In order to commemorate World Mental Health Day, CPMH held several events starting mid September, which will then end with a workshop about CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) on November 16, 2018 – November 17, 2018. On Wednesday, November 14, 2018, CPMH successfully held one event related to this, which is the launching of a book titled ‘Merawat Bangsa: Sejarah Pergerakan Para Dokter Indonesia (Taking Care of Our Nation: The History of the Indonesian Doctors Movement)’ and also a national seminar about ‘Overcoming Colonial Mentality’. The event started at 08.30 am in G-100 Auditorium. The faculty’s karawitan group pened it up with a song. After that, Prof. Kwartarini Wahyu Yuniarti, MMedSc., Ph.D., the Vice Dean of Research, Community Service, and Collaboration gave an opening address.
There were two panels for this 2-in-1 event, moderated by Diana Setiyawati, M.HSc.Psy., Ph.D. The first panel was the book launch and a brief explanation about the book by the author, Prof. Hans Pols, the Head of History and Philosophy in the University of Sydney. These two events were sandwiched in one day because they had the same theme, ‘colonial mentality’. Colonial mentality is a term often understood as perceiving so-called ‘western’ people and culture are superior than ours, therefore making us feel small and inferior when we compare ourselves with the west.
‘Colonial mentality is closely related to mental health, where our way of thinking and perceiving can be impacted by having that sort of colonial mentality. This event is to give us knowledge and understanding about this issue and be like ‘shock therapy’ for us. However, a lot of us do not realize the presence of colonial mentality in our lives, and need this sort of awakening to realize this,” said Nurul Kusuma, one of the psychologists in CPMH.
The book is seen as an important contribution for modern Indonsian history, because it studied and addressed an important, specific issue not much discussed yet in Indonesia, which is the history of health in Indonesia. It includes topics such as the history of doctor’s training/education in Indonesia, the study of medicine, the doctors’ frame of thinking at the time, and their role in the youth movement. The book also took important themes as an example of cross-discipline discussion. Previously, this book has been published in English by Cambridge University Press on August, and was then published by Kompas in Indonesian. Before Yogyakarta, the book has already launched in Jakarta, and will continue to be launched in book events in other major cities such as Surabaya.
After hearing Hans Pols, the event continued with comments from Dr. Abdul Wahid, M.Hum., M.Phil. as the Secretary of the Department of History in the Faculty of Cultural Studies here in UGM. He reviewed the contents of the book, focusing on the youth movement from the historical perspective. Prof. Dr. Laksono Trisnantoro, M.Sc., Ph. D. from the Faculty of Medicine in UGM was also present, and he talked about Boedi Oetomo and the role of doctors in Indonesia’s strive towards independence.
The second panel was led by Prof. Kwartarini Wahyu Yuniarti, MMedSc., Ph.D. who talked about colonial mentality from the Indonesian perspective and psychology as a science. Prof. Dr. Theo Bouman from Groningen University continued by discussing it from the Dutch perspective. Nurul explained that the people present there as panelists were there to discuss it in accordance to their scientific background. During the event, attendees were welcomed to purchase a copy too.
There were attendees and invited guests from many backgrounds, such as students, lecturers, and activists who are working on freeing people from shackling and for bipolar visibility. Representatives from Social Services, Youth and Sports Services, Library Services, and BPPM were also present. This event was also streamed through the Webinar app. “This is how our faculty appreciates and honors its relations. The most important thing in this event is saying thank you to Mr. Hans and Mr. Theo for all of their kindness and philanthropy to CPMH throughout the years,” said Nurul. The event ended with a birthday celebration for Mr. Pols’ birthday.