BBC News Indonesia brings Get Inspired series to students in Padang and Malang

Rising intolerance, unemployment, deforestation and the decline of traditional culture are some of the issues tackled in the 2019 edition of the BBC News Indonesia series, Get Inspired.

Published: 13 February 2019
For this year’s series, the BBC team is delivering outstanding solution-focused journalism which gives a voice to young change-makers.
— Rebecca Henschke, Editor, BBC News Indonesia

Launched in 2006, Get Inspired brings together young Indonesian movers and shakers with student audiences in universities across the archipelago, engaging in conversations about the most pressing social issues to explore innovative ways to solve them.

The Get Inspired events in Padang, West Sumatra, on Tuesday 12 February and Malang, East Java, on Thursday 14 February each involve about 350 university and high-school students. The panel includes:

  • Alffy Rev, a young musician, producer and film-maker who has reached YouTube stardom and topped the Spotify charts by creating songs infused with traditional Indonesian music
  • Utari Octavianty, a technology student who has created a trading app to help impoverished fishermen
  • Hotlin Ompusunggu, a dentist who is fighting deforestation by offering illegal loggers health incentives to people in exchange for their becoming guardians of the rainforest
  • Iskandar Slameth and Ronald Regang, former child soldiers of Indonesia’s bloodiest religious conflict, who fought on opposing sides and are now ambassadors for peace and tolerance
  • Bagas Suratman, a former gang member who helps unemployed young people by turning them into urban farmers earning a sustainable livelihood

The Get Inspired host, BBC News Indonesia’s Endang Nurdin, says: “Indonesian students will have a great chance to speak with the country’s inspirational young people, who have used their fledgling enterprises to tackle some of Indonesia’s social problems head on.”

BBC News Indonesia Editor, Rebecca Henschke, adds: “The Get Inspired series is an invaluable chance to connect with our young audience and hear from them directly. For this year’s series, the BBC team is delivering outstanding solution-focused journalism which gives a voice to young change-makers.”

The series is produced in partnership with the radio stations, Classy FM in Padang and Mas FM in Malang, which rebroadcast the BBC News Indonesia output. Reporters from the websites Kompas.com and Tribunnews.com (to which the BBC News Indonesia content is syndicated) will join the BBC roadshow to cover the discussions for their audience.

Managing Editor of Kompas.com, Amir Sodikin, says: “Through Get Inspired, the participants are able to share ways of solving problems and form a network of creative and inspirational young people. Being creative starts at sharing ideas, and Kompas.com is excited to be part of Get Inspired.”

The BBC News Indonesia content is available via the website bbc.com/indonesia as well as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. BBC News Indonesia radio programmes are available on FM in major cities across Indonesia. Its two-minute radio news bulletin aimed at young audiences, Global Newsbeat, is rebroadcast by 64 radio stations.

LN

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