2006 - Bali

1ST CONVENTION OF THE ASIAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

Bali, Indonesia

Hilton Hotel, Hosted by Professor Sarlito Sarwono

Report on the Convention by Professor Mike (M.C.) M. C. Knowles
Monash University, Australia and International Association of Applied Psychology

The First Convention of the Asian Psychological Association (APsyA) was held in Bali from 18-20th August 2006. This historic event marked the founding of the APsyA which is the first association in the Asian region with an individual membership spanning the whole field of psychology. The Conference was organized under the Presidency of Sarlito Sarwono and was supported institutionally by the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Indonesia, Tarumanagara University, the Catholic University of Indonesia, the Indonesian Police Force, the International Council of Psychologists, Division 52 (International Psychology) of the American Psychological Association,) and the International Association of Applied Psychology. The Conference attracted over 120 participants from 17 countries and its Scientific Program covered matters such as indigenous Asian psychology, the contributions of psychology towards national development, and special issues in Asia. The principal symposium of the Conference dealt with terrorism and covered research into the psychology of terrorists, the process by which people become terrorists, and the rehabilitation of terrorists.
This Convention of the Asian Psychological Association (APsyA) was an historic event for two reasons. Firstly it marked the founding of the APsyA with the adoption of a constitution, the election of its principal Office Bearers, the election of its Board of Directors, and the creation of its initial membership. A momentous moment such as it was in Bali was an exciting time for everyone who had the privilege of being there, and credit is due to every member of the interim committee who worked so diligently in establishing the Association.
Secondly, this was the inaugural Convention of APsyA and had as its theme “Asian solidarity in diversity: towards a better quality of life in Asia.” The principal organizer was Sarlito Sarwono from the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Indonesia, and the conference was supported not only by this University but also Tarumanagara University, the Catholic University of Indonesia, the Indonesian Police Force, the International Council of Psychologists, Division 52 (International Psychology) of the American Psychological Association, and the International Association of Applied Psychology with which APsyA has a tandem relationship.

PARTICIPANTS (top)

The Conference attracted 113 participants (not including members of the local organizer, who are mostly psychologists)  from 17 countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, The Philippines, mainland China (Hong Kong), Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, The Netherlands, England, Canada and the United States.

SOCIAL PROGRAM – OPENING AND CLOSING CEREMONIES (top)

The Opening Ceremony was chaired by Sarlito Sarwono who, together with Chok Hiew representing the International Council of Psychologists and Mike Knowles representing the International Association of Applied Psychology, welcomed all delegates. What was stressed was the importance of having an Association whose members were either Asian themselves or conducted research into Asian issues and were thus interested in developing indigenous schools of thought and paradigms as well as ways by means of which psychologists in the region could contribute to their nation’s development both socially and economically. The opening of the Conference was followed by an elegant display of traditional Balinese dancing and an exquisite performance of Balinese music.
The Closing Ceremony was chaired by Sarlito Sarwono who thanked all delegates for coming from near and far to be both founding members of APsyS as well as participants in its inaugural Convention. He expressed his thanks also to all members of the Organizing Committee which, he emphasized, worked as a team to make the Conference possible. In turn, expressions of congratulations and gratitude came from all around the room to both Sarlito Sarwono and the Organizing Committee not only for its success but also the wonderful experience which everyone had who were fortunate enough to attend the Conference.

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM (top)

The Scientific Program covered a wide range of topics but by and large these could be grouped around four main themes, namely, family, women and children issues in Asia; indigenous Asian psychology; contributions towards national development; and societal issues in Asia. The latter group could have included the question of terrorism but since this was the primary symposium of the Conference it was treated as a theme in its own right.

IMPACT OF THE CONFERENCE (top)

The Asian Psychological Association is not the only organization of psychologists in Asia but it is the first association with an individual membership whose interests traverse the whole field of psychology as well as specialise in particular areas such as cross-cultural psychology and inter-ethnic psychology. As such it supplements the activities of the Asian Social Psychology Association, the Asian Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Association, which are both associations of individual psychologists, and the ASEAN Regional Union of Psychology Societies (ARUPS) which is an association of national societies of psychology closely affiliated with the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS).
Thus, and the point was made in one of the Conference’s Keynote Addresses by Ray Fowler, psychology is growing and indeed booming in Asia which some day should become the largest region of psychology in the world. Already it is firmly established in some countries and will become increasingly so in the years ahead. In this context it can be seen that this Conference has given a major impetus to this development. In this regard one of the delightful outcomes of the Conference could be witnessed in the sessions in which individual papers were made. On a number of occasions there was timely mutual support with respect to language and statistics, and the appreciation and bonding that resulted from this was warming and powerful.
Perhaps the other major achievement of the Conference was the symposium on terrorism and the bringing together of so many people who were researching and working on this issue which is one of the world’s most pressing problems. The importance of this symposium is attested to by the fact that it was attended by representative of two of the foreign embassies located in Jakarta. This symposium has a huge potential to change the way terrorism is both understood by both the general public and policy makers alike, and the manner by which the challenge of terrorism is dealt with and managed.