His Excellency Ambassador David Richie,
Ms Allison Sudradjat, Senior Representative, AIPRD
Australian alumni,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good evening to all of us.
On behalf of all alumni attending this Alumni Dinner, please allow me to give a small vote of thanks to AusAID/Australian Government for the scholarship it had given us during our study in Australia.
For ordinary Indonesians, like me and many others here, doing masters or PhDs at various Australian universities -- many of the institutions are the country’s centers of excellence – seems impossible and is no more than a dream due to financial constrain. But, the Australian government-sponsored scholarships had enabled us to make our dream come true. The scholarships, such as the Australian Development Scholarship scheme, had also enabled Indonesian couples, like many here, to experience a living in the country with quite a lot of free parks and gardens. Our kids could grow up well and enjoy good education.
During our study time, we did not only have excellent facilities and good teaching and learning processes at our respective universities but also experienced the hospitality of Australians. Many of us here witnessed the Australian sympathy and generosity to our brothers and sisters in Aceh and Nias in North Sumatra when the Boxing-Day tsunami hit the areas. The Sea-King copper crash, which killed nine young Australian soldiers and wounded two others in their humanitarian mission in Nias Island on April 2, 2005, is the saddest part of the Australian sincerity in helping Indonesians during the difficult time. But, we always keep the above tragedy in our hearts and minds as an evidence of the Australian commitment to strengthening a true friendship with Indonesia. Even, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono acknowledged this during his three-day state visit to Australia last April as saying: “There are lessons I could learn from the accident itself, and how Australia contributed and participated in helping Indonesian people as victims of disaster, especially in Aceh” (The Australian, April 6,2005:2).
For the scholarships and all other things that we had obtained, on behalf of all Australian alumni who are present here tonight, let me express my best thanks to the Australian Government and People.
His Excellency Ambassador David Richie, Ladies and Gentlemen,
As the alumni what we can do to maintain, promote, and strengthen the Australia-Indonesia relationship? I believe, we can do so much for it in accordance with our capacity and professionalism. May all of us here be among those who always endeavor to strengthen the relationship. Let us keep attempting to make Australia and Indonesia be “usual neighbors”, no longer like what Desmond Ball (1991) had once said: “unusual neighbors”, regardless of the differences in nature we have. Gareth Evans argued that, regardless of their geographical proximity, “no two neighbors, anywhere in the world are as different, in terms of history, culture, population, language, and political and social traditions, as Australia and Indonesia.”
Apart from the above differences, we, indeed, have a lot of commonalities. One of which is how to make the Asia Pacific region remain stable and secure so that all nations in the region can focus on development for the sake of their respective peoples. But this region remains challenged by intrastate conflicts and threats of terrorism.
The latter is the common problem for Australia and Indonesia. Today is September 14. We had just commemorated the September 9, 2004 terrorist attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, which killed a dozen of ordinary Indonesian civilians and wounded a lot more, including a little girl, Manny. Terrorism remains a serious challenge for the two countries’ relationship, and we can be part of those who actively make our own people (Indonesians) be aware of the danger of terrorism and the fact that the terrorism and terrorists are the common enemies of the entire Indonesians, the enemies who threaten the future of our country and the world.
Last but not least, on behalf of all alumni, please allow me once again to thank all who had directly and indirectly involved in enabling us to study and finish our study in time, including the Australian Embassy as the representative of Australia in Indonesia, the ADS office, IALF and our respective universities in Australia. Thank you …
Regards,
Rahmad Nasution
*) the dinner was held in Mandarin Hotel, Central Jakarta, on Sept 14, 2005
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