Indonesian student from ‘City of Heroes’ first on new scholarship

Release Date: Oct 25, 2009

Fajar Firdaus, a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management student, closes his eyes when he pictures his home city of Surabaya in East Java in Indonesia.

Surabaya, the capital of East Java, is a busy city of three million people. It’s the second largest city after the Indonesian capital Jakarta. The streets are lined with shops, the roads hum with traffic and throngs of pedestrians crowd the sidewalks.

The weather is humid and hot. Fajar says that East Java people are friendly but very straightforward. They say what they think.

“People who are new to East Java think we are abrupt but they soon realise that we are a friendly people who like to laugh,” Fajar says.

To Indonesians, Surabaya is known as "the city of heroes", due to the importance of the Battle of Surabaya in galvanizing Indonesian and international support for Indonesian Independence in the 1940s.

Surabaya's current strong performance has been fuelled by the phenomenal success of East Java's economic development, increased investor awareness and the large-scale expansion of infra-structure. The province, with a population of around 33 million, is home to a diverse range of human resources.

Part of East Java’s success may be attributed to the enthusiasm and research skills of people such as Fajar.

“I came to Carnegie Mellon University in Adelaide because, well, it’s Carnegie Mellon. Its reputation in Asia is excellent. My research showed that the Heinz College is a world leader in Information Technology and Public Policy. The third reason I came to Adelaide is because it’s that not very far from my family. Family is important to me,” Fajar says.

Fajar is one of the first students to study on the joint South Australian Government and the Indonesian Government. The scholarships provide for three Indonesian students to study at Carnegie Mellon University.

Mr Aizirman Djusan, Head of Human Resources and ICT Research and Development in the Indonesian Ministry of ICT, said his Government would send the ‘best and brightest’ students to Carnegie Mellon’s campus in Australia.

“Because of rapid changes in Information Technology, we have to keep learning all the time. Indonesia has more than 400 municipalities or city regions. Our problem is how to disseminate information from the central government to the municipalities,” Mr Aizirman Djusan said.

Fajar graduated in 2008 from Nanyang Technology University in Singapore with a Bachelor of Computer Engineering. He worked as a research assistant on the distributed learning environment for electronic games at the University. He has a sense of fun and adventure born from game technologies.

 “I like the fact that at Carnegie Mellon we work on real-life projects. The more experienced students are also ready to help. We also work with students in the Masters of Public Policy and Management program. We are bonding so my time here is very enjoyable. It’s like an extended family,” Fajar says.

“In Adelaide I can pretty much every type of food here that I can get in Indonesia. There is also a Mosque here so I can pray. When I got off the plane it was winter and cold - at least for me. It was very different from East Java. Adelaide is quiet compared to Surabaya and much less crowded.”

Fajar lives in suburb called Forestville in Adelaide with four other Indonesian Muslim students. They showed him around Adelaide and the public transport routes. They also have a car which means they can travel on the weekends.

“I would like to work for Google in Silicon Valley or Sydney. I like the organisational culture of Google. I like the fact that 20 percent of one’s own time you can work on your own projects. I went to Google India in Bangalore for a programming competition - Google Code Jam India 2006 - and it was amazing.”

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