Learning More About Indonesian Culture, Language and Food

On Thursday 4 August, students from the Year 9-12 Indonesian classes visited UWA as well as an Indonesian restaurant called Tempayan Bay.

This was a combined excursion between other schools including Peter Moyes Anglican College, John Septimus Rae Anglican College and Tranby College that have Indonesian as one of their language programs.

Our host, Dr David Bouchier, who is the Coordinator of Asian and Indonesian studies from the School of Social Science gave a welcoming speech followed by a UWA graduate who spoke about their experience studying and living in Indonesia. Dr Bouchier then spoke on the benefits of learning Indonesian at UWA and the scholarship that the Australian Government offers to Australian students to study in Indonesia through the New Colombo Plan program.

To our surprise, we then got a word of encouragement from the Indonesian Consulate General Perth, Ibu Listiana Operananta. She addressed how delighted she is with the numbers of higher Secondary students who are learning Indonesian. She also addressed that as neighbouring countries, Australia and Indonesia should maintain a good relationship and that this excursion is one of the ways to make that happen. The talk was concluded by Ms Daisy Aldam from ACICIS (The Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Study) about the opportunities and the joy of studying in Indonesia.

Dr Theresia Gondoseputro (one of UWA’s Indonesian lecturers) kindly prepared a traditional Indonesian delicacy for us. It was a sweet glutinous rice cake called Waji. There was also Kripik Ubi (sweet potato crackers) for the students to enjoy.

After trying some Indonesian snacks, the Year 9-10 students rotated between Language activities with Pak David and Ibu Theresia as well as a contemporary dance workshop with Bapak Tohirin Romadhon from the Consulate. The Year 11-12 ATAR students joined higher level discussion groups with UWA students who take Indonesian as one of their units and as their major/minor degree. The program concluded with Bapak Tohirin presenting an Indonesian martial arts dance named Tari Rantak, which originated from Sumatra Island in Indonesia. 

The students were asked to be filmed wishing Indonesia, ‘Selamat Ulang Tahun Indonesia ke-77,’  for their 77th Independence Day on 17 August 2022. The footage of this will be uploaded on the Consulate General’s social media platforms.