Stewart Matulis is the 1st Lieutenant at Keysborough Fire Brigade
'We Speak Your Language' is a series of culturally-appropriate films that aim to fill the gap of translated safety messages for different cultural communities.
The films aim to break down the barriers for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities when it comes to volunteering and interacting with their local CFA brigades.
Having previously been produced in Thai, Malayalam and Chinese, the fourth video in the series profiles a CFA volunteer who is fluent in Indonesian.
The Indonesian film, featuring Keysborough 1st Lieutenant Stewart Matulis, looks at Stewart’s experience learning Indonesian, and how he finds connecting to Indonesian culture to be similar to his time in CFA.
“I have studied Indonesian since I was a student in primary school. After graduating university, I worked as an Indonesian language teacher for nine years and travelled to Indonesia for work and holidays many times,” said Stewart.
“During my work and travel in Indonesia I always felt welcome. People welcomed me to their country and culture, and I really felt I was a part of something.
“I feel the same way about CFA. We welcome people from all backgrounds. It is a good place to develop skills and make connections with the community.”
Stewart said that the diversity of Keysborough Fire Brigade helps them to better connect with the communities they serve.
“We have a really diverse membership, both in terms of culture and gender diversity and that’s one of our greatest strengths,” he said.
“I think it’s important that we reflect the communities that we serve, because if we don’t reflect those communities people won’t feel safe and comfortable with the service we provide and we won’t be viable into the future”
Watch the video below.
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