CAUSINDY 2017 Day 1 Wrap-up
CAUSINDY 2017 kicked off with a welcome reception at the offices of the architectural firm Denton Corker Marshall (DCM). Delegates, mentors and team members were welcomed by CAUSINDY COO Edgar Myer, who acknowledged the Wurundjeri nation on whose land the conference is taking place. We are reminded that Indigenous peoples and their custodianship of the land is the foundation on which the bilateral relationship between our two nations is built.
Edgar then introduced John Denton, Founding Director of DCM and welcomed CAUSINDY to his offices. He related his firm’s long history with Indonesian architecture, which DCM’s Jakarta director Budiman Hendropurnomo showcased in the next talk. Buildings and landscapes designed by the firm include the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, the Alila Hotel in Solo, and the University of Indonesia’s Central Library.
The conference was then addressed by the Deputy Secretary of Trade Victoria, Jay Meek, who spoke about the importance of people-to-people links as the foundation of an effective trade relationship between the two nations. He explained the opportunities that still remain to develop the relationship, including encouraging delegates to apply for the Hamer Scholarship for Victorians to undertake intensive language study in Indonesia and other Asian countries.
The session became much more personal when Helen Brown, managing director of Bisnis Asia, a consultancy focussed on helping Australian business expand into Asia, took the reins and led the introduction session. The delegates were broken into groups based on their background (social, technology, business and politics), and were asked to identify one key issue in the bilateral relationship. The ensuing discussion were vibrant and many delegates couldn’t tear themselves away from the break-out groups to rejoin the session. Ms. Brown concluded the discussions with an important message: let’s determine what we can do to ensure that we aren’t raising these very same issues five years from now.
For the afternoon, CAUSINDY delegates took a walk to the world-famous Melbourne Cricket ground, seeing some highlights of Melbourne urban design on the way. For football and cricket tragics, present and future, the tour was an opportunity to walk in the shoes of some of the finest sportspeople of era. Highlights included exclusive access to all the members’ areas, portraits of Don Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar, and state-of-the-art bowling machines that can emulate the delivery of any of the best bowlers in the game. The atmosphere of the stadium gave all delegates a sense of the reverence and joy that these key sports bring to Australians in general, and Victorians in particular.
To cap off the day, CAUSINDY 2016 alumnus and Federal Member for Gellibrand, Tim Watts MP, hosted the delegates for a private dinner (even the team weren’t invited!) to get to know each other better, and to talk about practical challenges and strategies for how young people can further the bilateral relationship. Delegate Nadia Atmaji took to curating the CAUSINDY Instagram account for the evening; here are some of her great snaps of the dinner. Don’t forget to read the captions!
