Southeast Asia Editor
Dick van der Meij
Dick van der Meij has edited the Southeast Asia section of the IIAS Newsletter right from the very beginning in 1993. In this short interview we introduce the 'man behind the text'.
Could you describe your education and professional background shortly and how it came that you specialized in classical Javanese, Malay, and Balinese texts?
My interest in Indonesia developed at school where we did a project on the country. I then started reading many Dutch-Indonesian novels and decided to study Javanese at Leiden University, which was only possible within the curriculum of Indonesian languages.
After my studies I worked at the Netherlands Organization for International Co-operation in Higher Education (NUFFIC), supervising Indonesian students.
Since 1993 I have been working with Professor Stokhof editing the newsletter of the Indonesian-Netherlands Co-operation in Islamic Studies (INIS) and editing books on Islam and on Asian Studies. I have also written extensively on Indonesian linguistics and culture and have lectured in Indonesian at various institutes.
You conducted fieldwork in Indonesia in the 1980s and 1990s. Do you feel at home in the country?
In Indonesia I feel like a fish in water. I visited the country for the first time in 1978 and have continued going there ever since. In 1982 I spent three months in Jakarta to study the street slang of various groups. My research method was to just sit in the food stalls and listen to people talking. On Bali, in 1985, I devoted my time to wayang tantri (shadow puppet theatre), in which I am very interested. I owe a lot to Prince I Gusti Ngurah Ketut Sangka who taught me a great deal about manuscripts and who sadly passed away in 1991.
Jakarta is my favourite city. I just love the melting pot it is, the chaos, the languages, the people with whom it is so easy to communicate. I also enjoy Bali and do not find tourism at all negative.
What strikes you as the most important changes in Indonesia in the course of these years?
The changes have been so quick that people can hardly come to grip them. In general there is more stress and haste. There has been considerable Westernization, but only on the outside. The breaking down of older parts of town is a good example; they associate this with modernity. Skyscrapers have appeared, and shopping malls, but on the other hand the warung (food stalls) have returned to the scene. Traditional clothes are no longer worn daily, and veils have become a normal sight. The veil is not only a sign of Islamization, but also of individualization, of distinguishing one's self from others.
What do you feel is the strength of the IIAS Newsletter?
The diversity of the newsletter is its strength. Nobody will read it from A to Z, but everyone will find something in it that concerns him or her. As far as the Southeast Asia section is concerned, our main focus appears to be on Indonesia, and often on traditional anthropological subjects. I feel we must pay more attention to modern studies, to economic and political developments. We should also focus more on mainland Southeast Asia. I would hereby like to invite scholars involved in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam to send in their contributions.
What are your personal plans for the future?
In the year 2000 I hope to finish my PhD, on a Javanese text of Lombok. The text, its translation, and the philology are finished. I am now giving the work some critical contemplation. I would like to continue my research and contribute to the development of theory. But my heart will always be in editing. I immensely enjoy creating a good book from a pile of jumbled-up texts.
Dick van der Meij can be reached at tcvdmeij@let.leidenuniv.nl