AIYA Links: 27 September

In the news

• Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa has taken the highly unusual step of releasing minutes of his recent meeting with his Australian counterpart, Julie Bishop (report from @mbachelard).
• The continuing decline in the value of the Rupiah may force the Indonesian government to scale back energy subsidies, reports the Jakarta Post.
• Peter Jennings, the Executive Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, has some tips for Tony Abbott before next week’s official visit to Indonesia—the first of his prime ministership.
• The Australian‘s business commentator John Durie wrote from Jakarta with some frank words about the need for more understanding of Indonesia in the Australian corporate world.
• The 2013 ANU Indonesia Update was held in Canberra last weekend, and we have a summary of the conference’s highlights on the AIYA Blog.
• The Lowy Institute also jointly held its mini-update with the ANU in Sydney—full audio of the event here.
• Lowy also have audio of an interview with their Indonesia analyst Dave McRae (@_DaveMcRae_) on the latest in politics, and with the presenters of the economic mini-update.
• Remember when Homer Simpson learned in The Economist that Indonesia was at a crossroads? Well, the magazine says, it really is now.
• The Financial Times’ Ben Bland (@benjaminbland) reports ‘Indonesian civil servants are swapping their desks for flight decks under an innovative scheme designed to plug the country’s acute shortage of pilots’.
• Three researchers have a short story at Inside Indonesia which illustrates how petty corruption works in Indonesia.
• Indonesia used to be the one loyal market BlackBerry could count on—no longer, reports Reuters.
• The Australian’s Bernard Lane (@Bernard_Lane) spoke to the University of Melbourne’s Howard Dick about the difficulties of doing business in Indonesia.
• The New York Times profiles Indonesia’s most popular politician, Jakarta governor and likely presidential candidate Joko Widodo.
• In a similar vein, the Jakarta Globe takes a look at some of the popular reformers who are making their mark in local politics in Indonesia.
• The World Muslimah Contest, an Islamic-themed answer to Miss World, was held in Jakarta last week and even got the attention of Buzzfeed.

Events

• The inaugural Conference of Australian and Indonesian Youth (CAUSINDY) is less than a month away, and the delegates from both Australia and Indonesia have been announced at the CAUSINDY website.
• The Australia-Indonesia Youth Exchange Program is seeking families in Kiama to host Indonesian students on a short-term basis. Click here for full details and information on how to get in touch with AIYEP organisers. Please pass along to anybody you know in the area—any help will be much appreciated!