In this week’s featured video, Dr Santo Darmosumarto, an advisor to the President of Indonesia, speaks on the value of people-to-people links in the bilateral relationship: “leaders need to relate to each other at a personal level.”
Month: May 2014
Q&A with Donny Eryastha
Originally from Bengkulu, Sumatra, Donny currently works as a Private Sector Development Specialist with the World Bank in Jakarta. Prior to his current work at AusAid, he worked as an Advisor to the Minister at the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board. He has also worked at both ends of the financial industry, as investment banker and microfinance analyst.
We spoke to him about his experience in the Australia-Indonesia relationship, his career, and what it’s like to be a CAUSINDY delegate.
How did you first get involved in the Australia-Indonesia relationship? Where do you see it headed?
My first foray into the bilateral relationship was when I started working as a Senior Program Manager at AusAID in Jakarta. I managed the disbursement and implementation of Australian aid in Indonesia, focusing on providing technical assistance to the design and implementation of social protection programs.
The Australia-Indonesia relationship can only get tighter, with the increasing economic relationships between both countries and each country’s improved understanding of the strategic significance of the other country.
Where are you working at the moment?
I work as Private Sector Development Specialist at the World Bank in Jakarta, advising the Indonesian government on ways it can improve the country’s business climate and its investment facilitation processes.
On the side I lead Indonesia Mengglobal, a non-profit aimed at improving Indonesians’ access to quality global education.
How did CAUSINDY change your perspective on the Australia-Indonesia relationship?
CAUSINDY exposed me to a group of talented young Australians and Indonesians, each with genuine interests and areas of expertise in the other country. Interacting with them invigorated my optimism toward the future of the Australia-Indonesia relationship, as I could see first hand the growing and tightening bond between the two countries at the people-to-people level.
What advice would you share with anyone thinking of applying this year?
Don’t think twice, just apply! :0) I had a very fun and enriching experience last year and you should try to join this year! Make sure to highlight your exposure to Australia-Indonesia relationships when preparing your application.
CAUSINDY Update: Our first confirmed speaker
This week, the conference team are excited to announce Prof. Dr. Dewi Fortuna Anwar as our first confirmed speaker for CAUSINDY 2014. Professor Anwar was a key supporter of CAUSINDY in its first year, and we’re thrilled to be working with her in September this year.
Apply to become a delegate today, and you could be asking her questions this time in September!
New this week
- Dewi Fortuna Anwar is the first confirmed speaker for CAUSINDY 2014. She was interviewed on BBC World News’ HARDtalk program in September last year.
- CAUSINDY 2013 delegate Natalie Sambhi wrote about the Indonesian election’s impact on foreign and defence policy.
- Writing for The Conversation, Professor Tim Lindsey warns that the bilateral relationship is “stuck” — and it’s Australia’s responsibility to fix it.
- The Australian government delivered its budget this week. Analysis from Corrs Chambers Westgarth suggests it “delivers on austerity, but not genuine tax reform”.
- This week’s featured video is a wide-ranging delegate Q&A from last year’s conference moderated by Bonny Symons-Brown, with John Denton, Kirsten Sayers and Mark Pruden.
Apply for CAUSINDY 2014
With applications now open, it’s time to update your resume andprepare your application for this year’s conference. Check out ourfrequently asked questions for more on the application process, selection criteria, and deadlines.
Dewi Fortuna Anwar to speak at CAUSINDY 2014
This week, the conference team are excited to announce the confirmation of Prof. Dr. Dewi Fortuna Anwar, M.A., as a speaker at the 2014 Conference of Australian and Indonesian Youth in Jakarta this September.
Professor Anwar is currently Deputy Secretary for Political Affairs to the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia. She is also a Research Professor and held the position of the Deputy Chairman for Social Sciences and Humanities at The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) from 2001-2010.
She is also the Chair of the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights at The Habibie Center, and a member of the Board of Advisors, The Institute for Peace and Democracy, The Bali Democracy Forum. Dewi Anwar briefly held the position of Assistant to the Vice President for Global Affairs (May-July 1998) and that of Assistant Minister/State Secretary for Foreign Affairs (August 1998-November 1999), during the Habibie administration.
Prof. Anwar was a member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (2008-2012), a member of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission (WMDC), based in Stockholm, and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy, ANU, Australia. She obtained her PhD from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, while her BA (Hons) and MA were obtained from SOAS, University of London.
Professor Anwar was a key supporter of the first Conference of Australian and Indonesian Youth, and we look forward to her joining us in Jakarta this September.
CAUSINDY Update: Embracing fear and risk
With applications open for CAUSINDY 2014, we’re already impressed with the number — and quality — of applications we’ve received! Be sure to submit yours before July 1.
This newsletter includes some of our favourite reading from the week, including from 2013 delegate Ross Tapsell.
Selamat membaca!
New this week
- In this week’s featured video, the ANU’s Dr Jacqui Baker shares a personal take on the Australia-Indonesia relationship.
- CAUSINDY 2013 delegate Ross Tapsell in the Guardian this week: “Australia needs Indonesia more than it needs us“
- We enjoyed this article on how 7-Eleven broke into the Indonesian market.
- An interview with the founders of Ayo Vote, a new NGO which encourages young Indonesians to take part in politics.
- Indonesia’s ambassador to Australia is set to return to Canberra.
Apply for CAUSINDY 2014
With applications now open, it’s time to update your resume andprepare your application for this year’s conference. Check out ourfrequently asked questions for more on the application process, selection criteria, and deadlines.
Video: Embracing discomfort and risk
“It was January, 1998, and we were so fixed on the quest for culture and local knowledge that we kind of forgot about politics…”
This week’s video from the first Conference of Australian and Indonesian Youth offers a personal take on cultural exchange in the bilateral relationship.
Dr Jacqui Baker argues that “no amount of competence can triumph the simple human awkwardness of relationships” — instead, we should embrace discomfort and risk and reach for common interests and curiosities.
Jacqui Baker is a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University’s College of Asia and the Pacific. She is currently writing a book on police reform and embarking on a new project on criminal monies in Southeast Asia.
Listen to her documentary Eat Pray Mourn on the Radio National website, or read her observations on producing the program.
CAUSINDY Update: Applications are open!
It’s been nearly a week since applications opened for this year’s Conference of Australian and Indonesian Youth and already, we’ve been impressed by the quality of candidates. We’re looking forward to receiving more!
This is the first of a series of weekly updates from the conference team, which will cover news and events about CAUSINDY, as well as our favourite reading on the Australia-Indonesia relationship. Selamat membaca!
The year so far
- We’ve been excited to welcome this year’s first two partners on board: Corrs Chambers Westgarth and Asialink. Both supported us in 2013, and we’re looking forward to working with them again.
- Corrs CEO John Denton was one of our speakers at last year’s conference. He gave a fascinating speech on the role of young leaders in “enlarging the future” of the bilateral relationship.
- We often speak of the relationship as though it began in 1945. But the reality is that Australians and Indonesians have been in contact long before then.
- This month’s issue of Inside Indonesia has some great reading on Indonesia’s elections — as Edward Aspinall puts it, a “glimpse of Indonesia’s political future”.
- CAUSINDY founder Bede Moore was interviewed for The Economic’s GE Look Ahead series. Hear his thoughts on entrepreneurship in an emerging market at their website.
Apply for CAUSINDY 2014
With applications now open, it’s time to update your resume andprepare your application for this year’s conference. Check out ourfrequently asked questions for more on the application process, selection criteria, and deadlines.
Join our mailing list
Subscribe to the CAUSINDY mailing list to receive these updates direct to your inbox every week!
