Imagining Indonesia From Afar: Exploratory Thoughts on Utopian, Nostalgic, and Embodied Longing for the Homeland Antje Missbach & Henri Myrttinen ► Missbach, A., & Myrttinen, H. (2014). Imagining Indonesia from afar: Exploratory thoughts on utopian, nostalgic, and embodied longing for the homeland. ASEAS – Austrian Journal of South-East Asian Studies, 7(2), 141-146. Unlike India and China, which have the largest diaspora worldwide and have been nurturing their connections with their multi-generational overseas popu- lation for a long time, Indonesia has only recently started to pay more attention to fellow Indonesians outside of the homeland. In August 2013, Wahid Supriya- di, the head of the Diaspora Desk at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, welcomed more than three thousand diasporans at a three-day conference in Jakarta. This event served to discuss issues, such as immigration and citizenship, business and investment, education, culture and youth affairs, and other matters of interest to the Indonesian diaspora (Soemartopo, 2012). Wahid Supriyadi, the main or- ganizer of the event, expressed his hope stating that “the fundamental objec- tive of engaging with the diaspora was to find ways for Indonesia to benefit”. In other words, Indonesians overseas “could potentially be courted to invest in the country and contribute to its development” (“3,000 to Attend Sunday’s”, 2013). Economic aspirations aside, how do ‘ordinary’ Indonesian diasporans, outside of such business-minded organizations, perceive their ‘homeland’? What non-eco- nomic imaginations of and “homeland anchorages” (Meel, 2011) for Indonesia do they have in their minds and hearts? In order to explore in more depth what Indonesians located overseas aspire to for their homeland beyond economic progress and how they imagine a ‘better’ Indonesia for the future, which in- cludes their own participation and contributions while living outside the tanah air (homeland), this special issue has compiled the work of five authors who have critically examined this question within the realms of their specific disciplines. Currently, between 1.8 and 6 million Indonesians are living and work- ing overseas (Muhidin & Utomo, 2013), first and foremost in Malaysia and the Middle East. With most Indonesians just having recently established overseas communities, there are, however, also some rather established Indonesian di- aspora communities (Martinez & Vickers, 2012; Meel, 2011). While away from ‘home’, the ‘homeland’ shapes the post-migratory life significantly and there- fore remains a special point of reference for people’s biographies. Many overseas Indonesians choose to uphold their connections with people and institutions in Indonesia due to modern communication technologies and more affordable transportation, both of which allow for more regular real-time contact (Trupp & Dolezal, 2013). Despite these opportunities for ‘staying in touch’ with current de- velopments in Indonesia, homeland imaginaries are shaped to a large extent by Editorial w w w .s ea s. at d o i 10 . 10 .1 47 64 /1 0. A SE A S- 20 14 .2 -1 142 Antje Missbach & Henri Myrttinen  ASEAS 7(2) other, often rather emotive, factors. As Peter Meel (2011) reminds us, the “homeland anchorage” includes in particular language, religion, cuisine, etiquette, art, dance, literature, and music. Whether homeland is primarily understood as the country of origin or simply the country that ancestors hailed from, remains open for debate. Like other diasporic or exilic populations, Indonesians overseas can choose from all the homeland information available to them and selectively decide on what to consume and what to ignore. In fact, they can easily opt for cherishing past memo- ries (or traumas) over taking into account developments and changes and thereby generate distorted homeland views and ‘time warps’ (Missbach, 2011). Depending on whether the emigration or the departure from home was voluntary or not and whether the stay overseas was meant to be short-term, mid-term, long-term, or even permanent, people create and recreate their collective and individual homeland rela- tions over time in multiple ways, for example, through overseas student organiza- tions, diasporic business collectives, or cultural and folkloristic associations. While away from Indonesia, people might delve in memories of their past, or they might dream of their return and brighter futures for Indonesia more generally. In fact, current research shows that Indonesia serves overseas Indonesians as a multi-faceted canvas for projections of longings for a better tomorrow and of a golden yesteryear (Chauvel, 2009; Dragojlovic, 2010, 2012; Hearman, 2010; Hill, 2010; Missbach, 2011; Steijlen, 2010; Van Amersfoort, 2004). While such visions for Indonesia’s future and the diasporic interpretations of its past might not necessarily be shared by those liv- ing in the everyday reality in Indonesia, for the Indonesians overseas who project them onto their tanah air, they turn out to be powerful means for their political agita- tion, long-distance politics, transnational solidarity/activism, fund-raising, and even for shaping Indonesia’s reputation in the host country. Homeland imaginaries are by no means homogeneous or static; instead they develop over time and often, when coming under closer scrutiny, they may turn out to be rather fragmented, ambiva- lent, or even outright ‘unrealistic’ as specific actors see the Indonesian homeland in a different light. To an extent, the same can be said about the social and political and even religious imaginaries employed by those Indonesian actors who remain in the country but have ‘exiled’ themselves either voluntarily or involuntarily from mainstream society. They project their imaginings of a better society onto a societal canvas they see as being currently imperfect, be it due to religious considerations in the case of Salafis (Chaplin in this issue), political objections in the case of Papuan independence activ- ists (Myrttinen, 2011, forthcoming), or, in a past era, socio-political concerns in the case of the Indonesian Communist Party (interview with Hearman, Missbach in this issue). Utopias generally conceptualize social orders and political systems for times yet to come; in some cases, they also look back at glorified pasts. Thus, in both cases, they depict responses of current dissatisfaction with political regimes, state orders, and social frameworks. Utopias serve their inventors to excogitate alternatives deemed to improve the destinies of many. However, attempts to implement social or politi- cal utopias are often characterized by a tragedy of ‘unrealizability’ or unfeasibility (Machbarkeit as defined by Norbert Elias in Voßkamp, 2009), or in the worst case, they achieve the opposite of what was intended. Despite the fact that many utopias 143Editorial: Imagining Indonesia From Afar might never enter the phase of implementation at all, it is still worthwhile to examine the political contents of these utopias as they also represent a critique of contempo- rary societal conditions. When examining the state of the art on the politically active Indonesian diaspora – from Acehnese, Papuans, and Moluccans to overseas student associations – it ap- pears that antagonism against the Indonesian state and its government is a decisive element of diaspora politics (Ali, 2013; Van Amersfoort, 2004, p. 161). Scholarship on political diasporas often ignores more subtle forms of socio-cultural politics and ac- tivism. By not limiting our gaze to more or less established diasporic groups with in- ternet presence and regular media outlets, this special issue seeks to also include less formalized and temporary group activities of Indonesians overseas that complement the already existing assemblies of Indonesian homeland narratives and imaginaries. The special issue aims to explore the multiple readings of longings for a better life that are projected both on Indonesia’s past and/or future. The papers deal with the romanticization and transfiguration of the Indonesian homeland without ignor- ing the darker sides of internal and external exile, migration, and long-distance poli- tics. In particular, the papers critically reflect on the construction and perceptions of ‘homeland’ and ‘homing’, the creating of transnational political links and activism, as well as the significance of diasporic groups and their influence in Indonesia. The contributions examine in detail political utopias and homeland imaginaries held by Indonesians and, in one case, East Timorese at home and abroad. These include la- bor migrants (Hertzman), expatriates, marriage migrants (Utomo), overseas students (Hasyim), political exiles, and refugees (Askland). Since being in exile does not always require an actual departure from the homeland, as people can retreat into an ‘in- ner exile’, this special issue also takes into account the imaginaries of those who are physically within the boundaries of Indonesia, yet in one way or another voluntarily or involuntarily ‘exiled’ from the rest of society, such as Salafi activists (Chaplin) or political prisoners (Hearman). In her contribution, Emily Hertzman examines the multiple ways in which ethnic Hakka Chinese Indonesian migrants to Southeast and East Asia navigate their lives abroad while maintaining deep emotional ties to and (re-)imagining their area of ori- gin, Singkawang, in West Kalimantan. Ariane Utomo similarly looks at Indonesians living abroad for extended periods of time and explores how Indonesian mothers in the Australian capital of Canberra use language schooling for their children as a way to maintain their own ties to Indonesia, but also build transnational relations for their children. On a more political note, Syafiq Hasyim investigates the history of Indonesian student activism in Berlin over the years and the struggle both for a more democratic and a more pious Indonesia. In terms of examining diaspora com- munities, Hedda Askland’s contribution might seem to be an outlier at first sight since it examines changing perceptions of exile East Timorese in Australia of their native country. The link to Indonesia here, however, is a historical one, as most of the exiles had fled Indonesian occupation. The remaining contributions – a paper by Chris Chaplin and an interview with Vannessa Hearman – examine re-imaginings of Indonesia from within the country by Indonesians who are either voluntarily (in the case of Chaplin, Salafis) or involuntarily (in the case of Hearman’s study of letters of the political prisoner Gatot Lestario) distanced from mainstream society. 144 Antje Missbach & Henri Myrttinen  ASEAS 7(2) The papers in this special issue thus pay attention to individual homeland con- ceptions among Indonesians and East Timorese overseas but more so, they are in- terested in collective narratives, imaginaries, and interpretations as well as the more practical expressions resulting therefrom. The contributions follow interdisciplinary approaches and are situated at the intersections of anthropology, political science, history, as well as migration and diaspora studies. They give fascinating insights into the dynamic meanings attached by different Indonesians and East Timorese to their homelands and how these imaginings, although they might in part be at odds with the imaginings of the majority of the population, act as parts and fragments which add up to the mosaic that is Indonesian society.  REFERENCES 3,000 to attend Sunday’s diaspora congress. (2013, August 15). Jakarta Globe. Retrieved from http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/3000-to-attend-sundays-diaspora-congress/ Ali, A. (2013, August 15). Putra Aceh ikuti pelatihan HAM internasional di Belanda. The Globe Journal. Retrieved from http://www.acehinfo.com/nanggroe/putra-aceh-ikuti-pelatihan-ham-internasional- di-belanda Chauvel, R. (2009). From the ramparts of Fort Victoria: Knowing Indonesia through a distant mirror. Re- view of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs, 43(1), 165–187. Dragojlovic, A. (2010). ‘Sukarno’s students’: Reconfiguring notions of exile, community and remembering. Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs, 44(1), 53–81. Dragojlovic, A. (2012). Materiality, loss and redemptive hope in the Indonesian leftist diaspora. Indonesia and the Malay World, 40(117), 160–174. Hearman, V. (2010). The last men in Havana: Indonesian exiles in Cuba. Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs, 44(1), 83–109. Hill, D. (2010). Indonesia’s exiled left as the cold war thaws. Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs, 44(1), 21–51. Martinez, J. T., & Vickers, A. (2012). Indonesians overseas – deep histories and the view from below. Indo- nesia and the Malay World, 40(117), 111–121. Meel, P. (2011). Continuity through diversity: The Surinamese Javanese diaspora and the homeland an- chorage. Wadabagei: A Journal of the Caribbean and Its Diaspora, 13(3), 95–132. Missbach, A. (2011). Politics and conflict in Indonesia: The role of the Acehnese diaspora. New York, NY: Rout- ledge. Myrttinen, H. (2011, November 10). “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose?” – West Papua declares its independence, again. Retrieved from http://infocus.asiaportal.info/2011/11/10/%E2%80% 9Cfreedom%E2%80%99s-just-another-word-for-nothing-left-to-lose%E2%80%9D-west-papua-de- clares-its-independence-again/ Myrttinen, H. (forthcoming). Under two flags: Encounters with Israel, Merdeka and The Promised Land in Tanah Papua. In J. Munro & M. Slama (Eds.), From ‘Stone-Age’ to ‘Real-Time’: Exploring Papuan Tempo- ralities, Mobilities, and Religiosities. Canberra, Australia: Australian National University Press. Muhidin, S., & Utomo, A. (2013). How many overseas Indonesians are there? Discussion Paper Series No.1, Indonesia Diaspora Network – Research and Development (IDN – R&D), December 2013. Steijlen, F. (2010). Moluccans in the Netherlands: From exile to migrant. Review of Indonesian and Malay- sian Affairs, 44(1), 143–162. Soemartopo, B. (2012, August 12) Diaspora Indonesia pulang kampoeng! The Jakarta Globe. Retrieved from http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/archive/diaspora-indonesia-pulang-kampoeng/ 145Editorial: Imagining Indonesia From Afar Trupp, A., & Dolezal, C. (Eds.). 2013. Mobilities [Special Issue]. Austrian Journal of South-East Asian Studies, 6(2). Van Amersfoort, H. (2004). The waxing and waning of a diaspora: Moluccans in the Netherlands, 1950– 2002. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 30(1), 151–174. Voßkamp, W. (2009). Wunschtraum und Albtraum: Zur Utopieforschung von Norbert Elias. Leviathan, 37, 477–489. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Antje Missbach is research fellow at Monash University in Melbourne. She has written widely about the long-distance politics of the Acehnese diaspora. Currently, she is finalizing a book on Troubled Transit: Asylum Seekers Stuck in Indonesia. ► Contact: antje.missbach@monash.edu Henri Myrttinen is currently working as a researcher at Mauerpark Institute in Berlin. In the past decade, he has worked extensively in and on Indonesia and Timor-Leste as both re- searcher and activist. He holds a PhD in Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies from the Uni- versity of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, with a focus on masculinities and violence in Timor- Leste. ► Contact: henrimyrttinen@gmail.com