Posted: February 10, 2026
In Mark Gilbert's (MBA’79) newly released book, Inside Indonesia's Big Bang: A Canadian Policy-Maker's First-Hand Look at Governance Reform and International Collaboration, the author reflects on the question of how two countries as different as Canada and Indonesia could start and maintain a twenty-year partnership to improve public services. He goes back to 1994 when he became part of a Canadian team that made their first appearance at the main office of the Indonesian Ministry of Home Affairs. The catalyst was the 1998 fallout from the Asian financial crisis. Though there were frequent changes in leadership and natural disasters to contend with, the momentum created by the Big Bang was unstoppable as was the Canadian team’s commitment to provide support and share expertise.
“This book is a rare example of writing on international development assistance programs in which the technical story is skillfully interwoven with the parallel story of the author's personal encounter with a different culture, history, and system of governance.” Tim G. Babcock, PhD, institutional development worker, Indonesia 1976-2017.
