Chapter 1: Introduction
1.7 Research Limitations
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Oxford Dictionary defines higher education as an education at universities or
similar educational establishments, especially to degree level. Similarly, in accordance
with Cambridge Dictionary, it explains higher education as an education at a college
or university where subjects are studied at an advanced level. Therefore, higher
education can be described as a final stage of formal learning that occurs after
secondary education often delivered at universities, academies, the college that award
academic degree.
On the other hand, according to Merriam-webster dictionary, cooperation means
a situation in which people work together to do something for a common purpose or
benefit. In the same way, Oxford dictionary also defines cooperation as an action or
process of working together to the same end. Hence, in this writing cooperation can
be described an arrangement in which two or more entities engage in a mutually
beneficial activity.
In short, it can be concluded that this writing will be about a process of working
together between Aceh and Taiwan in term of university level of education for the
common or mutual benefit.
1.7 Research Limitations
Although this research was carefully prepared, the author is still aware of its
limitations and shortcomings. Firstly, the research was about higher educational
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cooperation between Aceh and Taiwan and it was conducted in Taiwan. Therefore,
the author can only communicate the official officers who work in Aceh through
electronic media, such as email and whatsapp, while visiting the IHRD office in order
to get the real data can be only done during summer vacation. In addition, the slow
network also became one of the reasons this research took longer time.
Secondly, since this higher educational cooperation between Aceh and Taiwan is
still relatively new, the literature sources regarding this educational cooperation are
rarely found in English, mostly available either in Indonesian or Mandarin. Since the
author has limitations in Mandarin, this has become an obstacle for the author. In
addition, many sources are only available in Indonesian, and some are only writing in
accordance with the history that occurred in Aceh, while from the Taiwan side is not
written.
Next, among 180 Acehnese students that are currently studying in Taiwan, only
eighty of them responded to the given questionnaire. Even though those eighty
students’ feedbacks can be still used well in this research, the author expected that, at
least, 70% of Acehnese who are actively studying in Taiwan shared their thoughts
through the given questionnaire in order to make this research more reliable.
Finally, since the author conducted this research along with the internship period
at Indonesian Economic and Trade Office (IETO), it was unavoidable that, to some
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extent, the author got overloaded work that affected to this thesis writing.
Nevertheless, doing intern at Indonesian Economic and Trade Office (IETO) for
several months does give a lot of advantages to the author in getting deeper
understanding regarding bilateral relations between Indonesia and Taiwan, especially
in the field of higher education.
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CHAPTER 2
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF INDONESIA – TAIWAN BILATERAL
RELATIONS
2.1 Indonesia – Taiwan Bilateral Relations
The Indonesia-Taiwan relation has developed a strong foundation now as it is
based on both- shared values and interests, allowing the two economies to refocus
their cooperation and to optimize opportunities. It is learnt that there are still plenty of
areas that could be improved upon and expanded to reduce asymmetrical problems,
and to redesign a comprehensive scheme to be more equal, complementary and
mutually beneficial for closer and deeper cooperation. Taiwan is an old friend and a
long-term trading partner of Indonesia. Bilateral relations between Indonesia and
Taiwan, which began in the late 1960s, increased rapidly.
As explained briefly before in the previous chapter, officially Indonesia and
Taiwan established their formal ties in 1971 when both countries agreed to open
representative offices in Taipei and Jakarta. In 1989, the Taiwan Chinese Chamber of
Commerce changed its name into Taipei Economic and Trade Office (TETO) to
enhance ties between both countries in several areas (TETO, 2012). TETO is Taipei
Economic and Trade Office. Basically, TETO does not have diplomatic relations with
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Indonesia. So, in countries where Taiwan do not have such relations, it sets up Taipei
Economic and Cultural (or Trade) Office instead of formal embassies to take care of
Taiwan’s interests. TETO will issue visas, handle the economic, trade, cultural, social,
labor relations with Indonesia, and also protect Taiwanese people who live in
Indonesia. Approximately, there are about 235.000 Indonesians are currently living in
Taiwan: at least there are 230.000 migrant workers, while the rest are students (KDEI,
2015). Meanwhile, there are about 10,000 Taiwanese living in Indonesia; and the
number is increasing by year (TETO, 2012).
Despite no diplomatic ties between Jakarta and Taipei, non-diplomatic relations
between these two sides have developed substantially, in particular in economic
relations, trade, agriculture, education, and tourism. Initially, bilateral relations
between Indonesia and Taiwan developed due to a convergence of security outlook
and complementary economic interests. The existence of real economic opportunities
has made cooperation both, profitable and sustainable. Andrew L. Hsia, the current
TETO representative, states that the economic, cultural, and social relations between
two countries are increase gradually (Post, 2012). There are at least three fields which
mostly cooperated between Indonesia and Taiwan; trade, labor, and education.
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2.1.1 Trade
Firstly, in term of trading, as mentioned by Andrew Hsia, the current
representative of TETO, trade, and investment are also becoming more and more
substantial. Over the same period, Indonesia’s and Taiwan’s trade relations produced a
surplus of $2.29 billion for Indonesia, while Taiwan’s investment in Indonesia as of
September 2011, hit $14.52 billion, covering 1,409 projects (TETO, 2012). Recently,
Indonesia is number nine investor. Taiwan has technology, small-medium enterprises
while lacking labor and a big market. On the other hand, Indonesia has a big market,
and natural resources to offer.
Statistically, Indonesia and Taiwan’s cooperation in trading volume is getting
higher year by year. Based on the report shown from the official website of Taiwan
Economic Trade Office, the trade volume from January to November 2011 reached
$11.2 billion, an increase of 17,61% (TETO, 2012). Indonesia’s exports value to
Taiwan reached $6.78 billion, up by 24,77% (TETO, 2012). Thus, it can be clearly seen
that there is a significant increase in the field of trade between these two sides
Furthermore, the data shown by The Investment Coordinating Board prove that 1,475
Taiwanese investors had invested a total of US$14.68 billion in Indonesia up to June
(BKPM, 2012). Taiwan is now Indonesia’s No. 9 foreign direct investment source,
creating about 1 million job opportunities in Indonesia, while managerial and technical
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personnel from Taiwan number around 8,000. And last year, 212,000 Taiwanese
tourists visited Indonesia with 88 flights per week between the two countries (BKPM,
2012).
On the other hand, Taiwan is Indonesia's third largest trading partner behind Japan
and China. Trade between the two economies has doubled in past five years, from
US$4.1 billion in 2007 to US$10.8 billion in 2011 (Anthoni, 2012). In 2011, Taiwan`s
investment into Indonesia reached US$243.2 million with 87 projects. Taiwan's
investments in Indonesia are mainly in furniture, textile, shoes, non-iron ore, metal
products, trade service, agriculture, and the forest farming industry.
However, there are several issues between Taiwan and Indonesia. One of them is a
lack of understanding. Despite the fact that Indonesia has performed quite well over the
past two years, only a few Taiwanese realize that Indonesia is a democratic country.
Indonesians elect the regent, members of city council, and president directly.
Taiwanese don’t know that Indonesia has a free society, the people, and the press
enjoys the freedom of association, expression, religion, and more. They also don’t
know that Indonesia is politically and socially stable. The image that most Taiwanese
people have about Indonesia is negative: the tsunamis, volcanoes, demonstrations, but
that’s not true. So, according to Andrew Hsia, Indonesia is a good place for investment,
since Indonesia has natural resources, skilled workers, huge market, climate, which are
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better than some other countries, especially for agriculture and aquaculture (Post, 2012).
Only several improvements regarding infrastructure are still needed. In contrast, every
year Taiwan gets hit by typhoons. Thus, people who have invested in fish farming here
for twenty years and they said there hasn’t been any here.
Just like Andrew Hsia, Rahimah Abdulrahim, Executive Director of the Habibie
Center, also mentioned that Indonesia is rich in natural resources and has a large pool of
cheap labor, as well as a big domestic market, while Taiwan is a rapidly developing
industrial economy possessing capital and technological advantages (Anthoni, 2012).
Each has something that the other needs and wants. This is perhaps unsurprising given
the economic status of each country within its respective region: Indonesia as the
largest economy in Southeast Asia and Taiwan as one of the most developed economies
in East Asia (Anthoni, 2012).
Moreover, in accordance with Dewi Fortuna Anwar, chair of the Institute for
Democracy and Human Rights at The Habibie Center, in her excellent keynote speech,
despite geopolitical constraints, the opportunities for widening and deepening bilateral
relations between Indonesia and Taiwan have grown (Suryakusuma, 2012). Then she
also adds that the liaison has always been open and upfront. Also, the statistics results
on Indonesia-Taiwan relations are sharply increased each year, it is not only in trade
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and investment, but also science and technology, intelligence, education and in the
socio-cultural sphere (Suryakusuma, 2012).
2.1.2 Labor
Secondly, regarding labor, there are about 233,000 Indonesian migrant workers in
Taiwan, currently ranks No. 1 among Southeast Asian migrant workers (KDEI, 2015).
The number has increased by 30,000 over the past two years. Taiwan and Indonesia
have a long history of cooperation. At this moment, the relations are getting better and
better. Those numbers are showing that Taiwanese like working with Indonesians, and
quite a few of them treat Indonesian migrant worker like family members. In addition,
Indonesian workers enjoy working in Taiwan as well, and they also covered with
national health insurance. Therefore, the number of Indonesian workers in Taiwan has
increased by so many, since Taiwan does not set a quota for each country; it lets the
market decide instead (Post, 2012). In the upcoming years, there will be more migrant
workers and students heading to Taiwan.
2.1.3 Education
Lastly, in terms of education, there are more than 3,000 Indonesian students in
Taiwan, and this number is sharply increased over the next few years since there are
plenty of promotions in term of education either from The Government of Taiwan or
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the University which offers excellent quality of education and full scholarship for
foreign students, including from Indonesia.
Furthermore, many of cooperation have been established between Taiwan and
Indonesia. The Taiwan Economic and Trade Office in Jakarta have been maintaining
academic exchange with Universities and research center. There are several top
Indonesian public universities have been becoming partners of TETO such as the
University of Indonesia in Jakarta, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember in Surabaya
and the University of Brawijaya in Malang (TETO, 2012). Also, cooperation with
research center is established with Indonesian Institute of Sciences and the Habibie
Center (TETO, 2012). Through those co-operations, Taiwan and Indonesia are
conducting academic exchange and research well.
Besides, cultural, and educational exchanges are also being promoted. In 2009,
Andrew Hsia helped Radio Taiwan International and the Central News Agency sign
memorandums of understanding on news exchange with Antara in Jakarta (Huang,
2009). RTI has an Indonesian language service for more than 130,000 migrant workers
in Taiwan from Indonesia (RTI). Antara and the CNA will organize photo exhibitions
in each other's country as a starter for a closer partnership.
In the future, the relationship between Indonesia and Taiwan can become so much
better if both sides work harder regarding the exchange of information. Therefore,
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Taiwan will continue to be one of Indonesia's most important investment partners,
either in field of trade, labor, education, or any other spheres.
2.2 Aceh – Taiwan Bilateral Relations
Despite the formal bilateral relations between Indonesia – Taiwan that has been
established since 1971, Aceh – Taiwan relations started becoming close at the
beginning of 2005; right after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
happened. Taiwan, through Tzu Chi and Dharma Drum Mountain Foundations,
participated in donating a significant amount of financial support and sending the
medical personnel. Tzu Chi and Dharma Drum Mountain Foundations, along with
other NGOs, have volunteered to help Aceh with post-disaster rehabilitation (Front
Page, 2005). Tzu Chi provided relief in particular to Aceh province. The help offered
from Taiwan is not only about medical things, but also in term of education, Moreover,
in 2005 Taiwan helped rebuild a public university in Aceh, especially in medical
supplies, housing, and education (Front Page, 2005). According to Vice Premier Yeh
Chu-lan, the government of Taiwan had boosted its aid up from US$ 5 million to US$
50 million, including US$ 20 million of worth rice, US$ 15 million worth of medical
supplies, and US$ 15 million for in community and harbor reconstruction (Guilloux,
2009).
Since education plays a significant role in social development, 2005 Taiwan also
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helped to rebuild a public university in Aceh in 2005. The post-tsunami relief effort of
Taipei residents and the city government facilitated the launch of an e-learning center
in Aceh. The center was built with NT$37 million which is donated by the civil
groups, individuals and Taipei City Government staff (Yan-chih, 2006). It will offer
free Internet and Chinese language courses to about 2,000 high school students each
year. Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou said he expected the center to open a window of
knowledge for local students by helping with long-term reconstruction efforts, such as
providing information technology education for local people.
Besides sponsoring the establishment of the e-learning center, the city
department also cooperated with civil groups in helping 30 Aceh students continued
their education in Taiwan last year. After completing their four-year college education
in Taiwan, they will return to Aceh. Afterward, several education co-operations
between Aceh and Taiwan began to start; one of them is co-operation between IHRD
and ESIT.
2.3 The Government Effort to Improve Educational Standard
As mentioned earlier, the higher educational cooperation is scholarship
collaboration between Aceh and Taiwan that was started since 2010. The primary
motive of this scholarship cooperation is due to the poor educational situation in Aceh.
Thus, this is also one of the Government of Aceh efforts to improve the educational
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standard in that region.
The World Bank reported that 2,087 schools were destroyed due to tsunami
tragedy in Aceh province in 2004. The Government of Aceh will continue to do all
kinds of best efforts to develop and fix the standard of education. These efforts should
be supported by several factors, namely education infrastructure and equipment,
teaching staffs, and so on. In 2006, former Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf promised to
improve the quality of teaching in Aceh after destroyed by the tsunami. He also stated
that Aceh is currently in the process of waking up and bounced back from a tragedy
(Aulia, 2010). In improving the quality of education in Aceh also needed support and
community participations in total.
Since the schools’ infrastructure had been successfully rebuilt through foreign
aid and aid agencies support until the condition is even much better than before, the
Provincial Government continued to maximize the services and improve the quality of
education through giving the scholarships for orphans, poor, and brilliant students.
This is one of the efforts done in order to improve access to education for the
community. Everyone deserves to obtain the proper education.
Moreover, the government of Aceh provides the scholarship to Acehnese to
continue their study into university level, both at home and overseas. The opportunity
to get the scholarship is widely opened. The Head of Department of Education Aceh,
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Drs Bakhtiar Isaac, expected that higher education in Aceh would be more qualified
day by day. Therefore, to support this expectation, the Government of Aceh has been
to allocate funds as much as Rp. 41,149 billion per year (Aulia, 2010).
Later on, the author will describe more regarding Institute for Human Resource
Development (IHRD), Elite Study In Taiwan (ESIT), and the cooperation between
both institutions.
2.3.1 Institute for Human Resource Development (IHRD)
Institute for Human Resource Development (IHRD) is a scholarship program
provided by the Government of Aceh to Acehnese in order improves the human
resources. It is also commissioned right under the Governor of Aceh. It has been
working since 2005, after the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami tragedy.
This institution provides the scholarship to the orphans, the poor, specialists, Muslim
religious leader candidates, and brilliant students. The scholarship is provided both at
home country and overseas. The fields of studies are varied, starting from science,
information and technology, tourism, political science, history, linguistic, business,
accounting, agriculture, Islamic studies, and many others. The scholarship will be
given for those who meet the requirements. The data shows that from 2005 to 2011,
IHRD has given scholarship up to 2114 students to continue their education at the
university level both in Indonesia and abroad (LPSDM, 2005). In addition, the
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graphic that show the number of scholarship recipients from 2005 to 2011 can be seen
as follow.
Chart 2. The number of LPSDM scholarship recipients from 2005-2011
Source: http://www.lpsdm.acehprov.go.id/ [last assessed: April 10th, 2014]
Base on the new Governor Regulation No. 14 of 2011, dated May 13, 2011,
About the Institute for Improvement of Human Resources, IHRD Aceh has some
goals in order to assist the Governor in formulating policies to provide scholarships,
educational cooperation, research, and training to improve human resources Aceh.
Those goals are as follow;
1. Formulating policies to provide higher education scholarships
2. Cooperating with higher education institutions and research institutes at home and
abroad
3. Managing higher education scholarships and abroad
4. Managing educational assistance at home and abroad
5. Facilitating the provision of training to improve the quality of human resources
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6. Facilitating the financing of the implementation of the flagship research area
7. Facilitating the placement of those who have finished studying.
In addition, in accordance with the data that can be seen in IHRD website, here
are the numbers of Aceh students that study in Taiwan from 2007 until 2015;
Table 3. Number of Aceh students who study in Taiwan
Year Name of Program
Bachelor Master PhD
2007 2 7 3
2008 2 6 1
2009 22 5
Starting from this year, LPSDM has cooperated with ESIT
2010 31 2
Source: http://www.lpsdm.acehprov.go.id/ [last assessed: May 5th, 2015]
2.3.2 ESIT (Elite Study in Taiwan)
The Elite Study In Taiwan (ESIT) Program Office is commissioned by the
Ministry of Education and is located at Chung Yuan Christian University in Chungli,
Taoyuan, one of the cities in northern Taiwan. Its purpose is to provide necessary
services for the higher education cooperation that exists between Taiwan and
Southeast Asian countries as well as to create new opportunities. The Leader of ESIT
project is Dr. Wan-Lee Cheng, the former President of Chung Yuan Christian
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University. The Office Director and one of the Co-hosts is Dr. Po-Tsang Huang,
Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial and System Engineering, the other
Co-host is Dr. Yung Tsan Jou, of Chung Yuan Christian University Department of
Co-host is Dr. Yung Tsan Jou, of Chung Yuan Christian University Department of