The Perantau Podcast

Dr. Jonathan Hasian Haposan, atau akrab disapa Dok Jo, adalah Ketua Mata Garuda Australia & New Zealand sekaligus kandidat PhD di University of Melbourne. Di luar risetnya tentang infeksi, vaksin, dan kesehatan anak, ia aktif membangun komunitas LPDP dan mendorong mahasiswa Indonesia di Australia untuk saling terhubung dan berkontribusi, bahkan sebelum lulus dan pulang ke Indonesia. Di episode...

Banyak mahasiswa Indonesia datang ke Australia buat kuliah. Tapi buat sebagian orang, pengalaman merantau nggak berhenti di kampus. Ada yang akhirnya memilih membangun komunitas, bantu orang lain, dan jadi jembatan antara Indonesia dan Australia. Mohamad Desgia adalah Ketua LPDP UniMelb 2025/2026. Selain menempuh Master of Public Policy and Management di University of Melbourne, Desgia juga aktif...

Apa sih rasanya jadi aktris Indonesia dan hidup di Melbourne Sekar Sari adalah seorang pemeran film, penari, dan peneliti asal Yogyakarta yang pertama dikenal lewat perannya di film 2014, Siti. Perjalanannya kemudian membawanya keluar dari Indonesia — ke berbagai panggung internasional, hingga akhirnya menetap di Melbourne untuk melanjutkan riset dan praktik seninya. Di episode ini, Sekar Sari ber...

Job hunting has changed, but for many people, even a strong CV is no longer enough. For students and migrants navigating the job market, the challenge is even more complex — figuring out how to stand out in a system that often feels unfamiliar. Nicholas Alexander Sugianto is the co-founder of Jobsuit AI, an interactive resume builder designed to help job seekers tailor, analyse, and improve their...

Berobat jauh dari rumah bisa mengubah cara kita melihat harapan, iman, dan arti menjadi kuat untuk diri sendiri dan keluarga. Rosana adalah penyintas kanker yang menjalani perjalanan pengobatan di Australia sebagai pemegang guardian visa — datang untuk mendampingi anak bungsunya sekaligus berjuang sebagai pasien. Dalam masa sulit itu, doa, teman paduan suara, dan dukungan keluarga menjadi penopang...

Language, culture and healthcare come together in ways that shape access, diagnosis and everyday care for migrants, where these nuances are too often missed by systems that assume a one-size-fits-all approach. Sabrina Suwandi is a clinical speech pathologist and research assistant from Medan who works with children and assists research in the speech-pathology team at one of Australia's best ch...

Sometimes moving cities and between cultures pushes you to meet a completely new version of yourself. For many Indonesians abroad, that can happen through the food we chase, the values we hold onto, and the moments where we realise we don’t quite fit into one box anymore. Jane Vieren is an Indonesian food content creator – among many other things – based in Melbourne. Between faith, confidence, an...

Loving Indonesia can feel complicated — especially when the place you call home challenges your hopes for its future. Alfin Nurul Firdaus is a youth and environmental advocate from Pasuruan, East Java, now in Melbourne studying waste management at the University of Melbourne. From founding Pasuruan Youth Forum to building Waste Reform Indonesia, Alfin’s work is rooted in community, sustainability,...

What does it take to build a life, and a business, far from home? Meet Jordan Setiawan, an Indonesian entrepreneur in Melbourne who transformed his student journey into a thriving career in hospitality. After arriving in 2019 with limited English, Jordan faced Melbourne's strict COVID lockdowns, lost touch with his Indonesian community, and struggled to find his place. But through coffee, resi...

From Jakarta to Melbourne, the Indonesian diaspora is more than just students and migrant workers. It’s a community that reshapes how Indonesia connects with the world. Questions of belonging, identity, and rights remain central, especially as debates over dual citizenship and the future of overseas Indonesians gain momentum. Charlotte Setijadi , anthropologist and author of Harnessing the Potenti...

Many young Indonesians living abroad quickly realise that life overseas isn’t always as ideal as it seems — especially when your degree and career path no longer feel like the right fit. Adelina Novanty, or Dela, moved to Perth from Jakarta after finishing high school. Initially spurred by family, she began her degree in dental nursing. But over time, she discovered that her true interests lay in...

For students in Australia, Bahasa Indonesia is often seen as the throwaway subject — too easy, too close, or just not important. But for Silvy Wantania, Indonesian teacher at Melbourne High School and President of the Victorian Indonesian Language Teachers’ Association (VILTA), language isn’t just about passing doing well in class. It’s a way to build relationships — with others, and with ourselve...

What happens when you’re trying to make a new home abroad—but your emotions still speak in the language of home? In this heartfelt episode, we sit down with Angela Utomo, an Indonesian psychologist and lecturer at Victoria University in Melbourne, who shares her unique perspective on navigating mental health, identity, and belonging as a migrant. Drawing from over 15 years of experience in Austral...

Bisakah kita tetap berkontribusi untuk Indonesia, meski hidup jauh dari tanah air? Denny Indrayana adalah akademisi, advokat, dan mantan Wakil Menteri Hukum dan HAM yang kini mengajar di Melbourne Law School dan Universitas Gadjah Mada. Meski berkiprah di luar negeri, ia terus menyuarakan pentingnya reformasi hukum, pemberantasan korupsi, dan keadilan sosial di Indonesia. Sebagai diaspora yang hid...

What does it mean to grow up between two cultures – when neither fully claims you – but both shape who you are? Kris Redden is a cookbook writer, musician, and community organiser born in Jakarta to an Indonesian mother and Australian father. After moving to regional Australia in his teens, Kris has spent years navigating questions of belonging, identity, and cultural memory – reflections that now...

What happens when success no longer feels like enough? Born and raised in Bandung, Gracia Sharlene is a financial services consultant and business analyst based in Melbourne. After graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Information Systems from the University of Melbourne, she built a career working across major firms in tech and finance. But after years of chasing deadlines and ca...

For many Indonesian creatives, the most meaningful insights come after going abroad. Kennardi Sebastian is an Indonesian creative working in Melbourne’s film and media scene. His journey spans from growing up in Jakarta with a passion for storytelling and gaming, to building a career in Australia as a Virtual Production Operator at The University of Melbourne. In navigating the fast-paced, often u...

What happens when your dream job doesn’t feel quite right? In this episode, Billy Adison Aditijanto chats with Sherlina Felicia Livianto , a marketing graduate who landed her first full-time job in Melbourne – only to realise a few months in that something was missing. It turns out it was a prior university-led project focused on building university partnerships with Indonesia that she discovered...

When studying and working abroad, it’s natural to ask: does this place still align with who I am and where I’m going? For many young professionals, navigating life after graduation means figuring out not just career moves, but whether to stay or return home. It’s a question that becomes more complex the longer you’re away. In this episode, Quincy Jhon joins Billy Adison Aditijanto on The Perantau...

Indonesian horror often reflects deep societal fears, cultural beliefs, and the lived experiences of women. Folklore like Kuntilanak carries layers of meaning, often tied to grief, womanhood, and systemic struggles. Through animation, these stories can be reinterpreted, reclaimed, and told in new ways, blending tradition with modern creative expression. Christie Widiarto is a lecturer, filmmaker,...

How do you go from working in economics and infrastructure to being a key part of a gamelan ensemble in Melbourne? For John Cheong-Holdaway, the journey has been anything but conventional. John spent his childhood in Jakarta and later worked in finance and policy, before returning to Australia and rediscovering his passion for music and cultural exchange. Now involved in Gamelan DanAnda, they buil...

Ramadan away from home hits differently. For many Indonesian Muslims in Melbourne, the experience is a mix of newfound challenges and unexpected joys –   longer fasting hours, a smaller but tight-knit community, and the constant effort to balance faith with daily life in a non-Muslim country. What does it take to maintain a spiritual connection in a secular environment? And what lessons from life...

What happens when you invest in young women in tech? 🌱 Through The Data Garden Project , Joanne Amarisa transforms everyday conversations into visual art, using creative coding to explore relationships, emotions, and community. It all started with a simple but powerful idea. Joanne documented a month’s worth of WhatsApp conversations with her mother and turned them into a digital garden . The res...

For many Chinese-Indonesians living overseas, Lunar New Year isn’t just a tradition – it’s a special way to stay connected to their roots. Even far from home, the locally-known Imlek or Sincia is all about honouring cultural values, keeping family traditions alive, and building a sense of community with fellow Indonesians abroad. But for younger generations, keeping that connection can be tricky....

A big change coming in 2025: videos! This year, we'll be streaming video podcasts on all our existing channels where available. With that, we're launching our new YouTube channel, so subscribe to that as well! Huge thank you to all of you who've listened to the many inspiring stories this past year, and a warm welcome to new friends tuning in for the first time. We're always lookin...