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Herb Feith lecture discusses Indonesia's future

10 August 2005

The third annual lecture in memory of Dr Herb Feith -- Monash academic, teacher, scholar, activist and humanitarian -- was attended by more than 250 people in Melbourne last week.

From left: Dr Joan Hardjono, Arts Faculty dean Professor Homer Le Grand and Mr M. Wahid Supriyadi, Consul-General of the Republic of Indonesia.

Dr Joan Hardjono, a member of the board of governors of the Social Monitoring and Early Response Unit research institute in Jakarta and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Bulletin of Indonesia Economic Studies, delivered the memorial lecture.

Addressing the topic: 'Can Indonesia hold? Unity and diversity revisited', Dr Hardjono examined the history of Indonesia, and considered whether recent legislative and policy developments provided adequate scope for regional aspirations without weakening national unity.

Dr Hardjono is a prominent scholar of Indonesia who has written extensively on that country's environmental issues, transmigration, poverty and rural conditions.

The lecture was introduced by Emeritus Professor John Legge AO, foundation professor of history at Monash, former dean of the Faculty of Arts, and colleague and close friend of Dr Feith.

"Joan was one of the very early volunteer graduates, following closely on the heels of Herb's second spell as a volunteer," Professor Legge said.

"After teaching in Semarang during 1957-58, she went on to make a much longer term commitment to Indonesia by marrying and staying on in Indonesia. The subject she chose for her lecture was one very close to Herb's own interests in the last years of his life."

Dr Penny Graham, director of Monash's Centre of Southeast Asian Studies in the Monash Asia Institute, coordinated the event.

The lecture was presented in association with the centre, ABC Radio Australia and the Melbourne Institute of Asian Languages and Societies at the University of Melbourne.

The Herb Feith Memorial lecture is held annually in memory of Australia's finest scholar of Indonesia, the late Herb Feith (1930-2001), who taught politics at Monash from 1962 to 1990.

In 2004, a foundation was launched to honour Dr Feith's role in the development of Monash as a major centre for the study of Indonesia and to continue the work to which he devoted his life. This year's lecture marked the launch of a public appeal to support the work of the Foundation.

For information on the Herb Feith Foundation, visit the website. Herb Feith Foundation website.

For a transcript of the third Herb Feith lecture, visit the ABC website at ABC Radio Australia website.