AIYA Links: 5 July 2013

Selamat siang! Here is AIYA’s weekly selection of the best reading on Indonesia and the Australia-Indonesia relationship to inform and entertain you over the weekend.

In the news

• For its historic first ever overseas broadcast, the ABC’s Q&A hosted a Jakarta special last night—and it made for great television. If you missed it, you can watch it online via the Q&A website.
• On the eve of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s visit to Indonesia, this frank opinion piece by a senior Jakarta Post editor on the Australia-Indonesia relationship has provoked debate.
• Reuters reports on how PM Rudd’s trip to Jakarta seeks to get the Australia-Indonesia beef trade back on track, including bold plans for direct Indonesian investment in beef production in Australia.
• The Economist’s Banyan column visits Riau, reporting on how poverty, corruption and traditions of slash-and-burn agriculture are at the root of the fire and haze crisis affecting the region.
• Financial Times correspondent Benjamin Bland (@benjaminbland) interviewed presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto over lunch, and it makes for very interesting reading.
• Fairfax’s correspondent Michael Bachelard (@mbachelard) had this engaging feature on how many gay Indonesians must lead a ‘double life’ in order to be accepted by society.
• On the same topic, today’s edition of The Economist reports on the state of gay rights in Southeast Asia, noting that Indonesia compares unfavourably with some of its neighbours in terms of tolerance.
• Indonesia gained another long-shot presidential ticket: Soeharto-era millitary boss, Hanura Party founder and unsuccessful former presidential and veep candidate Wiranto has teamed up with ethnic Chinese media tycoon Hary Tanoesoedibjo to represent Hanura in the 2014 poll.

Longer/academic reads

• The political drama in Egypt has been making headlines in both Australia and Indonesia. Cornell University’s Tom Pepinsky (@tompepinsky) shared this recent paper in which he argues that there is no ‘Indonesian model’ for Egyptian democratisation.
• The latest volume of the respected journal Indonesia, this time focusing on Papua, is now available online if you have an institutional subscription.
• The World Bank, in its quarterly report on Indonesia’s economy, downgraded its forecast for the country’s 2013 GDP growth to 5.9%. Read the media release or the full report.

Jobs/Events

• JobsDB, an online employment portal with a presence throughout Southeast Asia, China and Australia, is advertising a Data Analyst position at their Jakarta office. If you have the necessary skills in quantitative data analysis, take a look at the listing on the AIYA Job Board.
• Applications to become a delegate in the inaugural Conference of Australian and Indonesian Youth (CAUSINDY) in Canberra on 17-20 October 2013 are still open. This is an amazing opportunity to meet with academics, business leaders and other young people passionate about expanding ties between Australia and Indonesia, and we strongly encourage you to apply!