Welcome

From AIYA’s executive director, Arjuna Dibley:

Hi friends, followers and contributors to AIYA,

AIYA is at a really exciting point of development at the moment. Our network is continuing to grow – just this week, we passed 1,000 Facebook followers; in addition to our presence at ANU, we have new chapters underway in NSW, WA, Victoria and soon the Northern Territory; plus we are developing our organisational networks.

AIYA National have had a really busy few months trying to ensure that this steady growth continues. To this end we have been busy designing a very slick website (due to launch next month), applying for big government grants and pitching our organisation to prospective partners.

AIYA has also been continuing to lobby government and raise awareness of the obstacles preventing young Australians and Indonesians from traveling and working in each other’s countries. We have had a few op-eds published in the media, and we are making submissions to key federal MPs and government departments about problems with the working-holiday visa arrangements.

There are also some really exciting events coming up in the next couple of months, including a series of networking nights hosted by one of the largest management consulting firms in the world.

We are always looking for extra hands and new ideas, so if you can contribute either of those, send me an email at [email protected].

Salam hangat,
Arj

Chapter Updates

Jakarta

AIYA’s Jakarta chapter coordinator Karina Akib writes:

We were lucky enough to have Nicholas Mark – a fellow AIYA from Sydney pay us a visit in Jakarta. Nicholas has published an illustrated childrens book in Bahasa Indonesia together with Indonesian artist Bambang Shakuntala. This project is a great example of creative collaboration between the two countries beyond the realm of Business and Government.

30 AIYA’ers with a great mix of Indonesians and Australians celebrated the launch in Jakarta at Poste together with Nicholas. We had representatives from government, business, education and arts join us leading to some interesting conversation about what Nick is aiming for with his book and how we can keep the dialogue open between the two countries in less spoken about areas like the arts.

We’re also looking forward to the next exciting AIYA event in Oct/Nov. If you’re interested in finding out more please contact us at [email protected].

AIYA Jakarta is looking for people to join our executive team. The only requirement is that you need to be passionate about building the relationship between Australia and Indonesia, so if you know anyone or if you’re interested yourself please pass along our details [email protected].

New South Wales

From AIYA NSW’s chapter coordinator Katrina Steedman:

AIYA NSW is still in the process of launching but we’ve made good progress by establishing a working party led by Nicholas Mark and Katrina Steedman, along with Amy Keough and Self Rumbewas. We’ve also got an active Facebook page and a brand new AIYA NSW email, which will be our main point of contact for Indonesia-related events, internships, and employment opportunities.

We’ve also been establishing partnerships with Indonesian-related organisations, including the Australia-Indonesia Business Council and the Perhimpunan Pelajar Indonesia Australia (PPIA). Nick and Self assisted the AIBC’s luncheon with Ambassador Greg Moriarty last May, and we we were part of the PPIA’s Independence Celebration last Friday at USyd. During August, we also met with UNSW students to discuss how they could get involved with AIYA NSW.

NSW Chapter coordinator Nicholas Mark successfully launched his children’s fantasy book, Petualangan Anak Indonesia or The Indoventurers in July, with events in Yogyakarta and Jakarta – photos below.

Going forward, we’re planning to establish a charter, our constitution, and executive positions so that we can formalise the NSW chapter. We’ll be setting up a fortnightly meeting time, a database of members, and regular conversation meetings with the PPIA at USyd and UNSW. This October, we’re also looking forward to working with the Boston Consulting Group on recruitment and networking events on both campuses.

If you’d like to get involved, just let us know at [email protected] or visit our Facebook page.

Canberra

From ANU chapter coordinator Jessica Laughlin:

Following on from our extremely successful Indonesian Careers Night last semester, this semester, AIYA ANU is planning to hold a Networking event to bring together people interested in career and internship opportunities in Indonesia and people who have experience building Indonesia-focused careers. The event will be held in early October at the ANU.

AIYA ANU has also just launched its community outreach program, visiting Year 7 Indonesian students at Belconnen High to discuss what it is like studying and living in Indonesia. The kids really enjoyed the presentation, especially the photos and kopiko. We are planning to visit the school again to talk to the Year 8 class in a few weeks time. Our Community Outreach Officer, David Duncan has even purchased a durian so that we can bring a little of the flavour (smell?) of Indonesia to our next presentation.

If you are interested in hearing more, please contact us at [email protected] or join the AIYA ANU Facebook group.

Victoria

From Victorian chapter coordinator Nikolas Svede and communications officer Tim Graham:

Things have been moving pretty steadily in Victoria, preparing for our chapter launch by the end of the year. We’re also looking for potential members to help us out with our launch, as well as a networking event later in the semester.

In October, we’ll be working with Boston Consulting Group on some upcoming career information and networking events at the University of Melbourne and Monash. If you’d like to hear more, keep an eye on our brand new Facebook page – we’ll be putting up more information soon. (We’ve also put together a mailing list of our own for news and updates.)

We’re looking for representatives from all our local universities – so if you think you’d be keen to help us out in the lead-up to our launch, just get in touch with us at [email protected].

Queensland

Queensland chapter coordinators Sheila Hie and Emily Boyd:

We’ll be having our chapter launch in just under a month! It’s being held on Thursday, the 20th of September at Five Sisters in the West End. If you’d like to hear more, just shoot us an email at [email protected].

Western Australia

Western Australia chapter coordinator Natrisha Barnett writes:

The WA team is in the process of finalising our strategic planning for 2012/2013 and is organising an official launch event to be held in October with local dignitaries, members of the Australia Indonesia community and the press. Next week we are holding our third event for the year, which will feature a short presentation from the president of PPIA UWA who will be teaching us some new Bahasa Gaul.

The AIYA WA team also ran a stall at the Murdoch University Open Day to promote AIYA to prospective students and engage new members. We are also looking forward to supporting the PPIA UWA/Curtin Hari Kemerdekaan Celebrations this week!

For more on what we’re up to, join our Facebook group or send us an email at[email protected].