Book review: A serious report of a serious Indonesia

Grant communicated the smell and sweat, fun and throb of Indonesia, and turned many towards the north. Chalmers’ influence was the late Herb Feith, a respected scholar with a passionate concern for Indonesia and human rights.

Privately Chalmers shares that ideology, but seems to have set it aside in the interests of maintaining academic aloofness.

Most Indonesianists agree that since Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono became the 60th president, government-to-government relationships with Australia are the best they’ve been. That’s not the situation at the grass roots level because of Islamic terrorism, travel warnings, poaching and other irritations, though better than during the 1999 East Timor referendum.

Comments Chalmers: “It is perilously difficult to make accurate predictions about the likely course of events in a country as large and diverse as Indonesia.”

But this is what we want, and Chalmers has the experience and knowledge to take a stab, or let Indonesians have their say. Others have done it and consequently have helped clarify our understanding. Adam Schwarz’s 1994 book A Nation in Waiting is still a valuable read, even though it’s been eclipsed by the economic crisis and the fall of Suharto.

Chalmers doesn’t take that risk, so we have a bloodless book that won’t be overtaken by events, but won’t inspire. Serious students of the country with a university career in mind and seeking a compact reference will not be disappointed.

Who will be? Undecided and confused Australians, wondering why their government gives a neighbour so much foreign aid, then warns against visiting. There has to be something else about this country they need to hear if we’re all to live in peace: The voice of the people.