The Perantau

“Rust coming off their tongue”:

Grassroots groups key to bottom-up approach on Asia literacy

Hirzi Putra Laksana reminisces the days hearing the bell ring and running late to social studies to catch up on Asian history, then hopping onto next period to end up planning an imaginary trip to an Asian country of his choice.

“I grew up during the Julia Gillard days, which had a very strong focus on Asia literacy. It was just looped into the curriculum at all stages,” Hirzi said.

“But I don’t think there is that much of a concerted effort from the government now. I think the government’s priorities in education are elsewhere.”

An education consultant by day and a research and policy officer for the Australia Indonesia Youth Association by night, Hirzi holds his native Indonesia close to heart, despite being born and raised on Australian shores.

The Australian government released the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper during the final months of Julia Gillard’s prime ministership in 2012. Yet more than a decade on, Asia literacy rates in Australia have continued to decline, oweing to a lack of government incentives and funding to teach Asian languages and Asian studies in Australian education systems.

Government funding for the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program (NALSSP) ceased in 2022, with the Asia Education Foundation proposing $245 million of government investment throughout the next 5 years, according to their 2023-24 Pre-Budget Submission published in February.

As current government efforts remain unclear on the Asian education front, researchers believe that grassroots organisations may hold the key in fostering a bottom-up approach to support Australia’s Asia literacy rates, counting on people like Hirzi to pave the way.

“Grassroots organisations and other groups in societies, who are are aware of the importance of Asia literacy in Australia, should advocate as strongly as they can to try to influence government policy,” said Professor Vedi Hadiz, Director at the Asia Institute and world-leading researcher in the field of Asian Studies & History.

However, it is easier said than done. Since the 1980s, proponents of Asia-centric policies were made in favour to benefit the elites in business communities and sections of the government, Professor Hadiz said.

The conversation on Asian engagement became closely entangled with economic and security concerns, with foreign policy during the Bob Hawke administration in 1983 drawing uncanny similarities with Albanese’s government today.

As Hawke spearheaded the first APEC Summit in Cambodia in 1989, Albanese’s visit to Phnom Penh for the East Asian Summit in November 2022 coincided with the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Australia and Cambodia. The sidelines bilateral meeting with China’s Xi Jinping during Indonesia’s G20 Bali Summit right after ticks off all the boxes for Albanese’s regional tour.

Released on September 1, 2023, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 aims to strengthen Australia’s trade ties with the region, despite Australian businesses showing limited enthusiasm for increased economic engagement with Southeast Asia.

Although the region is projected to become the fourth largest economy by 2040, Australia’s direct investment in New Zealand alone is more than the country’s investment in the entirety of Southeast Asia, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The language of security and economic benefits still resonates the loudest in policymaking circles, which makes a realignment of Asia literacy to education an uphill battle, Professor Hadiz argued.

“[Although] the range of interests that try to influence policymaking are fairly diverse, they are not of equal standing. It is almost always the case that the short-term interests of particular groups who are more powerful have more sway in the shaping of policy,” he said.

“There’s always more to be done in terms of civil society-based advocacy, but we also have to be aware that there are many hindrances which are structurally embedded.”

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics most recent Census reported 8.9% of young Australians use Eastern, Southern and Southeast Asian languages at home, up from 5.2% in 2006. At more than 410,000 people, it is larger than the combined population of Hobart and Darwin.

Australia’s diasporic communities have long exhibited the ambition to teach and share their own languages and cultures, where those factors form the cornerstone of their identity.

“When I started doing my research on the Indian diaspora, [Indian participants] told me when they saw another Indian across the street, they would rush to greet them with their own language and felt the rust coming off their tongue,” said Dr Surjeet Dogra Dhanji, Director of Cultural Diplomacy at the Australia India Institute.

Over the last five years, the use of South and Southeast Asian languages at home amongst young Australians have grown faster than East Asian languages, which includes Mandarin and Cantonese, according to a report by the Asia Society.

Despite strong demand on the ground, a lack of concerted government efforts to support such a movement may be the downfall of what should already be a government priority to begin with.

“[The Victorian state government] talks about multiculturalism but we don’t have many ethnic languages being taught in schools or at universities,” Dr Dhanji continued.

“We have a strong case. Consider the diaspora’s aim in teaching the second generation in their ethnic language and culture, so they can talk to their grandparents, to understand where they came from. If we’re really serious, we need to capitalise.”

Grassroots organisations like Hirzi’s AIYA have fueled this bottom-up approach to Asia literacy by collaborating with the Victorian Indonesian Language Teachers’ Association, for example.

Creating language resources and hosting cultural workshops fosters an environment that helps Victorian students engage with Indonesian language and culture outside of the classroom.

“In order to build interest in Asia, you have to start from primary school so that they’re interested in high school. Say [they] pick a language as a subject in their later years of high school, then they could pick it again as a major in university,” Hirzi added.

“So the journey starts very early on,” he continued.

With a sizeable Indonesia-centric interest amongst Victorian teachers and students, the Indonesian Film Festival has taken the initiative to work with several Melbourne secondary schools since 2006 as part of their Educational Screening program.

This year’s iteration saw around 550 attendees of both teachers and students watch an Indonesian drama-comedy that included diverse cast and scenery, celebrating the country’s complex identity, at the Australian Centre for Moving Images (ACMI).

They have also provided online learning resources, available to the public, that forms part of the attending schools’ language curriculum as an extracurricular field trip.

“Usually you’d expect documentaries, but that gets pretty boring, especially for kids. With this [choice of film], they can learn something about Indonesia whilst also having fun at the same time,” said Radinka Erriad, the Festival’s Co-Project Manager.

Although their success is undeniable, funding remains a key obstacle in expanding their reach. Under the watchful eye of the University of Melbourne’s Student Union, grant applications have been incredibly slow, whilst also receiving nothing from the Victoria government at all, she said.

“When I was looking for grants, the [state] government were only focused on providing funding for those outside of Metropolitan Victoria.”

“There’s so many more things that we could do with extra funds. We only have enough to invite a traditional Indonesian dance group to open the screening event. Ideally, we would also invite music performances and such, but we need resources,” she added.

Grassroots communities have had a clear in role in pushing Australia’s Asia literacy agenda forward, despite a lack of support from both federal and state governments.

As Asia continues to strengthen its position as a global economic powerhouse, Dr Dhanji believes that now is the time for action.

“The push from grassroots efforts are already there, and I think it’s the government that needs to take the next step.”