Ever fancied the chance to speak for your country? The 8th annual Pidato Antarabanga Bahasa Melayu (PABM) competition is taking place this March, and we’re looking for candidates from Australia and New Zealand!

PABM is an international Malay and Indonesian language speaking competition coordinated by the office of the Prime Minister of Malaysia. As a candidate representing Australia or New Zealand, you’ll travel to Malaysia to take part in the competition over two weeks, from the 2nd to the 18th of March, 2014.

All entrants take part in a home stay program and speaking events throughout Malaysia. The competition offers prizes worth up to US$7,000 — and flights, accommodation and entertainment are included!

Australia’s candidate last year, Courtney Saville, wrote about her experience in a blog post:

Thank you AIYA, the Malaysian Government and all the sponsors for giving me such a great opportunity. I had some of the best conversations, laughed all day every day and made some friends for life. I now know 71 people from all over the world that I communicate with by speaking Indonesian – who would have thought?

Interested in applying? More information available here.

Eton House International Pre-School in Surabaya is looking for an Early Childhood Core Teacher. Candidates should have 2-5 years experience in early childhood, and:

a minimum of a Bachelor Degree in Early Childhood or Education or equivalent, which is obtained from a recognised University or College involving not less than 3 years full time study. Teachers Certificates, Diplomas or other Teacher Accreditation courses and certification are required if the applicant’s degree is not in Education.

The position is based in Surabaya under a two year contract. More information on JobsDB (the application date listed is incorrect).

This month’s AYAD volunteer assignments include marketing and communications officers, English language trainers and website developers from Aceh to Sulawesi.

Three-month postings

• Database Administrator and Website Developer at the Indonesian Street Children Organization in Jakarta
• School Superintendent Section at the Department of Education in Kendari, Sulawesi
• Website Developer at the Centre for Study and Child Protection in Medan

Six to nine-month postings

• Administration Management Trainer at the Center for Research and Education and Training for Apparatus II, Institute of Public Administration in Makassar, Sulawesi
• Fundraising Officer at KOPPESDA – Coordination of Natural Resource Management Research in Waingapu, East Sumba
• Marketing and Fundraising Officer at the Centre for Study and Child Protection in Medan

Year-long postings

• Environmental Education Officer at SMAN 6 in Kendari, Sulawesi
• Marketing Officer at the Institution for Coastal and Hinterland Community Development in Kendari, Sulawesi
• Social Business Development Officer at the Pusat Pengembangan Sumber Daya Wanita in Pontianak, West Kalimantan
• English Language Trainer at the Center for Research and Education and Training for Apparatus II, Institute of Public Administration in Makassar, South Sulawesi
• Accounting Support Officer at Yayasan Kopernik in Ubud, Bali
• Organisational Development Officer at Flora and Fauna International in Banda Aceh and Denpasar
• Communications and Fundraising Officer at the Katahati Institute in Banda Aceh
• Communications and Fundraising Officer at Yayasan Rama Sesana in Denpasar, Bali
• Marketing and Promotions Officer at the East Kalimantan Health Department
• Environmental Education Project Officer at Yayasan Winsu in Negara, Bali

For more information on eligibility and the application process for AYAD postings, check out their website.

Following on from a recent article in The Australian (Language skills add to job prospects), I wanted to provide a little more background for AIYA readers.

The article is based onresearch I conducted, entitled Indonesian Literacy in Australia: Vocational Experiences of Indonesian Language Graduates. I conducted this research in order assess how the Indonesian language is being used by Indonesian language graduates in Australia. Many Australians have studied Indonesian as part of their degree, but relatively little is known about how the these graduates use the language after they graduate.

My personal interest in this issue began after I completed my Indonesian language degree at Monash University. I had studied Indonesian language at high school, and throughout my time at Monash. During this language study, I often heard from teachers, academics and business people telling my how useful my language skills will be in the workplace after graduation, and how my employment prospects will be rosy. After graduation, I found this not to be the case. The dream job didn’t come my way, and many of my Indonesian speaking class mates were also at odds on what to do after university.

That experience was my motivation for completing this thesis at Monash as part of my honours degree. I essentially wanted to know whether my experience was unique, or whether many other Indonesian language graduates were also experiencing difficulty finding work which valued their Indonesian language ability. I find it unbelievable that at a time when governments are spending millions of dollars to attract more students to Asian languages, including Indonesian, while the career prospects for Indonesian language graduates are not so profound.

I know that many of AIYA Australian members and friends are themselves Indonesian language graduates, and may identify with my experience. While the Asian Century is well underway, the practical impact for Indonesia-literate Australians can feel underwhelming. I wanted to highlight this negative sentiment, and to provide concrete figures which to demonstrate that Indonesian language graduates are not able to use their Indonesian language skills in the workforce.

If you would like to contact me regarding this research, or to receive a full copy of the thesis once it is published, please email me at [email protected].

Samuel Bashfield is President of the Victorian Chapter of the Australia-Indonesia Youth Association.

Helen Keller International-Indonesia is seeking a Communications Officer who will be responsible for “supporting in the development and dissemination of materials for HKI‐Indonesia”.

Workplace Options is looking for a Community and Mobile Education Officer, based in Jakarta:

In our last video from CAUSINDY’s economic and political update session, panellists discuss trade policy between Australia and Indonesia, including Indonesian investments in Australia.

Featuring the ABC’s Melissa Clarke, Debnath Guharoy from Roy Morgan Research, First State Investments’ Harsya Prasetyo and Dr Dave McRae discuss trade links between Australia and Indonesia. The discussion is moderated by the Australia Network’s Auskar Surbakti.

Great Barrier Reef near Australia. This pic shows just a small portion of the reef. Pretty amazing to see from space pic.twitter.com/BcwsmwxuoL

— Mike Hopkins (@AstroIllini) November 30, 2013

Selamat datang di Mingguan Australia, sebuah kalangan baru dari AIYA dalam bahasa Indonesia.

Berita

• Pingkan Palilingan dan Tim Flicker melaporkan tentang peluncaran resmi cabang AIYA di Victoria.
• Ada video baru daru Konperensi Pemuda Australia-Indonesia yang diadakan pada Oktober: siapa Presiden RI berikutnya?
• Kasus penyadapan Australia masih menarik perhatian media Indonesia. Tempo memberi enam respons SBY terhadap soal ini; Australian Associated Press mengatakan bahwa Indonesia tak ingin mengembalikan hubungan resmi secara cepat. 
• Hari Jumat, bendahara Australia Joe Hockey menolak akuisisi perusahan gandum Graincorp, oleh pihak Amerika.
• Annabel Crabb, komentar ABC, sebutkan pemerintah Abbott sebagai “mengherankan“.
• Direktur CINAPS pikir Australia “tekan Indonesia” tentang soal Papua karena respons hal penyadapan. Menurut VOA News, Australia berusaha untuk “perbaiki hubungan” dengan Indonesia.
• Perjalanan turis Australia ke Bali masih tetap ramai.
• Aduh! Dua pilot TNI-AU diduga menyelundupkan burung liar dari Australia.

Untuk hiburan Anda

• Awas! Tasmanian devil di pulau kecil mulai “mencuri” sepatu turis.
• Foto Great Barrier Reef oleh astronaut Mike Hopkins.

Lowongan dan peristiwa

• AIYA mencari kontributor website dari Indonesia. Yuk lihat lowongannya!

In our second video from the inaugural Conference of Australian and Indonesian Youth, panellists discuss next year’s presidential election in Indonesia: what will it mean for Australia, and who will put up their hand?

Auskar Surbakti (@AuskarSurbakti) moderating a panel discussion between Dr Dave McRae (@_DaveMcRae_) from the Lowy Institute, Harsya Prasetyo of First State Investments Indonesia, Debnath Guharoy of Roy Morgan Research and ABC News’ Melissa Clarke  (@Clarke_Melissa).

Selamat datang di Mingguan Australia, sebuah kalangan baru dari AIYA dalam bahasa Indonesia.

Setiap hari senin, Mingguan Australia memberi berita, komentar, dan pembacaan baru terkait Australia, khusus untuk pembaca Indonesia. Selamat membaca!

Berita

• Selamat kepada AIYA Victoria, yang baru mengadakan acara “official launch” di Melbourne pada hari Jumat.
• Soal penyadapan merupakan masih hal yang paling terbahas minggu. SBY telah terima surat kembali dari Perdana Menteri Australia, Tony Abbott. Liputan6 bertanya: apa langkah SBY selanjutnya?
• Mantan Perdana Menteri Australia, Julia Gillard, mengatakan Australia sebaiknya respon seperti Barack Obama: telepon SBY, dan minta maaf.
• Dalam pidato baru, Gubernur-Jenderal Quentin Bryce dukung Australia menjadi negara republik, dan pernikahan untuk pasangan gay. Sekarang ini, Australia berpemerintah monarki konstitusional, dengan raja Inggris sebagai kepala negara resmi.
• Pengikut CAUSINDY, Daniel Peterson: “Dan Langit Pun Masih Biru di Australia“.
• Australia akan memang permainan pertama Ashes, sebuah kompetisi tahunan kriket dengan tim Inggris.

Untuk hiburan Anda

• Karina Utomo, punker kelahiran Jakarta yang jembatani Indonesia-Australia
• Koresponden ABC Australia, George Roberts (@George_Roberts) mendapat foto bersama demonstran di depan kedubes Australia.
• Gerakan tangan mantan PM Kevin Rudd telah menjadi terkenal. Inilah daftar tergambar.
• Untuk menjadi teman baik, tidak perlu mengenal usia.

Lowongan dan peristiwa

• AIYA mencari kontributor website dari Indonesia. Yuk lihat lowongannya!