2019
A few thoughts on the festival
26 October 2019
Here it is, Day 3 about to begin and I have not had a chance to write about books and authors yet. Keeping up a ridiculous pace (and climbing lots of uneven stone steps unassisted!) Yesterday I actually had an hour back at the hotel between 6 and 7pm (a quick swim) and then went to dinner at the famous Lotus Cafe next door with the wonderful women I am here with, the first meal I’ve had in two days that wasn’t a canapé, or a few biscuits and a mandarin eaten on the run between sessions. No time for lunch, although the festival site, Taman Baca has a range of stalls set up. I just don’t want to miss a word! Maybe today I’ll be a bit more flexible.
So where to start? This will be a general overview, rather than a blow by blow account of sessions, or I will never get through! There are so many powerful Indonesian voices here - writers, journalists, film makers like the famous Garin Nugroho, talking on the issues of the foundering democracy of this country, the changed nature of Islam that has imposed endless legislated restrictions on the once very fluid nature of the religion here in the past. My hero is Andreas Harsono, human rights activist and journalist whom I have heard here and in Sydney many times. His new book is on his journey through the archipelago to all the areas of violence and human rights abuses that have occurred since the fall of Soeharto 20 years ago. A huge change has been the law changing “religious freedom” to “religious harmony” which means in every Regency the predominant religion prevails in any dispute - and in practice this means Islam prevails in the majority of areas (except Hindu Bali and a few Christian areas). The end of the valuable notion of the state philosophy of Panca Sila which enshrines the equality of all religions!
Another session on the economy with some wise local pundits and writers on whether or not Indonesia will be the next Asian tiger. Not without keeping the whole population onside with a full belly and human rights protection, they say. Otherwise the cost will be too high and the benefits of a happy high growth rate will go to too few.
US foreign correspondent Megan Stack, whom I had heard at Byron Bay ten years ago and read her book on reporting as a new young correspondent from Tora Bora in the hunt for Bin Laden, has now written on being a working mother in foreign war zones and relying on domestic help - Women’s Work. In order to do her job she has had to employ another woman in her postings in China, India, etc., to raise her children. Is this woman “family” or “employee”? To me, we did not hear enough about the nanny’s point of view. And I kept thinking how we mothers in the past did it all without a live-in nanny! How did we do it? (As a single mother I had my Mama and sister watching my back, of course - how lucky was I.)
Fabulous session on five international writers born in Indonesia but living abroad since childhood and writing in English. Are they Indonesian writers? Are their works Indonesian literature if they throw in references to their heritage? Not sure about that one.
Chef, cooking writer, Ottolenghi is here! I have to confess, not being a “foodie”, his name had never really entered my consciousness till I saw the UWRF program. Shock, horror, I hear you utter. Where has this Toni been? (I guess I have had my head in other books.) His session yesterday was standing room only and I must say it was interesting to hear him talk about the Jewish / Palestinian fusion that has come about in his dishes as a result of his partner being Palestinian. Also I learnt how important it is that food “smiles”. If it doesn’t look good (too “brown”) then it must go back to the kitchen to be given a smile. He also gave permission to all the women there to go ahead and enjoy a piece of cake. Sugar is not the enemy, only the insidious addition of sugar to every processed food product. He is no fan of the chemically-created meat substitutes that American companies are investing in now. If you’re worried about the meat industry (as I am) just don’t eat meat - simple! And now I know I can sprinkle a few pomegranate seeds on a salad and get away with calling it an Ottolenghi dish.
US foreign correspondent Megan Stack, whom I had heard at Byron Bay ten years ago and read her book on reporting as a new young correspondent from Tora Bora in the hunt for Bin Laden, has now written on being a working mother in foreign war zones and relying on domestic help - Women’s Work. In order to do her job she has had to employ another woman in her postings in China, India, etc., to raise her children. Is this woman “family” or “employee”? To me, we did not hear enough about the nanny’s point of view. And I kept thinking how we mothers in the past did it all without a live-in nanny! How did we do it? (As a single mother I had my Mama and sister watching my back, of course - how lucky was I.)
Fabulous session on five international writers born in Indonesia but living abroad since childhood and writing in English. Are they Indonesian writers? Are their works Indonesian literature if they throw in references to their heritage? Not sure about that one.
Chef, cooking writer, Ottolenghi is here! I have to confess, not being a “foodie”, his name had never really entered my consciousness till I saw the UWRF program. Shock, horror, I hear you utter. Where has this Toni been? (I guess I have had my head in other books.) His session yesterday was standing room only and I must say it was interesting to hear him talk about the Jewish / Palestinian fusion that has come about in his dishes as a result of his partner being Palestinian. Also I learnt how important it is that food “smiles”. If it doesn’t look good (too “brown”) then it must go back to the kitchen to be given a smile. He also gave permission to all the women there to go ahead and enjoy a piece of cake. Sugar is not the enemy, only the insidious addition of sugar to every processed food product. He is no fan of the chemically-created meat substitutes that American companies are investing in now. If you’re worried about the meat industry (as I am) just don’t eat meat - simple! And now I know I can sprinkle a few pomegranate seeds on a salad and get away with calling it an Ottolenghi dish.
Actually I was “absent” from part of this session in the back cafe area, meeting up with a young man who is from the Bandung publisher, Mizan that I do a lot of work for. My contact there put him in touch with me. The lovely Ilham. His name means “Inspiration“!) We talked books and writers. He reads more the Latin American writers than English Literature like Jane Austen that his company has published in translation.)
Also had a chance then to sit down with Michael Vatikiotis and discuss the book he is currently writing on his family’s cosmopolitan background in Palestine, Greece and Egypt, the research for which I have been following on Facebook over this past year. He might send me some of it to get my opinion on whether he is successfully blending past and present tense in his narrative, as his own journey of discovery and research is part of the story of his family’s past. I was telling him about Ian Burnet’ book Archipelago which also combined Ian’s own contemporary journey with the history of the places he was travelling through. I had suggested ways of handling the tenses in Ian’s book when I edited it at the time.
A very unsatisfactory session on “Will Bali Survive?”, poorly moderated by Rio Helmi whose ego often predominates. The Indonesian Tourism official and the academic were a bit too “official” – i.e. We make regulations but hotel developers do not comply. The environmental destruction did not get a mention. Janet de Neefe herself was on the panel but (maybe deliberately in that official company) was very low key.
Great little late afternoon slide show at Bar Luna with veteran Australian journalist Frank Palmos who was the (very young) foreign correspondent in Jakarta in the 60s before, during and after the 1965 attempted coup – 1965 was ‘The Year of Living Dangerously’. Some say he could have been the model for Christopher Koch’s character in the book of that name (though others say it was Koch's brother, Phillip). Palmos was reporting over the very years I was studying Indonesian at Sydney University in the 60s, so I was very familiar with his name back then. He was Soekarno’s interpreter too and knew him well. Wow, what photos he had - all the Soekarno slogans on walls all over Jakarta that were in the news back then. But also some terrifying pictures of communist cadres training for killing. (These very same lads were in fact rounded up and killed themselves just weeks later in the crackdown after the failed 30 September ‘65 coup.) It was fascinating to see these times again. Soekarno himself was forced to step down and Frank took the photo of the farewell announcement - ”Mi ultimo adios” - Soekarno loved to sprinkle his speeches with snippets of foreign languages!
A very unsatisfactory session on “Will Bali Survive?”, poorly moderated by Rio Helmi whose ego often predominates. The Indonesian Tourism official and the academic were a bit too “official” – i.e. We make regulations but hotel developers do not comply. The environmental destruction did not get a mention. Janet de Neefe herself was on the panel but (maybe deliberately in that official company) was very low key.
Great little late afternoon slide show at Bar Luna with veteran Australian journalist Frank Palmos who was the (very young) foreign correspondent in Jakarta in the 60s before, during and after the 1965 attempted coup – 1965 was ‘The Year of Living Dangerously’. Some say he could have been the model for Christopher Koch’s character in the book of that name (though others say it was Koch's brother, Phillip). Palmos was reporting over the very years I was studying Indonesian at Sydney University in the 60s, so I was very familiar with his name back then. He was Soekarno’s interpreter too and knew him well. Wow, what photos he had - all the Soekarno slogans on walls all over Jakarta that were in the news back then. But also some terrifying pictures of communist cadres training for killing. (These very same lads were in fact rounded up and killed themselves just weeks later in the crackdown after the failed 30 September ‘65 coup.) It was fascinating to see these times again. Soekarno himself was forced to step down and Frank took the photo of the farewell announcement - ”Mi ultimo adios” - Soekarno loved to sprinkle his speeches with snippets of foreign languages!
I have only touched on a little of the vast input of the last two days, but hopefully enough to give you some idea of the heady atmosphere here in Ubud, with words and ideas flying!
Off to start another day! Wismilak! (A brand name here for kretek cigarettes, though you don’t see them round these days - “Wish me luck“!)
Off to start another day! Wismilak! (A brand name here for kretek cigarettes, though you don’t see them round these days - “Wish me luck“!)