Bridges of Friendship: Reflections on Indonesia's Early Independence and Australia's Volunteer Graduate Scheme

Description

This volume casts new light on the intercultural and personal ties among Indonesians and Australians in the context of the post-war rise of secular volunteering, and the unique political and social conditions then prevailing in the newly formed Indonesian Republic. It brings together previously unpublished manuscripts by Betty Feith, who has a lifelong involvement in church and humanitarian service, and by Kurnianingrat Ali Sastroamijoyo, an educator and someone who took an active part in the Indonesian Revolution. The first two parts include substantive works of historical narrative and memoir. The third part is a collection of letters that provides a bird's-eye view of the ethos and workings of the Volunteer Graduate Scheme, an initiative under which Australian graduates were employed in the Indonesian civil service. Betty's nuanced and insightful narrative reflects her intimate involvement in the inception and running of the Volunteer Graduate Scheme, while Kurnianingrat's reminiscences, 'Other Worlds in the Past', offer insights into Indonesian social and cultural history at a critical time for the nation at the same time as they chronicle Kurnianingrat's own experiences and perspective. Kurnianingrat's memoirs include a fascinating and moving account of daily life in occupied Yogyakarta during the struggle for independence against the Dutch. In the 1950s, Indonesians Kurnianingrat and Harumani Rudolph-Sudirdjo formed lasting friendships with Australian volunteer graduates, Betty Feith and Ailsa Thomson Zainuddin. The mutual interests, connections and commitments among this circle of friends are illustrated in the final section of Bridges of Friendship. (Series: Herb Feith Translation Studies) [Subject: Southeast Asian Studies, Indonesian Studies, International Relations, Sociology, History]