VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, at the opening of 'Art Moments Jakarta 2' in Jakarta on Friday (November 19, 2021). (ANTARA/Maria Cicilia Galuh/KT)

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, has invited people to join hands to revive the art sector as it is one of the sectors that has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Uno, many art performances ranging from music, theater, to fine art exhibitions have been delayed and even canceled amid the pandemic.

"I invite all of us to together recover the art sector. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to innovate, adapt, and collaborate. Do not forget the fine arts sector," he said at the opening of 'Art Moments Jakarta 2' on Friday.

In October 2021, the Indonesian government allowed art performances and exhibitions after the enactment of Level 1 public activity restrictions (PPKM) in the Java-Bali region and set the maximum capacity for indoor and outdoor activities at 75 percent, the minister noted.

Temporary art activities, such as theater, music, and orchestra performances, can be carried out by limiting audience capacity to 50 percent and after obtaining a recommendation from the COVID-19 Task Force and the police, he said.

Uno affirmed that the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has tried many endeavors to revive the art sector. All ideas presented by artists are accepted with open arms and support is given for art exhibitions and film and music festivals, he informed.

"The ministry greatly lauds all the ideas and works of all creative people in Indonesia to keep pushing the positive activities while applying the health protocols," he remarked.

As a form of adaptation to the pandemic situation, Uno asked artists to innovate and create new habits so that the general public can enjoy art performances, one of which is by organizing fine art exhibitions using the hybrid concept.

"It is one of the efforts to adapt to new habits, especially in the field of fine arts to reach a wider audience," he added.

Uno also invited all communities to realize national economic recovery together.

"We invite all parties to play an active role in recovering tourism and creative economy to open many jobs as possible," he said//ANT

Singapore has recently returned to Malaysia about $16.3 million linked to a multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB, Malaysia's anti-graft agency said on Friday.

U.S. authorities say about $4.5 billion was siphoned from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) between 2009 and 2014, in a globe-spanning theft that has implicated high-ranking officials and financial institutions in multiple countries.

Malaysia has said billions more remain unaccounted for.

Malaysia has recovered about 20.5 billion ringgit ($4.90 billion) in 1MDB assets so far, the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission said in a statement.

Efforts to recover more are ongoing, in countries including Switzerland, Kuwait, Mauritius, Cyprus, and Hong Kong, it added.(Reuters)

Former Japanese premier Shinzo Abe, who remains influential in the ruling party, said on Friday Japan should cooperate with the AUKUS security partners the United States, Britain and Australia on artificial intelligence and cyber capabilities.

The AUKUS pact, which was agreed in September and will see Australia acquiring technology to deploy nuclear-powered submarines, is widely seen as a response to Chinese militarisation in the region, particularly in the strategically important South China Sea.

Japan aims to strengthen ties with ally the United States and other friendly nations while bolstering its own defence posture, as it faces Chinese military expansion. 

"A key to realising a free and open Indo-Pacific is ensuring like-minded countries' mid- to long-term engagement with the Indo-Pacific region. From this standpoint, I welcome the formation of AUKUS," Abe said in a speech at an online forum.

"It is extremely important to carry out multi-layered efforts to promote the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region. I believe Japan should engage in AUKUS cooperation in such areas as cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence and quantum technologies."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said although AUKUS partnership will begin with nuclear-powered submarines, alliance members expect to accelerate the development of other advanced defence systems including in cyber, AI and quantum computing.

Japan forms the Quad grouping with India and two of the AUKUS members - Australia and the United States. Quad leaders in September held their first in-person summit, which presented a united front amid shared concerns about China.

On Japan's ties with Australia, Abe said the two countries need to deepen further their special strategic partnership.

"Given the regional security environment which has become increasingly severe, there is a need to elevate Japan-Australia bilateral security and defence cooperation to a new level."

Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, stepped down last year due to ill health, but stayed on as a lawmaker and this month took over as the head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's largest faction.(Reuters)

Australia on Friday called for governments around the world to agree on "rules of the road" to fight the spread of misinformation and state-backed disinformation online.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said blocs like the Quad group - the United States, India, Japan and Australia - and global bodies like the United Nations were already working to strike a balance between harmful content and free expression online.

But time was running out to agree on rules of what was permissable.

"We should be starting yesterday," Payne told a panel at the Sydney Dialogue virtual event alongside Facebook Inc's (FB.O) global affairs boss.

"We do have to be very clear that the rule of law that applies offline has to apply online. Rules of the road are what enable road users to stay safe, same with users online. Being able to identify the difference between free speech and malicious disinformation ... is important," she added.

Misinformation and government-sponsored attempts to stoke social disharmony online have become a hot political issue with critics accusing platforms like Facebook of failing to stop democracy being skewed by the content they host.

A former Facebook employee went public last month as having leaked documents which she said showed the company put profit over public safety, despite public pronouncements to the contrary, and enbled the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in the United States by turning off safety systems.

Facebook head of global affairs Nick Clegg told the panel it was up to governments to set misinformation rules.

"It is clearly not right that people like me, or sometimes (Facebook founder) Mark Zuckerberg or others, are having to make decisions about what sort of content can stay up or be taken down," said Clegg, a former British deputy prime minister.

"Not all regulation is good, but of course regulation needs to be introduced."(Reuters)