The Center For Southeast Asian Social Studies of Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) continues to hold the 35th Southeast Asian Chat (SEACHAT) on 23 of December 2022.  This panel discussion was presented by Muhammad Izam Dwi Sukma, CESASS UGM Student Intern from Islamic University of Indonesia. On this occasion, Izam presented his research titled “Reflecting The Role of Yang Di Pertuan Agong to Settle the Political Uncertainty After Malaysia 15th General Election.”

The discussion began with an overview of Malaysia. Starting from its Monarchy government and the political structure. Then he continued to elaborate the conditions of the Malaysian Government prior to the holding of the 15th General Election (GE) on 19 November 2022, after the parliament suspension and the resignation of previous Prime Minister (PM), Ismail Saabri Yakob. Izam underlined that before the 15th GE was held, Malaysia’s political condition could be considered unstable, because there have been three changes of prime ministers in the last 4 years.

Although the 15th GE was held, it did not immediately make Malaysian politics stable as before. Because no single party met the requirement of 112 minimum seats in parliament, it was difficult to determine the PM candidate. After various discussions, the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong finally gave the order to hold a grand coalition between parties to get  PM candidates. After several processes were conducted, Anwar Ibrahim was elected as the PM of Malaysia on November 24, 2022.

According to Izam, Yang Di Pertuan Agong managed to overcome the uncertainty of Malaysia’s politics due to five days of government suspension. His opinion is based on the social contract theory by John Locke that is reciprocal with Yang Di Pertuan Agong approach. From the theory, it can be concluded that the Yang Di Pertuan Agong as Head of State provides transparency to his people. As a return, the people put their trust in the Yang Di Pertuan Agong to restore Malaysia’s normal political situation. Izam also emphasized the importance of lawfully-governmened, consensus and openness as a way out of political uncertainty in a country.

The SEACHAT session #35 wrapped up with questions from participants who attended offline at the CESASS UGM Library on the 2nd floor. As a presenter, Izam also asked questions to the participants. With SEACHAT #35, CESASS UGM hopes that in the future the SEACHAT agenda will become an academic discussion forum for those interested in issues surrounding Southeast Asia.

By: Farah Diana Patcha

On December, 20th 2022, at 10.00 (GMT +7) Center of Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS) Universitas Gadjah Mada held an online seminar, the 46th South East Asia Talk (SEA Talk). This seminar was inviting Made Supriatma, one of the visiting fellows at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore, whose presentation titled “Dividing The Electorates: Will Indonesian Politicians Exploit Identity in 2024 Election”.

This seminar discussed the role of identity that is embedded in each individual and its potential to trigger and to influence the individual as voters during the general election. Indonesia’s social-cultural landscape, which is diverse, isn’t exceptional from the identity narratives during election campaigns. 

Historically it can be traced back to when the 1st general election was held in 1955 where the voters tended to give their vote for their relevant legislative candidate from certain political parties. During the New Order era, there is an attempt by the government to create a more homogeneous society so that identity polarization isn’t something keen. A diversity society started to burst again after the reformation attempt in 1998 then affecting the “minority-majority” phenomenon. After that, a group based on religion and/ tribes became prevalent in Indonesia, moreover during national-level elections. 

The exploitation of identity during the upcoming 2024 election in Indonesia is likely to be repeated because it’s one of the easiest ways to create a majority. 

Written by: Mohammad Izam Dwi Sukma

Democracy is a system of government in which the people govern by electing representatives. Referring to Dahl, the principle of democracy does not change in how the democratic mechanism in government institutions works. Meanwhile, there is a pathology of democracy where there are deviated forms of implementing democracy where democracy is set up for a dictatorial rule that is happening in Southeast Asia. The practice of dynastic politics then perpetuates the existence of democracy that leads to dictatorial, said Muhammad Nailul in the 34th SEA CHAT series. Muhammad Nailul is an intern student at the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies who in this SEA CHAT brings a discussion about dictatorship and political dynasties and the role of media on history Politicization.

The discussion takes the two Southeast Asia countries as a reference to the case of deviant democracy which is authoritarian formed and carried out through the political dynasty. The Philippines as the first country is discussed by looking at the political pattern of the Marcos Family, where president Marcos SR serves as president of the Philippines for 21 years, and in 2022 the Philippine presidential rally will be continued by his son Marcos JR. Indonesia as the second country is discussed by looking at the political pattern of authoritarian developmentalism carried out by Soeharto while serving as president of Indonesia for 30 years, while the political style of the Soeharto dynasty is not visible in the world of politics but in the economic field through the distribution of wealth of Indonesia developmentalism policy.

The failure of democracy caused by the family dynasty referred to as Craston said to be a form of questioning the legitimacy of the country’s democracy. In practice, the big name of a family serves as a tool to identify a political figure. On this matter, the rotation of positions offered in the democratic system only revolves around certain figures and reflects the lack of openness shown by the presence of alternative political figures. This condition is worsened by the use of social media as a means of producing information and propaganda by spreading and politicization of the family political figures. The media act as a vehicle for providing images, myths, and legends, all of which are aimed to build the image of the political family concerned.

As a closing, Muhammad Nailul suggested that there should be an effort to provide the public with the necessary knowledge so that people are always cautious about all forms of information spread on the internet. To fill this role, according to Nailul, a neutral media is needed in producing and articulating information received by the public.

SEA-CHAT or Southeast Asian Chat is a monthly event which invites scholars from different countries in Southeast Asia as speakers in discussions. The event is aimed to broaden our view and to raise awareness towards Southeast Asian identities. Furthermore, SEA-Chat is important to straighten the misunderstanding between citizens and to better understand the construction of Identities within Southeast Asia. SEA-Chat is usually held offline at the CESASS Library and participation is open to the public. Participants are welcome to access the books that available in the CESASS Library.

By : Ilham Ramadhan and Tom Bartley

On Tuesday the 6th of December, the Centre for Southeast Asian Social Studies of Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) hosted Eliezar Inigo, a former interning student with qualifications and interests in history and applied linguistics. Discussion within the session centered on the most recent presidential election in the Philippines. The contentious nature of the election in terms of both democratic decline as well as the dubious credentials and lineage of the newly elect President Bongbong Marcus took centre stage.

The results of this election grabbed international attention in light of the fact that the now inaugurated President is the son of the formerly disgraced dictator, President Marcos (Senior). In a demonstration of this, the session opened with a humorous display of international opinion on this as presented through John Oliver’s ‘Last Week Tonight’ (U.S. based). The absurdity of this development was adequately summated using Oliver’s sharp manner for discerning the sometimes-ridiculous nature of global news.  

In following this introduction, Elli outlined some historical features of the Marcos family. This included the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Senior, as well as the human rights abuses and mass plundering of national wealth (estimated at $US5 billion) which occurred during his tenure, before his exile in 1986. Elli’s portrayal of the family’s history of deception, corruption, and cruelty toward the Filipino population rightly alluded to the dubious nature of the former dictator’s son taking office. 

In explaining how this event came to occur, the session turned to an analysis of social factors contributing to the seeming forgetfulness of the population. Compellingly, many factors afflicting the Philippines also affect other democratic nations. Those factors centering around populist tactics, a nostalgia for decades past, and dissatisfaction with a seemingly detached technocratic elite ring true for the Philippines as much as any other nation which has turned to populist leaders this decade. In conjunction with this, another modern phenomenon, that of ruthless mis- and disinformation campaigns, were discussed with relevance to their roles in swaying public opinion in the country. As the Philippines is listed as ‘the most online nation’s globally, this point took particular poignance. 

The session ended with a discussion over what this development will mean for the rest of Marcos’ six-year term, as well as parallels which the audience could draw between trends in their own countries and those occurring in the Philippines.

By: Tom Bartley

The Centre for Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS) is proud to have recently hosted its 33rd SEA CHAT, which was delivered via a two-part Zoom conference. This panel discussion featured four speakers from Russia’s Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), who each presented on a socio-political topic and its relevance to Indonesia. 

Gleb Darchenkov spoke first, delivering the “Information Technology in Modern ASEAN” presentation. This presentation provided information about the process of developing Indonesia’s digital economy, the intersection of Indonesia’s Information Technology sector with the country’s approach to foreign policy, and the perception of Information Technology among the Indonesian population. Gleb evidenced that Indonesia’s demographics and population position it as the largest spender on technology in Southeast Asia and the world’s 4th largest mobile market. As a result, Indonesia is witnessing a boom in eCommerce and financial technology which, coupled with a technologically capable population, predicts a high level of competitiveness from Indonesia during a digital era. 

The second presentation, delivered by Dmitry Svechnikov, was “The Results of the G20 Summit for Indonesia”. While Indonesia’s historic hosting of the G20 remains fresh in the minds of the international community, Dmitry provided an overview of Indonesia’s 2022 presidency. This included a discussion of the G20’s joint declaration, the dynamics of developed countries compared to developing countries, the boost for the Balinese economy, and Indonesia maintaining its neutrality in the face of tensions regarding the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. By hosting the G20 during such a time, Indonesia has proven itself a neutral mediator and a leader within ASEAN.

CESASS wishes to extend its gratitude to each of the panelists for their contributions, as well as to those who attended SEA CHAT #33. For information about future discussions and events please follow @pssatugm on social media or email pssat@ugm.ac.id. 

By: Zacharie Nichols-Lang

The Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies Universitas Gadjah Mada proudly present a panel discussion that held on Friday, 25th November 2022. The panel discussion was SEA CHAT #33 as the monthly program of CESSAS to discuss the current issue in the Southeast Asian Country. In this session, there were two students intern from MGIMO University, Russia as the speakers. 

The first presentation delivered entitled “Cultural Diplomacy between Russia and Indonesia” by Tatiana Putcniakova. Tatiana started the discussion with outlined the topic to understand the definition of cultural diplomacy. Tatiana stated from Barghon’s book said that “Cultural diplomacy is the manipulation of cultural materials and personnel for propaganda purposes” (Barghorn, 1930). Besides, Tatiana also cited the definition of cultural policy that, “Cultural Policy is a set of principles, administrative and financial activities and procedures that provide the basis for state action in the cultural sphere” (The UNESCO report ‘Cultural Policy – Preliminary Consideration, 1967).  Then, Tatiana highlighted that cultural diplomacy used in the international arena for many countries including between Russia and Indonesia. 

Further, Tatiana also gave the brief information about the history of diplomatic relation between Russia and Indonesia that was established on February, 3rd 1950. The basis of building the cultural diplomacy at that time was educational space. From the data that Tatiana delivered, in the education relation since 1950 until 2021 there were 700 Indonesian students that studied in 38 cities in Russia. From the relationship between both countries gave the opportunities to share, introduce and know the culture inside such as, Indonesian Festival in Moscow, Batik Exhibition, and Photo Exhibition. 

In sum, Tatiana found that the most developed aspects of cultural diplomacy between Russia and Indonesia are art and education. Then, the dynamic of inter-cultural interaction is growing seen from the relationship of bilateral both countries. Lastly, among the Russian population, perception of Indonesia are often limited to Balinese culture. 

The second speaker was Lia Korotkova, she talked about The Position of Indonesia in ASEAN in the Upcoming Years. In order to deliver the findings, Lia gave the brief introduction about the dynamic in ASEAN. Lia also mentioned that ASEAN countries be the the promising lands for the super power countries such as China and USA. The presentation also delivered the important points that, the organizations ASEAN is involved in: the United Nations (UN), the Non-Aligned Movement, APEC, the Islamic Conference Organization (ICO), ASEAN Plus Six, ASEAN Plus Three and Asian-Europe Meetings (ASEM).

Indonesia as the part of ASEAN has the originally rules in the foreign policy that mentioned in this presentation, which is ‘Free and Active’ or ‘Bebas dan Aktif’. The meaning of that on Lia’s finding is Free and Active foreign policy is everyone got the independence of judgment and freedom of action, free to respond any international issues, does not join any military alliances or security pact, connectivity with the world community bilateral, regional and multilateral and able to project Indonesian’s Nationalism and identity. 

Further, in this session of SEA CHAT #33 the Indonesian Maritime Policy also added as the interesting one to discuss. Lia stated that, there is Jokowi’s Global Maritime Nexus Doctrine that means Indonesia is in the process to build and strengthen the Sea’s power. In this research, Lia delivered the findings to the floor that Indonesia will play even greater role in ASEAN to ensure its balancing between the global powers if the next president doesn’t erase the course, and Indonesia could be called as the one owing to its political and economic contribution in ASEAN.

Lastly, before the SEA CHAT #33 ended there were some of interesting questions and answers session that raised from the participants and the speakers. Then, for any information about SEA CHAT that ever did and would be run, kindly check our instagram @pssatugm and the website! 

By : Dyny Wahyu Seputri

On Monday, October 31st, 2022, the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) held a welcoming meeting for Thomas Bartley, a student intern from the University of Adelaide, Australia. Thomas will participate in the internship program at CESASS from November to the end of December to gain experience in research and build networks with Southeast Asia social studies researchers and experts in CESASS.

The meeting started with a brief introduction led by Rizki Dwi Wibawa, CESASS Cooperation Staff, who greeted the intern and explained the research activities and work of the Center, as well as the opportunities provided by the internship. An introduction to fellow student interns and other members of the Center was conducted afterward. They shared their cultural background and exchanged views about their research interests.

Student interns will be able to produce and publish a research paper about Southeast Asia at the end of their internship program, with support from CESASS researchers and experts. Furthermore, students will attend lectures about Southeast Asia regionalism, and hold a sharing session to share their perspectives about their countries. 

By Amira Hasna Febriyanti

Last Thursday (27/10), Center of South-East Asia Social Studies Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) held a sharing session with international student intern, Zacharie Nichols-Lang from Murdoch University, Australia. Attended by more than 10 people, Zac explained about “Australia, the Monarchy, and the Commonwealth,” where he underlined that after Queen Elizabeth II died, the discourse of shifting to a republican nation state is rising in Australia. 

Zac opened his presentation by explaining about Australia’s political system which is a combination of British Westminster and the United States of America’s influence. In addition, sharing a fun fact about Australian political culture, Zac also mentioned about “Democratic Snags” or “Democratic Sausages,” a sausage wrapped in a slice of bread that later will be given to every voter across Australia when it comes to national election day. 

Then, Zac talked about monarchy power in Australia, especially how the British widely influence Australia by having a representative of the king or queen that may cancel laws or dismiss the prime minister. He mentioned the case of the dismissal of Gough Whitlam that was very popular for his supportive action toward Indonesia during his years as Australia’s Prime Minister. Whitlam was dismissed by the Governor-General because of an ongoing parliamentary breakdowns and several scandals. Zac later added that this case highlights the power of monarchy as legal power even though it is rarely being used.

Zac also served data about public opinion on the discourse of republic which shows that there are a lot of Australian supporting republic. However, a high level of apathy and monarchy influence in Australia hinders this discourse to be in advance discussion in the Australian government. The death of Queen Elizabeth II started to question Australians whether Australia felt more or less connected to monarchy and Zac added that maybe Ausralians want to move on and start a new chapter since they lost the queen. 

To close his sharing session about related topic, Zac explained about the Commonwealth, a way of Britain and its colonized countries to work together and engage in diplomacy. When being asked by the audience about the influence to other monarchy countries of the Commonwealth if Australia finally became a republic, Zac said that New Zealand will probably accept the idea of republic as well since Australia and New Zealand’s relation is likened to ‘big brother’ and ‘little brother.’ 

The whole sharing session was wrapped with a discussion session between the presenter and the audiences. During this session, Zac shared about Aborigines ethnic’s position in current Australian politics. He said that the vast majority of them are against the monarchy since it is a constant reminder of colonization. Today, Aborigines are being given a right to vote and they have an Aborigines politician.

By: Yumna Amalia Maghfirah

On Tuesday (10/26), the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies Universitas Gadjah Mada (CESASS UGM) continued to hold the Southeast Asian Chat (SEA Chat), a discussion agenda that talks about social issues happening around Southeast Asia. As for the speaker, this 32nd SEA Chat presented Lyska Coyoga, a student intern from Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta with a major in Geography Education. Coyoga presented his research titled “Migrasi Rohingya dari Myanmar ke Aceh: Isu dan Perkembangan Kecamatan Jangka, Kabupaten Bireuen, Aceh.”

Coyoga started his presentation by asking why the Rohingya choose to refugees themselves to Aceh. Two audiences respond to the question because Aceh is well-known as “Serambi Mekah” and another response is figuring out the geographical location that is relatively accessible by using a boat or other vehicle that they have a narrow option to do. 

Before revealing the answer from the former question, Coyoga presents to the audience who is actually the Rohingya, which he explains that they are an ethnic group who settled in Rakhine State, Myanmar near to Bangladesh from the 7th century and later knowingly as Rohingya in the 18th century after a British researcher named them. After the military coup d’etat  in 1962, the Operation of King Dragon (Nagamin Operation) was held and implicated the Rohigya people refugees themselves out of Myanmar and later classified as Bengali people in Myanmar administration census in 2014. In brief, there is an exclusion towards the existence of Rohingya people in Myanmar structurally. 

Since 2009-2022, Coyoga presents that an estimated 1,800 Rohingya people had been landed in Aceh by entering the northern part of the province to seek a place. There was a time when local people had a concern towards the Rohingya refugees because the refugees chose to escape from the camp and settled in some public facility such as a musala (prayer room) before finally being relocated to the more sufficient place. 

There was also a concern in local people who feel socially envious with the presented assistance for the refugees. In conclusion as well, Coyoga also presents that in the future, the people of Aceh are likely to remain open to the refugees since they believe that the ill-fated may happen to everyone then it’s important to keep the solidarity towards the unluckily one. Besides, there is a local cultural trait named Peumulia Jamee which means treating the guests or outsiders well. 

Before this chat edition ended, there was a question and answer session which involved many interesting discourse such as how the Indonesia government as well as the Aceh Province government handled the increasing number of refugees as well as discussing the status of Indonesia as the third party country for the refugees issue. It’s also noting to develop the research relating to the role of local traits Peumulia Jamee in Aceh’s refugee issue.

By: Mohammad Izam Dwi Sukma

On Tuesday (18/10), Center of SouthEast Asian Social Studies (CESASS) held a sharing session by buddy about Indonesian Fauna. This sharing session was attended by CESASS interns both local and russian. The sharing session was presented by Dinda Bariqul Zahfa and Lyska Coyoga as interns at CESASS. The material is divided into three parts such as; brief history and theories, each characteristic of fauna type along with an example, and their various habitats.

Dinda Bariqul as the first presenter explained the history of the distribution of fauna in Indonesia. The territory of Indonesia was not what it is now, but separated and united with other big continents, namely Eurasia (present-Asia) and Australia. This has an impact on living things, both flora and fauna in Indonesia, which have a high level of diversity. Alfred Russel Wallace made an imaginary line to separate fauna that have Asiatis and Australis types. Max Carl Wilhelm Weber then found that the central part of Indonesia had a special type of fauna and drew an imaginary line again to separate it from Asiatis and called it the “Transitional” area.

The next session was continued by Lyska Coyoga, presenting about characteristics and examples of fauna of the asiatis type. Asiatis type fauna is located on the islands of Sumatera, Java, Kalimantan (Borneo), and Bali. Having characteristic features of mammals that are large in size, many types of primates and the color of birds is less attractive. Examples of fauna, not commonly heard of are Sumatera Tigers, Elephants, Sumatera Bulls found on the island of Sumatera. Javanese Eagles are endemic to Java Island, Jalak Bali which are only found in the forests of the western part of Bali Island and Murai Batu which are almost spread on the islands of Sumatera to Java. Fauna on the island of Kalimantan there are Orang Utan and Bekatan which are scattered in mangrove forests, swamps, and coastal forests.

Transitional type fauna is characterized by rare, endemic or only found in certain areas, not hairy, and some animals have certain uniqueness. Examples of endemic animals are the Komodo Dragon which only lives on Komodo Island and Anoa which is only found on Sulawesi and Buton Island. Other famous animals are Tarsiers, Babi rusa, Maleo Birds, and Sulawesi Hornbills. The fauna of the Australis type has the characteristics of being small, not many freshwater animals, many types of birds, and there are marsupials. Some animals of this type can also be found in Australia such as Kangaroos, Koalas, and Wallabies. Other animals with an Australis type are Birds of Paradise, Papuan Porcupines, King Cockatoos, and Cabaret Parrots.

The sharing session was closed with a discussion session between the presenters and audiences.

By: Lyska Coyoga & Dinda Bariqul Zahfa