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110 BLURRED BORDERS AND SOCIAL INTEGRATIONSresearchers and friends who almost always proclaimedthat there is no science fiction in Indonesia.4 The discussion of Lorong Waktu as the principal text in thepaper is based on an interview with the creator of theprogram, Dedi Mizwar, who is also a well-known andrespected film actor and producer in Indonesia. Since thetelevision program was aired in 2003, I did not have thechance to view it myself and thus sought the next bestthing—to gather insights from the maker of the programhimself.5It is important to remember at this point that the Puppeteer’sentire thesis is presented as a long and continuousdeclamation that vividly reflects the transition from a veryscientific paradigm to a more philosophical and spiritualinvocation. This clearly demonstrates the dissolution ofthe barrier separating science and spirituality. It is best tosee the manga itself to gain the insight of the Puppeteer’sprofound words in its entirety.6In Kuhn’s discussion, the dogmatic set of practices that isalso self-fulfilling as a defining characteristic is especiallytrue for what he terms as ‘normal science.’7Moreover, the USA government demands that the currentfuturology project be abandoned as it proves to exert anobtrusive brutality on the consciousness of those whohear of the machine’s predictions. To complete the entirepassage: “We consider the Moscow II to be a violenceagainst the mind; we advise its early abandonmentand revocation. In the event our statement shouldgo unheeded, we are prepared to petition the UnitedNations” (Abe 2004, 14).8I am indebted to Georgi Shakhnazarov for this concept.In his discussion of the field of ‘futurology’ as fiasco,Shakhnazarov (1982, 15-18) espouses this term to meanthat most futuristic scenarios attempt to firm science andtechnology as omnipotent and the sole determinantsof social development. Furthermore, he contends thatfuturology as a field is slanted in favor of the scientifictechnicalrevolution that paves the way to technicalsolutions of all social concerns.9 Compared to American and European workers, forexample, who have often opposed the introduction ofnew technology, such as robots, that they see as possiblythreatening them with unemployment, in Japan’sautomobile factories, by stark contrast, each robot is calledby a pet name (Chamarik and Goonatilake 1994, 313).10 There are two possible explanations for this. First, timetravel is a staple in general science fiction texts. Wecannot fault any writer of science fiction who choosesto rehash the particular trope. Second, this one we oweto Mas Cahyo Pamungkas of the Indonesia Institute ofSciences (LIPI). In a discussion on Asian science fictionswhere I first presented this reading of Indonesian sciencefiction texts, he proposed that the preoccupation of thesenarratives with time travel could be traced to a particularstory where Muhammad the prophet travelled from theearth to the heavens and back in just one day.REFERENCESAbe, Kobo. Inter Ice Age 4. Trans. E. Dale Saunders. Singapore:Tuttle, 2004.Asimov, Isaac. Asimov on Science Fiction. NY: AVON Books,1981.Chamarik, Saneh and Susantha Goonatilake. Eds.Technological Independence: The Asian Experience. Japan:UNU Press, 1994.Dingbo, Wu and Patrick Murphy. Eds. Science Fiction fromChina. NY: Greenwood Press, 1989.Galtung, Johan and Robert Jungk. “Postscript: A Warningand a Hope.” Mankind 2000. Eds. Jungk, Robert and JohanGaltung. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1970.Hagio, Moto. “They Were Eleven.” Four Shojo Stories. Trans.Matt Thorn. Canada: Viz Graphics, 1996.Harding, Sandra. Science and Social Inequality: Feminist andPostcolonial Issues. USA: University of Illinois Press, 2006.Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962.Matthew, Robert. Japanese Science Fiction: A View of aChanging Society. UK: Routledge, 1989.Nader, Laura. Ed. Naked Science: Anthropological Inquiry intoBoundaries, Power and Knowledge. NY: Routledge, 1996.Sardar, Ziauddin. Thomas Kuhn and the Science Wars. NY:Totem Books, 2000.Seed, David. Ed. A Companion to Science Fiction. UK:Blackwell, 2005.Shakhnazarov, Georgi. Futurology Fiasco: A Critical Studyof Non-Marxists Concepts of How Society Develops. Moscow:Progress Publishers, 1982.Asian Transformations in ActionThe Work of the 2006/2007 API Fellows