Astit Olszowy

Multicultural entertainer

I met my husband in 1989 while I was in the early years of running my own business in the travel industry and courier business in Indonesia, and moved to Perth in 1991. I was a single mum with one child at that time. We didn’t have a welfare system in Indonesia like here in Australia so I always had to work hard. The whole family accepted my husband’s proposal of marriage, and before I knew it, my child was studying in Perth and I was soon to become a bride.

When I first came to Perth, I didn’t have a community I automatically fit into. We didn’t have Facebook so I couldn’t contact people over social media. Not long after my marriage, I was introduced to the Indonesian community in Perth. It felt like home in a foreign country and we felt like we belonged and were accepted. We would share food and support each other with common struggles. It was our very own support group. We branched out to people outside of the Indonesian community and embraced and celebrated our culture with marches, dances, and cultural evenings. Protecting my culture and celebrating it has always been important to me. Soon after, the community appointed me as the secretary of their organisation. The days flew by and before I realised, I went from joining just to connect to my culture to being an active and busy community leader.

As a result, the community grew and we had more members and money to cover expenses.

After a year, my husband suggested I took a break, so I decided to branch out and further discover myself to grow. I studied to improve my English, took a French course, and joined a performance class. My passion to promote Indonesian culture and involvement in the Multicultural Community led to me creating a dance group called the Selendang Sutra Indonesian Dance Troupe (which translates as the "Silk Veil"). For some years we danced around the Perth area in places like events, Aged Care facilities, and Schools. One year we even danced at Toodyay Avon Descent. I’m grateful for my husband for how much he’s involved with events emceeing and assisting with costumes.

He made a living with his real estate and developer business, so I learned a lot from him when it came to marketing.

My dance coordinating continued as a ticketed Event Organiser for several years but in 2013, a wonderful woman from Darwin came into my life and asked, ‘how long have you been doing this dance stuff for?’ and could see I was working so hard to connect our community in Perth. She introduced me to grant writing and the benefits of being incorporated. This allowed us to create free events that engaged the community even further.

Everybody loved our performances, including community groups, different mayors, and our community. The Indonesian Community was recognised and it was nice to be seen.

"Perth Indonesian Community" became incorporated and what followed was truly amazing.

I’m blessed that God sent me this opportunity and gave me the people in my life, including my husband. I hope to encourage the younger generation to feel connected to their culture and to continue the efforts made to celebrate Indonesian communities.

It’s important you do what you like and what you’re passionate about. I love my culture and I love celebrating it through dance. It’s important that you don’t think about money; that always comes later. You get so much from being connected and supporting your community. It’s so rewarding. You feel connected and you belong to something remarkable.