Friday, June 13, 2008
From Katie
Hello everybody! This is Katie!!! I’m having fun in school. At the end of June my whole school is having a Rock’n’Roll program. It’s gonna be so fun!! There will be 5 Elvises and I am one of them! First I will be wearing a poodle skirt for the first song, but then after I have to go back stage and change into my Elvis clothes. The last 2 songs everyone will sing. The last song’s words are hard for almost everybody. I always practice that song so I know it very well. I’m gonna be done school soon. Starting last week I didn’t have any homework. There are three kids that live beside us. When we had homework from school we couldn’t play after school (that ended at two o’clock) until three thirty because we had lots of homework. Now we can play whenever we want to until five thirty. At five thirty we have to go home and eat supper. Tonight my class is having a party named Seven Eleven Night. It’s when we have to go to school at seven p.m. and our parents pick us up at eleven p.m. We can bring snacks like chips, and ice cream. Our teacher is bringing soda and smores. She is also bringing a huge chocolate bar the size as a computer screen.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Lori's Diary
Friday May 30, 2008
Friday evening, Katie and I, and some of her friends from school went to a Hip Hop Concert. It was sponsored by LIP (Lembaga Indonesia Prancis), the French Cultural Institute in Jogja. What a show! There were seven young men undulating, twirling, and flipping to music with spooky, insect, and African themes. The moves were creative and the group had no problem keeping us entertained for 2 hours.
Afterwards, Katie and her friends went up to the stage to get autographs. That moment gave me pause – seeing her there, among other excited young people, I could see that she is growing up. I hope she stays young for a while longer.
It was a great evening.
Tuesday June 10, 2008
Weather today started out a bit overcast, and more comfortable. This morning, went to the Post office at Gadjah Mada to mail a letter. As opposed to my experience in Salatiga, the post office here has been easy. This morning I walked in, was the first in line at the Post biasa (Standard Mail) booth. The girl sitting at the desk spoke to me in English and understood my own. She stamped my letter and I walked out within 2 minutes. Then, I took a becak (pedicab) to UKDW, Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana to finish up some editing.
I am editing papers for faculty at the university who are doing PhDs overseas, and need to write their dissertations in English. This work is a bit tricky. I need to correct grammar and spelling, but sometimes I can't do this without changing the meaning of the sentences. As Indonesians tend to speak and write in the passive form, I often have to wait till the end of long sentences before realizing the general gist. Sometimes, I am left scratching my head as to what the writer is trying to say. As these are all theologians, could it be that I am unaware of specific theological terminology, that doesn't make sense to the lay person, like me? Or is it just plain poor English? As a result of this, I can spend about 1 hour doing this before getting a headache.
We had another pembantu issue yesterday. As we are relatively new to having Indonesian househelp, we are continuously encountering situations that need addressing. Our cook (who is a bit of a tattletale, and very territorial) was trying to get my attention in the kitchen yesterday. The other one, who helps with cleaning and looking after the kids, was once again, working in her kitchen. She was making fruit salad, using the papaya, (which the cook brought from her mother's house 1 hour away on bicycle) and other fruits (which the cook just bought at the market in the morning, for our day's meal). Granted, we had plenty of fruit, but the cook was not happy that the nanny was helping herself, both to kitchen space, and also to food which was meant for something else.
Most of the time, we let issues like this go, as we don't want to amplify a situation that could better be left alone. This time, we are wondering whether or not to say something.
June 11, 2008
Re: the pembantu issue yesterday, contrary to our dynamic, zealous natures, we have decided to do nothing, just wait and see what happens!
I had an interesting discussion with a friend from the university today. Her son has a developmental disability, which no doctor really seems to be able to diagnose. He isn’t able to sit yet, though he’s almost 3, and the latest CT scan shows that his metabolism is compromised, so that he is losing his eye sight and can’t hear. Something about amino acids. She is struggling to understand what the doctor says, and the doctor keeps apologizing to her and telling her to have another baby! There is much better health care in Singapore, but if she had enough money to get there and take him to a doctor once, she wouldn’t be able to continue treatment in Singapore indefinitely. It is clear that she wasn’t asking me for money – this is someone I see several times and week and get along with quite well. I suspect she is bringing up the subject with me, partly because I, as a foreigner may have some knowledge of what may be hurting her son. As a mom, my heart aches for her, its clear that she loves him very much.
Lori
Friday evening, Katie and I, and some of her friends from school went to a Hip Hop Concert. It was sponsored by LIP (Lembaga Indonesia Prancis), the French Cultural Institute in Jogja. What a show! There were seven young men undulating, twirling, and flipping to music with spooky, insect, and African themes. The moves were creative and the group had no problem keeping us entertained for 2 hours.
Afterwards, Katie and her friends went up to the stage to get autographs. That moment gave me pause – seeing her there, among other excited young people, I could see that she is growing up. I hope she stays young for a while longer.
It was a great evening.
Tuesday June 10, 2008
Weather today started out a bit overcast, and more comfortable. This morning, went to the Post office at Gadjah Mada to mail a letter. As opposed to my experience in Salatiga, the post office here has been easy. This morning I walked in, was the first in line at the Post biasa (Standard Mail) booth. The girl sitting at the desk spoke to me in English and understood my own. She stamped my letter and I walked out within 2 minutes. Then, I took a becak (pedicab) to UKDW, Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana to finish up some editing.
I am editing papers for faculty at the university who are doing PhDs overseas, and need to write their dissertations in English. This work is a bit tricky. I need to correct grammar and spelling, but sometimes I can't do this without changing the meaning of the sentences. As Indonesians tend to speak and write in the passive form, I often have to wait till the end of long sentences before realizing the general gist. Sometimes, I am left scratching my head as to what the writer is trying to say. As these are all theologians, could it be that I am unaware of specific theological terminology, that doesn't make sense to the lay person, like me? Or is it just plain poor English? As a result of this, I can spend about 1 hour doing this before getting a headache.
We had another pembantu issue yesterday. As we are relatively new to having Indonesian househelp, we are continuously encountering situations that need addressing. Our cook (who is a bit of a tattletale, and very territorial) was trying to get my attention in the kitchen yesterday. The other one, who helps with cleaning and looking after the kids, was once again, working in her kitchen. She was making fruit salad, using the papaya, (which the cook brought from her mother's house 1 hour away on bicycle) and other fruits (which the cook just bought at the market in the morning, for our day's meal). Granted, we had plenty of fruit, but the cook was not happy that the nanny was helping herself, both to kitchen space, and also to food which was meant for something else.
Most of the time, we let issues like this go, as we don't want to amplify a situation that could better be left alone. This time, we are wondering whether or not to say something.
June 11, 2008
Re: the pembantu issue yesterday, contrary to our dynamic, zealous natures, we have decided to do nothing, just wait and see what happens!
I had an interesting discussion with a friend from the university today. Her son has a developmental disability, which no doctor really seems to be able to diagnose. He isn’t able to sit yet, though he’s almost 3, and the latest CT scan shows that his metabolism is compromised, so that he is losing his eye sight and can’t hear. Something about amino acids. She is struggling to understand what the doctor says, and the doctor keeps apologizing to her and telling her to have another baby! There is much better health care in Singapore, but if she had enough money to get there and take him to a doctor once, she wouldn’t be able to continue treatment in Singapore indefinitely. It is clear that she wasn’t asking me for money – this is someone I see several times and week and get along with quite well. I suspect she is bringing up the subject with me, partly because I, as a foreigner may have some knowledge of what may be hurting her son. As a mom, my heart aches for her, its clear that she loves him very much.
Lori
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Gita Gutawa
For the first time, I was dragged to a bubble gum pop concert. Katie and her Indonesian friend, Tika, have been listening to the self-titled album by Gita Gutawa. Tika found out that Gita would be performing at a nearby mall last night and so the two of them had been conspiring as to how to get there. Tika's parents refused to take her, so the two of them ganged up on me. I resisted as long as possible. I can tolerate one or two songs on the album, but listening for too long makes me want to break something.
Well, as I said, I resisted as long as possible but resistance is futile in the face of two determined pre-teen girls. The crowd was primarily high school aged kids so I stood out as both a foreigner and an old guy. I let the girls go up to the stage while I stayed in the back. The girls had a great time. The set was only five songs so it wasn't that long but it included the girls' favourite songs. When Gita finished, Tika managed to shake her hand and give Gita her cellphone number. In the car, Tika kept looking at her hand in disbelief as well as her cellphone in expectation. Katie just kept shrieking, overwhelmed with excitement. I had a headache.
While the music was terrible, it was an interesting cultural experience. In many ways the concert was what I would expect at a N. American mall. Girls dressed not quite enough and boys in baggy pants that defied gravity. Ironically, many of the girls were wearing jilbabs, suggesting that the covering has more to do with culture than religious conviction. There was also a 'flirt message board' where kids could write messages to their loved ones and it would be posted on a large electronic message board. The messages were typically adolescent but I was surprised at how public it was. This is a country that considers itself Islamic and came very close to having Sharia installed in its constitution. There are parts of the country that have Sharia police who will punish Muslim women wearing clothes that are too revealing. Indonesia is not an easy country to label.
Katie went to Tika's house for a sleepover and no doubt they stayed up late into the night staring at Tika's cellphone hoping Gita would call.
Phil
Well, as I said, I resisted as long as possible but resistance is futile in the face of two determined pre-teen girls. The crowd was primarily high school aged kids so I stood out as both a foreigner and an old guy. I let the girls go up to the stage while I stayed in the back. The girls had a great time. The set was only five songs so it wasn't that long but it included the girls' favourite songs. When Gita finished, Tika managed to shake her hand and give Gita her cellphone number. In the car, Tika kept looking at her hand in disbelief as well as her cellphone in expectation. Katie just kept shrieking, overwhelmed with excitement. I had a headache.
While the music was terrible, it was an interesting cultural experience. In many ways the concert was what I would expect at a N. American mall. Girls dressed not quite enough and boys in baggy pants that defied gravity. Ironically, many of the girls were wearing jilbabs, suggesting that the covering has more to do with culture than religious conviction. There was also a 'flirt message board' where kids could write messages to their loved ones and it would be posted on a large electronic message board. The messages were typically adolescent but I was surprised at how public it was. This is a country that considers itself Islamic and came very close to having Sharia installed in its constitution. There are parts of the country that have Sharia police who will punish Muslim women wearing clothes that are too revealing. Indonesia is not an easy country to label.
Katie went to Tika's house for a sleepover and no doubt they stayed up late into the night staring at Tika's cellphone hoping Gita would call.
Phil
Saturday, May 31, 2008
A day in the life of ...
Our day usually begins with Mia or Sara waking me up around 6:30am. On school days, I will then spend five or ten minutes trying to wake Katie up. Yes, she is slowly morphing into a teenager. Breakfast usually consists of home-made bread and peanut butter, for the girls, or cinnamon buns, for me. Occasionally we will have instant noodles, but Lori doesn't approve of the MSG in them. I, on the other hand, am a big fan of MSG, and any other spice that makes food taste great. Apparently, Lori likes her food boring and bland. But that is a different post.
On school days, the oldest two girls have to be ready to leave the house by 7:30. The girls have to wear school uniforms. The regular uniform is a crested blue polo shirt with either beige pants or skirt. However, the P.E. uniform is a red T-shirt with blue shorts, so at 7:15 we are running around trying to figure out whether this is a P.E. day and where the appropriate clothes are. The girls don't take a lunch. An Indonesian woman who lives near the school has set up a service where she offers lunches for students. The menu is a mix of Indonesian and other kinds of dishes, including spaghetti and hot dogs. However, the girls do need to take along drinks and snacks, so at 7:25 we are running around trying to get hair combed, bottles filled with water, and snacks that make everyone happy. The early part of our mornings tends to involve a fair amount of running around.
We share school-driving duties with a neighbour family who have a boy and girl also attending the International school. Some days I drive the kids to school, other days I pick them up. The other MCC family in Jogja have a girl also attending the school, so we pick her up on the way. We arrive at school, then, with five kids, which is quite a sight given that the school doesn't have more than fifty students.
(I will try and encourage Katie and Mia to write something about their day at school.)
If I am driving the kids to school, I tend to get back home shortly after 8am. I usually aim to be in my office by 9am, so I have to leave the house by 8:30. To this point, all my classes have been in the morning, starting around 9:30. Classes tend to be about 2 hours long. The undergraduate course was in a different building in a classroom with no air conditioning or fans. It was hot. I told the other professor that I would never teach another course in that building unless the classroom had A/C or a fan. I was joking. But not really. Fortunately, my other class was in a room with A/C, in the same building as my office. I tend to work in my office till noon and then walk home.
(I will try and encourage Lori to post something about her work.)
Lunch in our home is starting to become regular now. The menu includes fried rice, soup with rice and noodles, rice with peanut sauce and toppings that include potato, bean sprouts, and egg. We also have hamburgers and french fries, baked potato, and tortillas. Recently we added a mixed curry salad. Every meal has fresh fruit, including pineapple, watermelon, or papaya, and vegetables, including carrots, cucumbers. We have also started to enjoy a vegetable that is here called bengkuang, but is apparently also called Jicama. Occasionally we will have corn on the cob.
Our afternoons don't have a routine. If it is my turn to pick the kids up from school, that needs to be done at 2pm. I rarely go to my office but try to work at home. The girls will do their homework and then play with friends or watch videos. This is also the time we try to do shopping or run errands.
Supper tends to be around 5 or 5:30. This meal is almost always leftovers from lunch.
After supper, it is time for baths. Indonesians tend to bathe twice a day, first thing in the morning and then in the late afternoon. After baths, the girls will watch videos or we will read books together. We try to have them in bed by 8pm, though they are allowed to read or play quietly in bed.
Lori and I will then watch videos. We have worked our way through all the seasons of the TV shows 'Monk', 'The Unit', and the U.S. version of 'The Office'. Occasionally we will watch a movie but usually we don't have enough time.
Our days tend to be full but not busy. We have developed a comfortable daily routine that has allowed us to enjoy life here in Indonesia.
On school days, the oldest two girls have to be ready to leave the house by 7:30. The girls have to wear school uniforms. The regular uniform is a crested blue polo shirt with either beige pants or skirt. However, the P.E. uniform is a red T-shirt with blue shorts, so at 7:15 we are running around trying to figure out whether this is a P.E. day and where the appropriate clothes are. The girls don't take a lunch. An Indonesian woman who lives near the school has set up a service where she offers lunches for students. The menu is a mix of Indonesian and other kinds of dishes, including spaghetti and hot dogs. However, the girls do need to take along drinks and snacks, so at 7:25 we are running around trying to get hair combed, bottles filled with water, and snacks that make everyone happy. The early part of our mornings tends to involve a fair amount of running around.
We share school-driving duties with a neighbour family who have a boy and girl also attending the International school. Some days I drive the kids to school, other days I pick them up. The other MCC family in Jogja have a girl also attending the school, so we pick her up on the way. We arrive at school, then, with five kids, which is quite a sight given that the school doesn't have more than fifty students.
(I will try and encourage Katie and Mia to write something about their day at school.)
If I am driving the kids to school, I tend to get back home shortly after 8am. I usually aim to be in my office by 9am, so I have to leave the house by 8:30. To this point, all my classes have been in the morning, starting around 9:30. Classes tend to be about 2 hours long. The undergraduate course was in a different building in a classroom with no air conditioning or fans. It was hot. I told the other professor that I would never teach another course in that building unless the classroom had A/C or a fan. I was joking. But not really. Fortunately, my other class was in a room with A/C, in the same building as my office. I tend to work in my office till noon and then walk home.
(I will try and encourage Lori to post something about her work.)
Lunch in our home is starting to become regular now. The menu includes fried rice, soup with rice and noodles, rice with peanut sauce and toppings that include potato, bean sprouts, and egg. We also have hamburgers and french fries, baked potato, and tortillas. Recently we added a mixed curry salad. Every meal has fresh fruit, including pineapple, watermelon, or papaya, and vegetables, including carrots, cucumbers. We have also started to enjoy a vegetable that is here called bengkuang, but is apparently also called Jicama. Occasionally we will have corn on the cob.
Our afternoons don't have a routine. If it is my turn to pick the kids up from school, that needs to be done at 2pm. I rarely go to my office but try to work at home. The girls will do their homework and then play with friends or watch videos. This is also the time we try to do shopping or run errands.
Supper tends to be around 5 or 5:30. This meal is almost always leftovers from lunch.
After supper, it is time for baths. Indonesians tend to bathe twice a day, first thing in the morning and then in the late afternoon. After baths, the girls will watch videos or we will read books together. We try to have them in bed by 8pm, though they are allowed to read or play quietly in bed.
Lori and I will then watch videos. We have worked our way through all the seasons of the TV shows 'Monk', 'The Unit', and the U.S. version of 'The Office'. Occasionally we will watch a movie but usually we don't have enough time.
Our days tend to be full but not busy. We have developed a comfortable daily routine that has allowed us to enjoy life here in Indonesia.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Prambanan
While the Yogyakarta area is now overwhelmingly Muslim, traditionally it was a mix of Buddhist and Hindu. Two of the largest tourists sites in the Jogja area are the Buddhist temples at Borobudur and the Hindu temples at Prambanan. Today we visited Prambanan with fellow MCCers from Jogja.
Pramabanan, which was built around 900 A.D., is comprised of three large temples to the Hindu gods Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma, surrounded by several hundred smaller temples. All these smaller temples have collapsed while the larger temples were damaged by the earthquake in 2006. Because of the damage, the buildings are structurally unsafe and therefore people are not allowed in or around them. The buildings are very impressive and we were disappointed we couldn't get closer.
We arrived at Prambanan around 10:00am, which was too late, so it was hot and the kids were not happy with the tour part of the visit. However, there was a play and picnic area, which the kids did enjoy.
One of the things that has become increasingly annoying for us in Indonesia is the attention our two youngest kids receive. This attention includes strangers blocking our way so that they can take pictures of the kids with their cellphones or asking us to stop so that other people can take their picture with us. This was a problem at Prambanan and I took a picture of the crowd of people following Lori and the kids.
We have had a stream of people staying at our house the past few days. First, Katie and her friend from school had a sleepover. Then friends of ours from Salatiga have been here for the weekend. She is Malaysian and works with MCC while he is from New Zealand and is working on a Ph.D. in Anthropolgy. It has been a lot of fun.
See the pictures for more.
Phil
Pramabanan, which was built around 900 A.D., is comprised of three large temples to the Hindu gods Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma, surrounded by several hundred smaller temples. All these smaller temples have collapsed while the larger temples were damaged by the earthquake in 2006. Because of the damage, the buildings are structurally unsafe and therefore people are not allowed in or around them. The buildings are very impressive and we were disappointed we couldn't get closer.
We arrived at Prambanan around 10:00am, which was too late, so it was hot and the kids were not happy with the tour part of the visit. However, there was a play and picnic area, which the kids did enjoy.
One of the things that has become increasingly annoying for us in Indonesia is the attention our two youngest kids receive. This attention includes strangers blocking our way so that they can take pictures of the kids with their cellphones or asking us to stop so that other people can take their picture with us. This was a problem at Prambanan and I took a picture of the crowd of people following Lori and the kids.
We have had a stream of people staying at our house the past few days. First, Katie and her friend from school had a sleepover. Then friends of ours from Salatiga have been here for the weekend. She is Malaysian and works with MCC while he is from New Zealand and is working on a Ph.D. in Anthropolgy. It has been a lot of fun.
See the pictures for more.
Phil
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Detritus
The rainy season is over. I suppose it was over a couple of weeks ago when suddenly the humidity dropped by about 20 percent and the evenings were cooler. We still had rain occasionally, but it has pretty much stopped now. The days are still hot, getting into the low to mid 30s, but a regular breeze has started. Most importantly, it is drier and our clothes dry the same day they are washed.
The bad side of things being drier is that Indonesians now start burning all the vegetation that wouldn't burn during the rains. One can't walk anywhere without seeing and smelling burning leaves. I have heard stories that Singapore and Malaysia regularly complain to the Indonesian government regarding the smoke that drifts over. I don't know of any reasonable alternative. Leaving the growth on the ground encourages pests and snakes.
I am appreciating the more comfortable weather since my walk to work has gotten longer. The university has locked its front gates so that all traffic now has to enter from a different street on the other side of the campus. The reason I have heard for closing the gates was that since there has been an increase in theft on campus, having only one access point will deter thieves. The logic escapes me. Both entrances had security posts and since closing the front gate, security has not been tightened at the remaining post. If the thieves walked out before, they walked past the same level of security that is in place now. It would not be unreasonable to suspect that a bureaucrat felt the need to demonstrate that they were doing something about the problem. Personally, I think the gates were closed to give me a hard time. Instead of 20 minutes at a brisk pace, it now takes me 30 minutes to get to work.
My Intro. to Philosophy course finished last week. We had a good group of students and I really enjoyed the discussions. I finished the course with three classes on Nietzsche, Freud and Wittgenstein. Those classes were hard work. I am midway through my Religion and Democracy grad course, which will finish the beginning of June. The students are now giving seminar presentations and I am learning quite a bit about Islam and politics in Indonesia. In June, I begin teaching an intensive summer course at Gadjah Madah University in the Center for Religion and Cross-Cultural Studies (CRCS), which is the Master's program for Religious Studies at UGM. The course will be on Post-Modernism and I will teach it with a fellow MCCer who is seconded to CRCS. The class should be really interesting but it also leaves me with a very short break before classes at UIN begin in August.
Finally, I preached my first sermon here in Indonesia. Today is Trinity Sunday so I decided to do a teaching sermon on the Trinity. I gave time after my 'sermon' for questions and discussion, and there was some good interaction. What made it memorable was that as the worship leader came up to the front, she loudly announced 'Well, that was confusing.'
Phil
The bad side of things being drier is that Indonesians now start burning all the vegetation that wouldn't burn during the rains. One can't walk anywhere without seeing and smelling burning leaves. I have heard stories that Singapore and Malaysia regularly complain to the Indonesian government regarding the smoke that drifts over. I don't know of any reasonable alternative. Leaving the growth on the ground encourages pests and snakes.
I am appreciating the more comfortable weather since my walk to work has gotten longer. The university has locked its front gates so that all traffic now has to enter from a different street on the other side of the campus. The reason I have heard for closing the gates was that since there has been an increase in theft on campus, having only one access point will deter thieves. The logic escapes me. Both entrances had security posts and since closing the front gate, security has not been tightened at the remaining post. If the thieves walked out before, they walked past the same level of security that is in place now. It would not be unreasonable to suspect that a bureaucrat felt the need to demonstrate that they were doing something about the problem. Personally, I think the gates were closed to give me a hard time. Instead of 20 minutes at a brisk pace, it now takes me 30 minutes to get to work.
My Intro. to Philosophy course finished last week. We had a good group of students and I really enjoyed the discussions. I finished the course with three classes on Nietzsche, Freud and Wittgenstein. Those classes were hard work. I am midway through my Religion and Democracy grad course, which will finish the beginning of June. The students are now giving seminar presentations and I am learning quite a bit about Islam and politics in Indonesia. In June, I begin teaching an intensive summer course at Gadjah Madah University in the Center for Religion and Cross-Cultural Studies (CRCS), which is the Master's program for Religious Studies at UGM. The course will be on Post-Modernism and I will teach it with a fellow MCCer who is seconded to CRCS. The class should be really interesting but it also leaves me with a very short break before classes at UIN begin in August.
Finally, I preached my first sermon here in Indonesia. Today is Trinity Sunday so I decided to do a teaching sermon on the Trinity. I gave time after my 'sermon' for questions and discussion, and there was some good interaction. What made it memorable was that as the worship leader came up to the front, she loudly announced 'Well, that was confusing.'
Phil
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Islamic Education
A debate is going on within Islamic circles here in Indonesia regarding the nature of Islamic education. Actually, this debate is similar to debates going on in Islamic communities throughout the world, and the debate in Indonesia is influenced, in part, by these other debates, particularly the one going on in Egypt. (Al Azhar university in Cairo had been a model for Islamic universities in Indonesia and the changes at Al Azhar influenced the development of UINs in Indonesia.)
With the foundation of an independent Indonesia, there also came the formation of Islamic institutes of higher learning. These institutions, known as IAINs (State Institute of Islamic Studies), were established throughout the country with the intent of providing an explicitly Islamic education, distinct from the education students would receive at 'secular' institutions such as the University of Indonesia. Faculties included the study of Arabic, Sharia (Islamic law), Koranic interpretation and Islamic propagation. With the spread of these IAINs, the development of pesantrens (Islamic boarding schools), and the establishment of Islamic courts, there was a need for religious teachers and scholars. However, as a saturation point was reached, the need for religious teachers became less. At the same time, Indonesia started to be influenced by the development that was sweeping South East Asia and there then grew a multitude of opportunities for young people to become involved in business and technology. The consequence for the IAINs was a marked decrease in enrollment, with in some cases, a complete lack of interest.
The two main IAINs, Jakarta and Yogyakarta, decided to expand to include non-traditional subjects such as the hard and social sciences. In order to accommodate this change, the institutions altered their identities, becoming UINs (State Islamic universities). However, in order to maintain their Islamic identity, the institutions adopted the mantra of pursuing the 'Islamasization' of knowledge. So-called 'secular' subjects would be taught with an Islamic perspective. There was little thought given to what this might look like and in practice it often involved combining Koranic texts with course material. Given their recent development and mixed mandate, these faculties are at a disadvantage in competing with the well-established programs at UI and University of Gadjah Mada. The government has intervened by heavily subsidizing the UIN programs so that they are, in relative terms, very inexpensive.
The debate in Indonesia, therefore, has two competing focal points. First, should these institutions of Islamic higher education include 'secular' subjects or should they focus solely on the Islamic sciences? Second, how can these religious institutions remain viable given declining interest in an exclusively religious education? UIN Yogyakarta is a curious institution resulting from these two competing forces. Combined with faculties in Information Technology and Science, and Social Sciences, are faculties in Sharia, Ushulludin (Islamic Theology), and Dakwah (Missions). It therefore has a curious split identity between a very modern streak, as represented by the faculty of science and my own presence, and a very traditionalist streak.
As I said before, this debate is not peculiar to Indonesia and has raged in such iconic institutions as Al Azhar. In many ways, this debate is about the role of Islam in the world today and so it is a particularly important discussion for many people, whether they are Muslim or not.
With the foundation of an independent Indonesia, there also came the formation of Islamic institutes of higher learning. These institutions, known as IAINs (State Institute of Islamic Studies), were established throughout the country with the intent of providing an explicitly Islamic education, distinct from the education students would receive at 'secular' institutions such as the University of Indonesia. Faculties included the study of Arabic, Sharia (Islamic law), Koranic interpretation and Islamic propagation. With the spread of these IAINs, the development of pesantrens (Islamic boarding schools), and the establishment of Islamic courts, there was a need for religious teachers and scholars. However, as a saturation point was reached, the need for religious teachers became less. At the same time, Indonesia started to be influenced by the development that was sweeping South East Asia and there then grew a multitude of opportunities for young people to become involved in business and technology. The consequence for the IAINs was a marked decrease in enrollment, with in some cases, a complete lack of interest.
The two main IAINs, Jakarta and Yogyakarta, decided to expand to include non-traditional subjects such as the hard and social sciences. In order to accommodate this change, the institutions altered their identities, becoming UINs (State Islamic universities). However, in order to maintain their Islamic identity, the institutions adopted the mantra of pursuing the 'Islamasization' of knowledge. So-called 'secular' subjects would be taught with an Islamic perspective. There was little thought given to what this might look like and in practice it often involved combining Koranic texts with course material. Given their recent development and mixed mandate, these faculties are at a disadvantage in competing with the well-established programs at UI and University of Gadjah Mada. The government has intervened by heavily subsidizing the UIN programs so that they are, in relative terms, very inexpensive.
The debate in Indonesia, therefore, has two competing focal points. First, should these institutions of Islamic higher education include 'secular' subjects or should they focus solely on the Islamic sciences? Second, how can these religious institutions remain viable given declining interest in an exclusively religious education? UIN Yogyakarta is a curious institution resulting from these two competing forces. Combined with faculties in Information Technology and Science, and Social Sciences, are faculties in Sharia, Ushulludin (Islamic Theology), and Dakwah (Missions). It therefore has a curious split identity between a very modern streak, as represented by the faculty of science and my own presence, and a very traditionalist streak.
As I said before, this debate is not peculiar to Indonesia and has raged in such iconic institutions as Al Azhar. In many ways, this debate is about the role of Islam in the world today and so it is a particularly important discussion for many people, whether they are Muslim or not.
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