Founder
Wieke is a COMMUNICATIONS & Design consultant, an INTERCULTURAL Coach and GLOBAL DISC CERTIFIED PRACTITIONER. She has extensive experience working with senior leadership teams on developing their global leadership skills to effectively work across multiple cultures. She helps people unlock their potential, discover their strength, develop their adaptive mindset and ability to see a situation from different perspective and choose the response to get the best results.
Born in Cirebon, Indonesia, Wieke obtained her Marketing degree from University of Indonesia, Faculty of Economy and Business, in 1987. As COMMUNICATIONS & Design consultant she helps companies/organisation and individual build, improve and maintain their brand through content strategy and different marketing communication channel.
She is fluent in English and Indonesia. Her passion in Indonesian language led her to establish/found BAHASA KITA in 2006. The site has become one of the most comprehensive Indonesian language online resource for teachers and students.
As an INTERCULTURAL Coach, her country specialists are Australia and Indonesia. In 2013 she authored a Game of Cultural Competence on Indonesia as part of Diversophy series developed by Dr. George Simons. She translated ICQ (Intercultural Intelligence) Global Disc Assessment in Indonesian language for ICQ Global, UK in 2019.
Our Experts
George Quinn is the retired head of the Southeast Asia Centre at the Australian National University (2000 to 2008) where he taught Indonesian and Javanese, and contributed to courses on Indonesian linguistics, literature and culture, Indonesian religion and politics, and East Timor. He continues to teach Javanese at the ANU. His main publications are The Novel in Javanese (1992), The Rape of Sukreni (1998, 2nd edition 2012, an English translation of Sukreni Gadis Bali by A.A. Pandji Tisna), The Learners Dictionary of Today’s Indonesian (2001), and (with Ulrich Kozok) the online edition of The Indonesian Way (2012). Currently he is completing a book on sacred sites and local pilgrimage in Java, and a tuition manual for the study of Javanese.
George Quinn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (Sarjana Muda) from Gadjah Mada University, Jogjakarta (1974), and a PhD from the University of Sydney (1984). Currently he is Adjunct Professor in the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific and Member, ANU Emeritus Faculty, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
http://anu-au.academia.edu/GeorgeQuinn/CurriculumVitae
German philologist Uli Kozok rocked the world of ancient linguistics and history in Indonesia when he discovered an ancient Malay manuscript in Kerinci, Jambi, in 2002. The discovery of the manuscript also contested the theory that the characters written on artefacts found in Sumatra were ancient Javanese characters.
Born in Hildesheim, Niedersachsen, Germany, on May 26, 1959, was a lecturer at the University of Auckland in 1994-2001 before he became Associate Professor at the Department of Hawaiian and Indo-Pacific Languages and Literature at the University of Hawaii in Manoa.
Kozok, who speaks German, English, Dutch, Indonesian and Batak fluently, obtained his master’s degree in 1989 and his PhD (Magna cum laude) in 1994 from the University of Hamburg. His thesis was on the Batak language.
His three books on the Batak language, written in Indonesian, were published in Indonesia in 1999 and 2005. His upcoming book: Aku Anak Siapa: Potret Anak Jalanan di Yogyakarta is based on interviews with street children by Juliani Wahjana (Radio Nederland).
He speaks Indonesian, Malay, Batak, German, English, Dutch and East Frisian.
James Neil Sneddon PhD. was Associate Professor in the School of Languages and Linguistics at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. He has many years’ experience in the teaching of Indonesian language and linguistics. He studied Linguistics and Indonesian at the University of Sydney. He obtained his PhD in Linguistics in 1974 at the Australian National University. His thesis topic was “Tondano Phonology and Grammar”.
He currently resides in Brisbane, Australia. He has published extensively on Indonesian language such as:
Indonesian Reference Grammar
It provides a comprehensive description of the structure of the Indonesian language written in a clear, non-technical manner. It can readily be used by teachers and senior students who have no linguistic background. The common grammatical terms used are all clearly defined in an extensive glossary. By providing detailed information in a format meaningful to both teachers and students, Indonesian Reference Grammar fills a serious gap in the available resources.The Indonesian Language: Its History And Role In Modern Society
Colloquial Jakartan Indonesian
It aims to describe aspects of the Indonesian language as spoken by educated Jakartans in everyday interactions. This style of language is in many ways significantly different from the formal language of government and education, to the extent that it deserves separate consideration. While formal Indonesian has been the subject of a considerable amount of description very little attention has been paid to informal styles of the language.
Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar
This reference grammar provides a comprehensive description of the structure of the Indonesian language written in a clear, non-technical manner. It is a complete reference guide to the language as it is spoken and written by native speakers and can readily be used by speakers of Indonesian who have no linguistic background. It aims to be a linguistically rigorous and consistent description but as free as possible of linguistic jargon. All the major structures of Indonesian, from words to complex sentences, are described in detail.
Understanding Indonesian Grammar: A Student’s Reference And Workbook.
Designed primarily for intermediate and advanced students in senior years of high school and at university. It provides a clear, non-technical description of the important structures in the language, together with practical exercises. It can be used with any Indonesian language course. The comprehensiveness and flexibility of Understanding Indonesian Grammar make it an indispensable resource for students and teachers of Indonesian.
Tim Hassall (Ph.D. ANU, MA USyd, Grad. Dip. Ed. USyd ) coordinates and teaches courses on Indonesian language, translation, and second language pragmaticsat the Australian National University, in the city of Canberra.
Tim Hassall has a PhD in Applied Linguistics, an MA in TESOL, and a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education. He was born in Sydney, and for some years studied Indonesian as a passionate hobby while working as a teacher of English as a foreign language, before switching to teaching Indonesian instead – which he has done for nearly 20 years now. His main research intereste is the pragmatics of second language learners, and he has published a number of journal articles and book chapters in this field. As a teacher of Indonesian he is especially interested in grammar, English loanwords in Indonesian, and the features of colloquial Indonesian.
Nikolaos van Dam (born April 1, 1945, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands) is a Middle East scholar, former Dutch Ambassador to Iraq, Egypt, and Indonesia, and author. Van Dam studied Political & Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam, including International Relations and History of the Modern Middle East, as well as the Arabic Language and Islam, graduating cum laude in 1973 with the degree of Doctorandus (Drs) of Political & Social Sciences.
He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Literature at the University of Amsterdam in 1977, after successfully defending his thesis on The Role of Sectarianism, Regionalism and Tribalism in the Struggle for Political Power in Syria. He taught Modern Middle Eastern History at the University of Amsterdam (1970–75).
He speaks Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German and Indonesian.
Books
- The Struggle for Power in Syria: Politics and Society under Asad and the Ba’th Party, Fourth Edition, London & New York (I.B. Tauris), 1979, 1980, 1996, 2011.
- Al-Sira’ ‘ala al-Sultah fi Suriyah: al-Ta’ifiyah wa al-Iqlimiyah wa al- ‘Asha’iriyah fi al-Siyasah, First Authorised Electronic Edition, Jakarta, 2007. Published in two earlier editions in Cairo (Maktabat Madbuli), 1995.
- Suriye’de İktidar Mücadelesi, Istanbul (İlitişim Yayınları), 2000.
- De Vrede die niet kwam. Twintig jaar diplomaat in het Midden-Oosten, Amsterdam (Bulaaq), 1998 (& Jan Keulen). Also as audiobook and in braille, Nijmegen (Stichting Bibliotheek Le Sage ten Broek), 1998.
- Hulanda wa al-‘Alam al-‘Arabi: Mundhu al-Qurun al-Wusta hatta al-Qarn al-‘Ishrin (ed.), Lochem (De Tijdstroom), 1987.
- Nederland en de Arabische Wereld: van Middeleeuwen tot Twintigste Eeuw (ed.), Lochem (De Tijdstroom), 1987.
- De Rol van Sektarisme, Regionalisme en Tribalisme bij de Strijd om de Politieke Macht in Syrië (1961-1976), PhD thesis, University of Amsterdam, 1977.
Mrs. Iem Brown has had many years of experience in teaching Indonesian language at the tertiary level in Australia: James Cook University; University of Queensland; Griffith University, University of Tasmania, Flinders University and The University of Adelaide. She was also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Faculty of Humanities, Curtin University until July 2009. She currently lives in Bandung, Indonesia with her husband, Prof. Colin Brown.
She has translated Mohammad Hatta memoirs (1981) and in collaboration with Joan Davis, she has translated some Indonesian Poetry in A bilingual anthology of the work of 12 Indonesian poets with introduction and brief biographies, Di Serambi: On the Verandah – A Bilingual Anthology of Modern Indonesian Poetry (1995). Her other books are The Territories of Indonesia(Europa Territories of the World Series), and Contemporary Indonesian Buddhism and Monotheism.
Our Contributors
Indonesia top economist, Professor (Emeritus) Dr. Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti; was born on 25 November 1939 in Banten, West Java. He was Coordination Minister for the Economy and Finance in Indonesia during the Megawati Sukarnoputri administration of 2001-2004.
Previously, Kuntjoro-Jakti was Indonesia’s Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary to the United States from 1998 up to mid-2001. During the same period, he also served as Indonesia’s Ambassador to Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and the Commonwealth of Dominica in the Caribbean.
Kuntjoro-Jakti was born in Banten. After completing his doctorandus in economics at the University of Indonesia in 1964, majoring in monetary economics and public finance, he continued his education with a Ford Foundation scholarship at the University of California at Berkeley, where he obtained his MA in Financial Administration (1966) and returned much later to complete his Ph.D in political economy in 1980. His long career as a researcher and lecturer brought him to the position of Senior Research Associate and Director of Research, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, as well as Professor in Economics in the 1980s-1990s, and finally Dean of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Indonesia for the period of 1994-1997
Outside Indonesia, Dorodjatun has for served for a long time as a member of the Regional Security Study Programme (RSSP) of ISEAS (Institute for SEA Study), Singapore, as advisor of the Foundation of Asian Management Development (FAMD), Tokyo, as a Country Member of the Institute for Fiscal & Monetary Policy of the Ministry of Finance, Japan, and as a member of the ASEAN-Japan Dialog, Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE). He was also a founding member of the World Agriculture Forum of St. Louis, USA.
Dr. Dorodjatun is not only an economist but also a language watchdog. He was a keynote speaker at the Festival Budaya Melayu Dunia (FBMD) on the effort of “Realizing the Malay Language as the Official Language of the United Nations”.
Together with well-known linguist Gorys Keraf, Dorodjatun was once in the committee to prepare the Exam paper on Indonesian language subject for UMPTN (Ujian Masuk Perguruan Tinggi Negeri) test, the State Universities Entrance Test.
He is now back to the University of Indonesia as Professor of Economics and Senior Research Associate at the Faculty of Economics.
Ivan Lanin, born in Jakarta, Indonesia; January 16, 1975, is an Internet expert in Indonesia. A chief technical officer for his risk-management joint-company by day, he does not hold any qualifications in Indonesian, nor he is a professional writer or translator.
Ivan Lanin is primarily known as an activist for the user of good and right bahasa Indonesia, and for introducing the Indonesian equivalent of foreign terms, among others, on several web sites such as Facebook and Twitter. At the Members Summit, at the end of 2008, he was chosen as Executive Director of Wikimedia Indonesia. In the middle of 2009, he was accepted to be an editor in Google bahasa Indonesia.
His most significant contribution is perhaps the Indonesian reference website Kateglo — an acronym for kamus (dictionary), tesaurus (thesaurus) and glosarium (glossary) — that he built in just three days after a discussion with Rommy Hardianto, an Indonesian translator working for Firefox.
He compiles all articles about Indonesian language published in Indonesia print media and publishes it online through Rubrik Bahasa Kita – www.rubrik.bahasakita.com.
As a linguist, Joseph Lovestrand is mostly interested in studying indigenous languages, and seeing what they have to tell us about how we communicate, think and live. His research began in Africa. He lived for a year in Chad, studying the Barayin language in order to help them establish their first ever literacy program. He also spent four years working in Cameroon where he managed projects supporting indigenous language communities and did field research on the Nyokon language. His most recent linguistic work has been in Indonesia, where he has consulted on a literacy program for the Kodi language in Sumba. Read more at: www.josephlovestrand.com
Andra Muluk is a practitioner of astrology, Andra, born on May 6th, 1955 graduated from the University of Indonesia, majoring in Criminology Social Science. He is a guest and host astrologer in some television and radio programs like , J-TV, Radio Pesona FM, tabloids and Newspapers. He is also a speaker in many astrology seminars.
Iqbal Aji Daryono adalah bapak dua anak, tinggal di Bantul, Yogyakarta. Ia mengawali kedekatannya dengan dunia teks sejak masa kuliah, yakni ketika menjadi redaktur bahasa di pers mahasiswa Universitas Gadjah Mada. Selepas kuliah, empat tahun dijalaninya sebagai penyunting di sebuah penerbit buku-buku pelajaran untuk anak sekolah, lalu empat tahun setelahnya lagi ia menjalankan bisnis penerbitannya sendiri. Saat ini, aktivitas utamanya adalah menulis kolom di media-media daring.
Born in Jakarta, on February 20, 1961, he graduated his Master degree in Urban and Town Planning from the University of Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta. He works as a researcher in BPPT and as the Head of Research & Development in BAPPENAS, Jakarta. He likes writing and contributes several articles in Jurnal Nasional newspaper.
He was one of the first contributors of Bahasa Kita. Sadly he passed away in 28 August 2014.
Born in June 12, 1967, he obtained his B.A. from State Islamic Institute Jakarta, MA from Leiden University, the Netherlands. He is now PhD candidate in Boston University in the field of cultural anthropology. He previously worked with Center for the Study of Islam & Society (PPIM), published some articles and books on Islam, civil society, and democracy.
A researcher at Pusat Bahasa Depdiknas Kalimantan Tengah. He taught sociolinguistics & psycholinguistics at STAIN Palangkaraya. He wrote for local papers about linguistic phenomena with issues of gender, culture, and education. Born on April 8, 1973, his Master degree is from Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, The Netherland.
Born in Tangerang, November 17, 1988, she was the youngest cum laude recipient, Indonesian Studies in linguistics from the University of Indonesia. She has published two young adults novels at 17, (Behind the Scenes Story) and 18 (Daun Muda). Beside working as an Editor and Translator she also teaches Indonesian.
Born on July 24, 1976, Riza obtained his post-graduate degree from the University of Bahayangkara. He works for the Tax Department, Ministry of finance. He provides free information and tax consultation on his blog. He writes poems, stories and essays and won some writing awards in a writig competition organized by Forum Lingkar Pena.
Singo, a graduate from IKIP Yogyakarta, has been a private English teacher for 20 years. He also teaches Indonesian to expatriates in Yogyakarta. He has translated several English books to Indonesian: “Parents Who Love Reading, Kid’s Who Don’t”; “The Dilbert Principle”; “Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service”.
Born in Kansas, USA, in 1950, Phil Fields has a Master degree in Music from the New England Conservatory. Phil and his family lived in Papua at the end of 1983 till 1999. He has three adult children who can all speak Indonesian. He has worked with four organizations in Papua. Phil has other published articles about the Orya language. He currently resides in Siloam Springs, Arkansa, USA and works with Development Literacy Partners International. He continues to visit Indonesia as a consultant every year. He still enjoys playing woodwind instruments. He has a hobby of fixing vitage clarinets.
Tom Boellstorff is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine, USA and Editor-in-Chief of American Anthropologist, the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association. He obtained his bachelors degrees in Linguistics and Music and later obtained his Ph.D in Anthropology from Stanford University. He also went to Advanced Indonesian Institute for Language study in Makassar, Indonesia.
He is the author of The Gay Archipelago: Sexuality and Nation in Indonesia (Princeton University Press, 2005) – its Indonesian translation was released on July 30, 2009; A Coincidence of Desires: Anthropology, Queer Studies, Indonesia (Duke University Press, 2007); and Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human (Princeton University Press, 2008). He is also a Core Faculty member for the Culture and Theory Ph.D. program at Irvine, as well as a Program Faculty member for the Arts, Computation, and Engineering graduate program. He has worked as a consultant for the Intel Corporation, and sits on the advisory boards of two community-based HIV/AIDS organizations in Indonesia.
He speaks English, Indonesian, German and Russian.
Born 11 January 1967, Ulil’s Bachelor degree in Sharia faculty is from LIPIA (Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Islam & Arab) in Jakarta. He was the chief editor of Tashwirul Afkar, a quarterly journal of Islamic thought. He has master degree in religion from Boston University, continued his PhD studies at the Harvard University.
Winny Gunarti was born in Jakarta, Indonesia. She has loved writing since adolescence. Active as a writer and lecturer at the University of Indraprasta PGRI, Jakarta. Completing her doctoral studies in the field of design in Bandung Institute of Technology, and specialized interest in design and media. She wrote many scientific articles, written five books on design, and four popular books. The other book titled “Putri Ong Tien” (Princess Ong Tien).