we not get a chance to stay at these places? One common thing, the place is flooded with White chicks and dudes only. Aaah, this is the perfect case study for post-colonialism and white supremacy. The hotel owners (colonized locals) still hold on to the perception that the Whites (Western colonizers) are of superior status and class, more affluent and the mere association of their hotels being the Whites’ preferred choice is a status symbol of quality and prestige. As Dr Yeoh mentioned, if only he had known earlier that there are 3 Australian students on board this trip, he would have used them to bait the hotel owners to take us in as “international” tourists instead of a bunch of students from Malaysia. It’s not being manipulative but just framing the truth to suit the local context, let no one take this to heart.

Despite their long winded reasons for not accommodating us, Dr Yeoh persisted with letters, showing the previous works and blogs as well as the association to the “prestigious” Monash University in Australia. Alas, the hotel owners stood strong on reserving their rooms for “the others”. Tough luck for the non- whites. (Note they do not discriminate Asians and if you come in a small group of 2-4 they would definitely welcome you. It’s just that there are “special priorities”).

Hence, that explains the story of our miserable stay in Puspo Nugroho, the last resort, literally. Nevertheless, these days should end as postmodernism rise where race and nationalities shall inhibit no more.

Okay, enough of whining about the hotels. Puspo Nugroho is not that bad after all, they have a very nice member of staff and that is the key factor that gave us fellow pathfinders a common hate subject, excuse me, a common ground. And no, none of us threw a fit but did our best to accommodate and survive the place as well as we can….just like any well-mannered kid would. We survived because we are Monash material.

WRITER'S PROFILE: Eunice graduated from Monash two years ago and is now working for L'Oreal as a management trainee for Shu Uemura. She enjoys hiking and is one of the most enthusiastic for hiking Mount Merapi, but changed her mind after realizing that hiking there would require much preparations.

Editor-in-Chief Closing Entry

By: Siti Nur Farhanah

17 July 2009

Visits to 'DD Net', the cybercafe that is a short walk away from our hotel, Hotel Puspo Nugroho, has been a routine activity of all the travelers present on this trip. Of course, this was facilitated by the fact that each traveler had receive a certain amount of allowance fund our trips to the cybercafe. Ensuring that the blog was kept updated became the responsibility not only of the editorial team but involved the active participation of every traveler as well. Where one might expect lots of dramatic inquisitions as 19 different individuals, including our pathfinder, Dr Yeoh Seng Guan and chaperon, Melanie Chalil, set out in a foreign land, it is safe to say that quite the reverse happened. Quoting from the words of fellow editor, Rachel Lai, “You don't even have to bug people to get their work done”. The responsible and self-motivated nature of the team on this study trip has certainly made the lives of the editorial board members much easier.

Prior to the trip, a schedule of deadlines had been drawn up for fellow travelers and it is certainly a relief to see that minimal changes needed to be made to this schedule once we were at our destination to maintain the up keeping of the blog. Also, there were several travelers who contributed additional articles on top of the topics that they have been assigned to in the trip. It was just great to see so much enthusiasm and responsibility exercised by the fellow travelers. Travelers adhered to the editorial guidelines provided and obeyed the instructions and tasks meted out by the editorial team. To keep readers on par with the activities that the travelers were involved whilst in Yogyakarta, Kemi and Paulista ensured that the 'Twitter' section of our blog was constantly updated, informing readers about our current whereabouts.

twittering our journey

According to another fellow editor, Shazwan, it was also interesting to read the various blog articles given the many different styles of writing adopted by the writers. It was a great experience to have read the views of each writer after attending a particular session and how the writers worked closely with the photographers, Dominique and Natasha, to get great shots of certain places, people or activities relevant to their individual topics.

Joanna Molloy, a member of the video team admitted that she has learnt a lot from being a part of this study trip. Despite the long hours of editing that the video team had to endure under the leadership of Jane Barraclough, it was time well-spent. She described their work process as being one that was “intense but fun”, putting together various clips for us to remember this trip by.

Where the process of maintaining the progress of the blog is not one devoid of errors as another fellow editor, Marina Tan mentioned, everyone managed to work together in order to ensure that any difficulties faced would be eliminated quickly. As the editor-in-chief, I would say that feedback from our pathfinder and fellow travelers have been tended to rather promptly. Our blog web mistresses, Kemi and Abeer were quick to attend to any changes that needed to be made to improve the quality of the blog when informed by the editorial team.

The constant communication between all members of the editorial team has helped to facilitate this learning experience in the city of Jogjakarta. The delegation of tasks has helped to ensure that almost every area of the blog is tended to with great effort and attention. We also appreciate the articles contributed by our student guides, Nana, Adi, Ambar, Ike and Arum. Working with a pool of creative and responsible individuals has been a BLAST and certainly a pleasure. I guess it is safe to say that the balance between work and play has been adequately maintained by the entire team of travelers here.

On behalf of all the travelers of this study trip to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, I thank all readers who have been following us on our journey in search of Yogyakarta through the articles. Also, I can't help but stress the integral role each traveler has played in order to ensure that deadlines are met and how much pride they have taken in their work. All in all, the experience of being the editor-in-chief has been filled with great pleasure, anxiety and urgency, putting together schedules and praying that everything gets done on time. It has been fabulous race course filled with memorable moments within and outside of our work stations within the world of our warnet (cybercafe) 'DD Net'.

Yours truly,

Editor-In-Chief

insearchofyogyakarta.blogspot.com

xoxoxo

Farhanah Bagharib

WRITER'S PROFILE: Farhanah Bagharib aka Nana is currently doing her Honours in Monash University Malaysia. She graduated the previous year with a degree in Bachelor of Communcations. Nana is a citizen of Singapore with immediate ancestry from Yemen in the state of Hadramawt. Being extremely interested in the workings of the feminist theory, Nana's Honours thesis revolves around the concept of feminism in Iranian cinema. Nana is SUPER picky with food but as long as there's fast food, she's all good.

The Importance of Numbers - A Reflection of Our Journey in Yogyakarta.

By Melanie A. Chalil

17 July 2009

It started with 17...

My experience here in Yogya centers around numbers, literally. Prior to the trip, my duties involved calling up our 17 wonderful participants (it was then 18) and recording their dates of birth and emergency contacts. When I got here, however, it started with daily head-counts, making sure that no one was left behind for our informative sessions and amazing sightseeing trips. Having participated in last year's study trip to Siem Reap, the group this time had a fair share of relatively new faces and in getting to know the city, I ended up getting to know these individuals.

Then plus 5....

Our wonderful student guides are more than just guides. I have to say, they became our eyes and ears to exploring this city. Whenever I had a question, one of them were always there to provide an explanation regarding the customs, culture and language of the Javanese people. At
tonight's farewell dinner, I realized how much I'm going to miss hearing them sing from across my room. I still remember listening to their voices the first time they practiced – I dropped by their room and said, “You guys can make money out of this”. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Nana, Adi, Arum, Ambar and Ike – Terima kasih for being such great guides and most importantly, friends.

When you have too many zeros...

we've all become millionaires in indonesia!

I'll be the first to admit that I cannot count to save my life. I'm always the last person at the table who offers to count the check simply because I just dislike doing it. I was never a whiz at math in school and safe to say, that was one of the main reasons why I chose to study Arts. I was definitely out of my element on a daily basis whenever I had to count the cash that was given to me. Trust me, it took a really long time (especially the first few days) to get used to what is now the familiar rupiah. During the first few days of counting cash, I thought I was going crazy. All I saw were numbers. I think I even dreamt that I was counting money. So anyways, all this venting has a point to it (I am getting there). The truth is, as much as I disliked doing it, I got used to it. And now, I definitely get what Dr. Yeoh was saying about our accommodation here – making the unfamiliar familiar. So yes, I'm much better at counting money now. Of course, I have my little piece of technology to thank but I definitely get how much work goes into planning for a trip like this just by the amount of zeros I had to count.

my duty in this trip includes counting, counting and counting money

9 days and 999 statues...

The highlight of this trip for me was definitely visiting both Candi Borobudur and Prambanan. I knew very little about these temples and I desperately wanted to know about the history behind its architecture. I loved listening to the legend of Loro Jonggrang because its heartbreakingly beautiful. Also, watching the Ramayana Ballet was a refreshing change from the usual hyper-dramatic/expressive operas I love so dearly. I enjoyed every deliberate movement and although I personally think gamelan music is freaky, it doesn't fail to enchant me.

I count myself very lucky to be able to learn so much about this city in such a short span of time. Although we live near a certain tourist infested street called Malioboro, it was the sessions we attended that truly taught me about the people who live here. It is the lives of such individuals that truly inspire us and teach us to not take things for granted.


WRITER'S PROFILE: Melanie is currently writing her Honours thesis on vampire literature
and masochism. She is a mixed bag of different cultures and loves writing short stories during her free time. Melanie is also fascinated by ancient monuments and civilization. This is her first time in Indonesia and is hooked on Javanese Lulur.

Diary Entry: Day 9 (Time to Say Goodbye)

By: Marina Tan

17 July 2009

"We need a holiday to recover from this 'holiday' " was the common phrase uttered by us Monash travellers, a few days after the In Search Of Yogyakarta expedition began. It seems just yesterday when we were at the LCCT, checking in and competing among each other to be the Winner of the Lightest Luggage Competition. The honour went to Miss Ultimate Light Traveler, Joanna Molloy with just 6kg of luggage, while Dr Yeoh was inagurated in the Heaviest Luggage Owner Hall of Shame with 20kg of luggage. To be fair, Dr Yeoh did have to bring along the camera equipment and appreciation souvenirs for our host organisations.

all the bulky luggage that the travelers brought

boarding airasia to yogyakarta

But here we are, the final day of the In Search of Yogyakarta Expedition. Nine days together in a strange hotel will inevitably create a bond among us travelers, a strange bond perhaps, which enables us all to chat about everything and nothing under the sun. A few days into the trip, it is no surprise to see groups of people previously unfamiliar to each other in each other's rooms laughing or moaning about the amount of walking done on that day, or to hear snippets of conversations among the Monash travelers in the bus ranging from the academically related 'I'm going to Italy next semester to study' to the completely irreverent 'I seriously need to take a dump right now...but our room toilet is too dodgy...'

Other than creating a bond among us Malaysians, Indonesians, Indian, mainland Chinese, Australians and Singaporean Monash students, this trip was invaluable due to the people and organisations we have met. The travelers unanimously agree that it would have been impossible for us to have the sessions with the various organisations such as INSIST and Taring Padi, without Dr Yeoh's wide range of networking. Personally, I found that the sessions deepened my understanding of the topics and theories I learn in the Monash classroom. In Monash University, we learn International Studies theories as merely theories, but in this trip we have met people who live out these theories in their daily lives. Our speaker at Pusat Studi Sosial Asia Tenggara is proudly socialist in leaning, while INSIST showed us the alternatives to the free market capitalist economy. These sessions enabled me to better understand the political theories I have learnt in my INT major, to see the political theories from the ground level.

For those whose majors involve journalism, or communications, this trip enabled them to practise the skills they have learnt in the classroom; the blog is a product of fine journalism, Taring Padi and the murals around Yogya shows the influence of the media and the
'text' in the political and social context of Yogyakarta, while the nightly video editing must have worked to enhance our video editing skills. Through all this, we also learn to meet deadlines, and that in the real world outside of Monash University our bosses would not accept excuses for missing deadlines. It was a 'deal with it' attitude when bumps appeared along the way to meeting deadlines. And we thought assignments were hard! But you can't keep a good student/alumni/guide/tourist down, and we finished all the required work.

Yogyakarta is a very musical and open city, where buskers roam the streets making music and alternative expression is openly aired through street murals and posters found along Malioboro street. We were fortunate enough to have this trip just as the Indonesian election results were announced. The political posters promoting political parties were rampant on the streets, but what was more surprising was the open presence of posters critiquing Indonesian politics or other social issues or posters reminding the politicians that Indonesians deserve more than just lip service. This method of holding the government accountable to their promises and keeping the government on their toes through these posters, is I'm sure good for the Indonesian people and democracy. Perhaps Malaysia could learn a thing or two from Yogya where the artists at Taring Padi had shown us, one does not have to wait to be old or have a political science degree to take an interest in national politics and subsequently try to change the negative aspects of local politics.

Nonetheless, the trip was not all work. While it was eye opening to have the sessions with the various organisations, we also had a lot of fun and light hearted moments when we did the touristy thing like visiting the Kraton,Borobudur,and Prambanan, watching the graceful Ramayana Ballet or playing with the children of HUMANA who steamrollers us in basketball. As summed up by Paulista, we students 'realised that we were growing old' when we were all begging for a time out after the basketball session while the kids and Dr Yeoh were still raring for another go.

Marina moderating for the HUMANA session

So this is the closing diary entry after 9 days. After the fantastic farewell dinner yesterday, the performance by both the Monash travelers and the student guides brought tears to some of our eyes at the thought of parting, What have we found In Search of Yogyakarta? We found a vibrant place, where alternative expression was the norm. We found helpful, gentle student guides, always obliging but having their own spark of mischief in teasing us. We found out how fortunate we all were, with our water heaters and air conditioning while the people of Kali Code relied on the river and weather. Now we find it is time to say goodbye.

the student guides' performance

last night in yogyakarta

abeer couldn't help to shed a few tears

As sung by the student guides at the farewell dinner

Mengapa adek menangis aje
Kalo memang jodo ngga kemana, hei hei

Until we meet again, hei hei!


WRITER'S PROFILE: Marina is a final year student at Monash University Malaysia, doing a double in the Bachelor of Arts in Writing and International Studies. Marina is from Malacca and was particularly impressed by INSIST which opened her eyes to the alternatives to capitalist free market. She finds INSIST fascinating as it is a real-life example of the theories she has learnt in her International Studies unit.

A glance of Taman Sari

By: Ambar Susilowati, Arum Wijayanti, Ike Irawati, Fajar Ahadi and Giartina Sulistyorini

17 July 2009

Taman Sari water castle is one of the tourist destinations located in Kampung Taman, Kraton District, Yogyakarta. Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono I, who was the first King of Yogyakarta, built it in 1758. This 10-hectare garden was also famously known as Perfume Garden or Fragrant Garden as there were many fragrant flowers grown in it. These flowers made this garden smell good and even more beautiful, but unfortunately those flowers do not exist anymore.

Several shots of multiple areas in Taman Sari

There are two main entrances at Taman Sari, that is Gapuro Agung (in the West part) and Gapuro Panggung (in the East).They are a combination of Hindu, Portuguese, Chinese, and Javanese architectures. Taman Sari used to function as a recreation place for the Sultan’s family, a place for meditation for the Sultan, and also a defense fort to avoid the enemies. After the death of Hamengku Buwono I, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono II who was the second King of Yogyakarta, used Taman Sari. Sultan Hamengku Bowono I and II are the only kings who used Taman Sari because in 1812 the Merapi Volcano erupted and destroyed it.

Officially, Taman Sari consists of three sections: the water castle, the underground mosque and Kenanga Island or Pulo Cemeti. Guides usually start the tour of Taman Sari from the entrance gate and continue to the water castle, then proceed to the underground mosque, and end the tour at Kenanga Island. There are three swimming pools (two for the concubines and one for Sultan), one dressing room and one private room in the water castle. The Sultan’s concubines usually gather at the swimming pool because one lucky concubine would be chosen by Sultan to accompany him swimming in his private swimming pool. The underground mosque is a place where Sultan used to pray and meditate. There is also a secret path as an escape route from the enemies. This mosque used to be surrounded by water and Sultan had to use a canoe to come to this place. The Kenanga Island or Pulo Cemeti is a fort to scout for enemies as it was the highest building in Yogyakarta at that time. This place got its name because at this place there were many kenanga flowers (Canangium Odoratum) which made this place especially fragrant.

Kenanga Island (Pulo Cemeti) in 1881.

There are many tourists who come to Taman Sari, both local and international tourists. Based on the information given by the guides at Taman Sari; every day there are about 200 visitors coming to this place. Shortly after the earthquake which destroyed Taman Sari in 2006, the number of visitors began to decrease. However, after the renovation and restoration of Taman Sari, the number of tourists visiting Taman Sari has begun to increase.

Taman Sari is under the authority of Kraton. It means that some of the income from Taman Sari is channeled to the Kraton. This also one of the reasons why a visit to Taman Sari is included in the Kraton tour package. Travel agents usually arrange their schedule to visit Taman Sari after visiting Kraton.

Taman Sari opens daily from 9 a.m to 3 p.m. with its entrance fee 2,500 IDR for local tourists, 7,000 IDR for international tourist and 1.000 IDR for a camera fee. A licensed-guide will be available to accompany the tourists (optional).

So for those who are interested in cultural heritage especially in Jogjakarta, Taman Sari will be a good place to visit.

The Art of Understanding the Javanese

By: Ambar Susilowati, Arum Wijayanti, Ike Irawati, Fajar Ahadi and Giartina Sulistyorini

17 July 2009

Being a Javanese is partly about genealogy, but mostly it is an elaborate art that you have to learn through a long process. It is not as simple as many people think it is. As a Javanese, you learn the customs, norms and values mainly from your nuclear family. However, a Javanese is greatly influenced by the extended family and the whole intricate Javanese society in which he lives. Javanese culture does not only teach its people to respect each other, but also to respect others who are not of Javanese descent. Sometimes it might cause confusion for people from other cultures who do not know Javanese customs, norms and values well. One of the many characteristics of the Javanese is that they want to keep things in harmony, and in order to do so they will try to avoid conflict with others, even if this means they have to “swallow the bitter pills and pretend that those are candies”. Those who do not understand this concept of keeping things in harmony might think that Javanese people in general are pretentious, and superficial. However, once they understand that maintaining the harmonious condition with people around them is a must; people of other cultures will get along well with the Javanese.

So, if you want to understand the Javanese better and get insight regarding the going ons in their lives, especially on how the Javanese relate to people of other cultures, here are some important tips for you:

* The polite language
Javanese people always use polite language when they talk amongst themselves. Unlike Bahasa Indonesia, Javanese has many variations of the same language which differ in usage. The differentiation is mainly based on whom you are talking to. For talking to older people, they have to use the kromo inggil (the highest level), while the ngoko variant is used while talking to ones peers.

Javanese language has many variations

* The tendency to say “YES”
Saying YES is almost an obligation for a Javanese. They say YES to almost anything to please other and keep things in harmony. It is considered to be “un-Javanese” to say NO when someone asks for their favor. Foreigners might have a hard time working with Javanese for they always have YES as an answer, but may not always be able to fulfill their YES. The thing is, non-Javanese do not understand that the Javanese usually say YES because they are reluctant to make the other party upset by saying NO.

For example, a Javanese will say YES to someone who asks for his favor to do something although he or she is actually really exhausted or do not even know how to get the favour done.

* The Saving Face (indirectness)
The next characteristic of the Javanese is the tendency to 'save face'. They usually do that by saying something indirectly. They will not go straight forward in rejecting something. They tend to speak as long as they can and it is just to minimize the “lost of face.”

* The Sensitive Feeling
The Javanese are too obliging in most situations. Consider this as an example; when someone asking for a Javanese about direction, the Javanese will not only show him or her the way to get to the place, but offer him or her a ride to get to the place instead.

Those are the things you need to consider when you try to get to know the Javanese. I know that it is difficult to understand other people's culture, especially within a short time, but having an open mind towards other cultures no matter how different it is from yours is already one big step to get you closer to understand the Javanese and their culture.