AUT journalism graduate Corazon Miller reports on her recent six-week internship at the Jakarta Globe, funded by the Asia New Zealand Foundation in association with the Pacific Media Centre. She also worked at the Philippine Star in a separate internship.
After the initial jubilation at being awarded a journalism internship at the Jakarta Globe, I have to admit, I began to have some second thoughts. I had made the unfortunate mistake of reading the New Zealand government’s travel advisory for Indonesia.
"There is high risk to your security in Indonesia…we advise against all non-essential travel due to the continuing high threat from terrorism…the high risk of kidnapping and civil unrest…terrorist attacks could occur at any time…demonstrations, rallies and large crowds have the potential to turn violent with little warning.”
So it was no surprise that over the following months I felt a mixture of excitement and trepidation every time I thought about my upcoming trip.
But on my arrival in Indonesia’s capital and throughout the short six short weeks I spent working at the Jakarta Globe, I was pleased to find, contrary to my worst fears, that Indonesia had its own beauty.
Through my experience I gained not only valuable journalism skills, but I also learned a lot about the diverse cultures of Indonesia, the progress it has made and the many challenges it still faces.
My own personal experiences working and living in a nation so different from New Zealand’s relative first-world luxuries gave me my own fair share of challenges.
These started early each morning as I – the buleh (foreigner) of the neighbourhood – tottered along Jakarta’s broken cobblestoned footpaths on my way to work, all the while being gawked at by the locals.
'Ojek miss?'
In a busy Jakarta street I’d be followed by a convoy of taxis that would slowly drive past, questioning horns tooting at me to jump on in. Elderly ojek (motorcycle) drivers would trail along the curb – smiling toothy grins and with an “Ojek miss?” waving at me to climb up behind them.
It was a welcome relief to be able to step through the glass doors of the Jakarta Globe building, away from the hustle and bustle of the city streets and into the cool air-conditioning.
Yet as I rode the elevator each day – the challenge had only just begun.
There was no sliding into the journalistic pool gently. From day one I was thrown straight onto the copy desk followed soon after by the web desk, where I learned to edit stories for publication in the Jakarta Globe style. I learned about Indonesia’s politics, people and cultures and the biggest challenge of all – I learned “American”.
Who knew there were so many ways in which the American language differed? As the only New Zealand intern at the paper – everyone knew where to point the finger when a “New Zealandism” was found in the copy!
On the plus side, as an intern I was given relatively free rein to do as I pleased – giving me the freedom to search for my own bylines.
It was this thrill of finding and chasing a story that provided me with some of my best experiences in Indonesia. One of my favourites arose from a story based around the child legal custody system in Indonesia, where presently there is no provision for foster care.
Foster care
As part of my research, I travelled to Lombok to meet with a child agency working with the government to bring about a new regulation for foster care.
While there, I fell in love with one of the children – a gorgeous five-year-old girl named Juli. Thought she could only speak her local dialect of Sarawak we still managed to communicate.
She showed off her skills as a budding photographer, happily snapping pictures with my camera. It was great to see how easy it was to communicate and share common interests despite our cultural differences.
But Juli was only one of the many people I met throughout the six weeks who gave me a valuable insight into the real Indonesia.
Like many Southeast Asian nations, Indonesia is complex, with its fair share of poverty, corruption, and religious and cultural tensions.
But thanks to my experience as an intern with the Jakarta Globe, I was privileged to witness firsthand the beauty that does exist in Indonesia’s religion, culture and people – from the numerous children who would wave and smile as I walked past their Islamic school each morning, to the mother and child smiling from the doorway of their house.
Asia-Pacific Journalism at AUT
Corazon Miller
