Awards Weekend
The fifth annual NAILA Competition culminated with a highly-anticipated Awards Ceremony and networking weekend held in Melbourne in December. NAILA awardees gathered together with family members, VIP guests, volunteer team members and other members of the Australia-Indonesia community.
The NAILA 2019 Awards Evening was attended by over 100 guests and hosted by the Victorian Department of Education and Training. Ibu Spica Tutuhatunewa (Consul General of Indonesia in Victoria and Tasmania) and Mr Joel Blackwell (Executive Director, International Education Division, Victorian Department of Education and Training) provided keynote addresses, and Melbourne-based dance group Lenggok Geni entertained guests with a traditional performance.
Attendees witnessed video testimonials from VIPs Elizabeth Campbell-Dorning (Counsellor for Education at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta), His Excellency Mr Richard Mathews (Australian Consul-General in Makassar), Bapak Heru Hartanto Subolo (Consul-General of the Republic of Indonesia in NSW, QLD and SA), Sherina (Indonesian pop singer and actress) and Ms Clarice Campbell (National President of the Australia-Indonesia Youth Association – AIYA). Their praise of awardees and support of Indonesian language learning were tangible.
During the Awards Weekend, awardees and their families were given a guided tour of key Melbourne landmarks before spending an afternoon at the Consulate General of Indonesia in Melbourne. Attendees participated in a special gamelan and angklung workshop, and practiced two different dances. Awardees had the opportunity to meet leaders in the Australia-Indonesia relationship, connect with each other and members of the NAILA community, and form lasting friendships.
We are incredibly grateful to our sponsors and partners. Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to collaborating again in the future. We are extremely thankful to the 2019 VIP Judges for their commitment to championing the study of Indonesian: Jessica Liemantara, Tati Carlin, Andrew Parker and Colin Brown.
NAILA is driven by a dynamic and talented group of young Australian and Indonesian volunteers who are dedicated to improving the bilateral relationship.
Congratulations to the all the participants, as well as their teachers and families for supporting the study of Indonesian in Australia. NAILA is extremely proud of every applicant in our 2019 competition. Without them, NAILA would not be possible.