VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta: The General Elections Commission (KPU) educates women and disabled voters in Pekanbaru, Riau, regarding the coming political event.

Head of Riau KPU Ilham Muhammad Yasir reported that such initiative was taken since thorough inclusion and participation were deemed necessary in the democratic process.

Yasir stated that his administration had actively paid attention to some group of voters, who faced difficulties in taking part in the general election.

"This is in effort to push better awareness and knowledge among them regarding the importance of general election and their role as voters," he remarked.

The program to educate and disseminate information on the contents of general election for women and people with disability must adopt an inclusive approach that can accommodate their needs, he affirmed.

The Riau KPU collaborates with mass organizations and group of people with disabilities to give greater attention to women and disabled voters on Monday, June 26, he remarked.

"Riau KPU is committed to always spreading information about the general election to fellow women and disabled voters. Such step is not only taken right now, but it has begun since the past general elections," Yasir stated.

The event was hosted at Pekanbaru's Pangeran Hotel Ballroom, with speakers from the Riau Islamic University Dr Panca Setyo Prihatin, S.IP, M.Si, Head of Gender and Children Study Center at Sutan Syarif Islamic University Dr Mustiqowati Ummul Fithriyyah, M.Si, as well as member of Riau KPI Nugroho Noto Susanto.

Currently, the listing of fixed voters is being conducted for the general elections. In Riau Province, 4,732,174 people are registered as eligible voters for the 2024 General Election.

Of the figure, 2,399,163 are males and 2,333,011 are females. The voters are spread across 19,366 locales set as polling stations. (antaranews)

VOInews, Jakarta: Indonesia through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned the burning of the Quran in Stockholm which occurred on Eid al-Adha.

"Indonesia strongly condemns the provocative act of burning the Quran by a Swedish citizen in front of the Södermalm Mosque, Stockholm during Eid al-Adha," the official twitter account of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote, as quoted by Indonesia Window here on Thursday (29/6).

Indonesia considers the action to have hurt the feelings of Muslims and cannot be justified.

"Freedom of expression must also respect the values and beliefs of other religions," the ministry wrote.

The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stated that Indonesia together with member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Sweden had protested against this incident.

Previously, there was a demonstration in front of the Södermalm Grand Mosque. During his action, a demonstrator named Salwan Momika - as witnessed by hundreds of people at the location - burned sheets of the Qur'an as a form of opposition to Islam. Salwan Momika is suspected to be a Swedish citizen.

Before burning the Quran, Momika first threw the Muslim holy book to the ground and shouted insulting words about Islam.

Stockholm police were called outside the mosque to prevent any incident that could be triggered by the provocation. (VOI/Andy)

VOInews, Jakarta: A total of 1,384 Indonesian citizens participated in the Eid al-Adha 1444 H prayer organized by the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok on Thursday (29/6). Although it was held on a working day, it did not reduce the enthusiasm of the Indonesian people to come to the soccer field of the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok to perform the Eid al-Adha prayer.

In an official statement received in Jakarta, the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok said that this year's Eid al-Adha prayer was not only attended by Indonesians living in Bangkok but also tourists.

"This year's Eid al-Adha prayer was not only attended by Indonesian citizens living in Bangkok and surrounding cities, but also by Indonesians who are on vacation in Thailand," the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok wrote.

Acting as Imam of the Eid al-Adha 1444 H prayer this time was Ustadz Romli bin Abdulwahid from the Daarul Aman Mosque in Bangkok. While the Khotib is Ustadz Habib Sayid Akhmad Auliya Faturahman Al Bahasyim with Bilal namely Ustadz Asep Saepuddin Muhajir, a teacher of Islamic Religious Studies at the Indonesian School Bangkok.

The Eid al-Adha celebration this time took the theme "Qurban Worship, a Reflection of Sincerity and Obedience in the Framework of Humanitarian Solidarity." In his sermon, the preacher underlined the importance of interpreting qurban worship as a form of faith and devotion to Allah SWT.

"The need for Muslims to have the totality of faith and piety to Allah SWT above the love for whatever they have, regarding the glory of human life where the Prophet Ismail was replaced with a sheep by Allah SWT, and the essence of sacrifice in the form of property, objects, thoughts and time," wrote the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok.

In addition, it was also conveyed that qurban worship teaches Muslims about the importance of humanitarian solidarity by giving to each other in addition to high piety to Allah SWT.

After the Eid al-Adha prayer, the Indonesian people took selfies and chatted at several corners of the soccer field of the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok. The Indonesian people also had the opportunity to enjoy Indonesian snacks such as risoles and arem-arem as a release for homesickness.

The Eid al-Adha prayer is one of the precious moments for the Indonesian people in Thailand. Indonesians, especially Indonesian students in Thailand look forward to this moment, because they can release their longing for the atmosphere of Eid al-Adha in the White Elephant country as well as stay in touch with other Indonesians.

In the celebration of Eid al-Adha in 2023, the Assafier Mosque of the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok facilitated Indonesian citizens who wanted to perform Qurban by slaughtering one cow and 3 goats. The slaughtering of sacrificial animals was not carried out in the environment of the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok, but in the Minburi area, Thailand. The qurban meat was given to the poor, the poor, and fisabilillah in the Minburi area, Bangkok, Thailand. (VOI/Andy)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Agriculture Ministry has distributed production equipment and agricultural machinery assistance to farmers in West Lombok district, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province, to mitigate the impact of El Nino.

Director for agricultural irrigation at the Directorate General for Agricultural Infrastructure and Facilities at the ministry, Rahmanto, said that his party has provided four-wheeled tractors, two-wheeled tractors, transplanters, and water pumps to farmers in Kebon Ayu village, Gerung sub-district.

The El Nino phenomenon, which has been forecast for July 2023, is expected to trigger a long drought and thereby, lead to a fall in agricultural production, he noted, according to a written statement received on Thursday.

Hence, his party has also helped the local community to establish a 700-cubic-meter agricultural pond to maintain water availability in the region as well as improve three tertiary irrigation networks for channeling the water from the pond to agricultural land.

The ministry will also build five agricultural roads in the village to help the farmers transport their produce, thereby reducing production costs.

Rahmanto said he expects that the farmers will utilize the assistance optimally to maintain their productivity and prevent a food crisis amid El Nino.

According to Kebon Ayu village head Jumarsa, the establishment of agricultural roads in the village will significantly help increase local agricultural productivity, considering that most of the residents make a living as farmers.

Meanwhile, head of agricultural infrastructure and facilities at the West Lombok Agricultural Office, I Nyoman Sugiartha, informed that the agricultural roads will be built in the northern part of the village.

According to information posted on the ministry’s website, an agricultural road is a transportation infrastructure built in a community's farming, plantation, or breeding area to ease the mobility of agricultural machinery and equipment.

It also makes it easier to transport agricultural products to storage houses, processing facilities, or markets. (Antaranews)