VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The diversity of Indonesian culture was presented in the Malay Day cultural festival which was held in Yala City, Yala Province (23-25/2). Melayu Day is one of the biggest cultural festivals in southern Thailand which was initiated by the Yala City Government since 2014 in collaboration with the Indonesian Consulate Songkhla and the Malaysian Consulate General Songkhla.

During the three days of the event, Indonesia presented cultural clothing and dance performances, educational exhibitions, culinary promotions, and typical products from Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The Ratoh Jaroe dance presented by Ar-Raniry State Islamic University Banda Aceh opened the Indonesian performance, which was then followed by the Sinanggar Tullo dance from Kadin Fashion. Visitors also have the opportunity to taste the culinary taste of Acehnese noodles which are rich in spices and prepared directly by chefs from Aceh.

This cultural performance is used by various universities in Indonesia to introduce study programs including scholarship offers. Students in southern Thailand have always made Indonesia one of the destination countries to continue their higher education. Several Indonesian educational institutions taking part included Galuh University, Darunnajah University, National University of Jakarta, UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh, Muhammadiyah University of North Sumatra.

To support MSMEs Go Global, the Indonesian Consulate in Songkhla also facilitated the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Indonesian business actors operating in the apparel sector and their partners from Thailand. It is hoped that this signing will further increase product penetration, especially Indonesian Muslim clothing, in southern Thailand. Indonesia's participation is a good momentum as well as an effort to promote Indonesian culture, education and economy and strengthen Indonesia's image.

If you go on a culinary tour in Indonesia, try enjoying a traditional Indonesian salad called rujak. The dish, made from various vegetables or fruit and drizzled with spices or sauce, can be found in various regions, each with its characteristics. This time, we introduce you to several types of typical Indonesian rujak. The first is Rujak U Groh Aceh. If most rujak consists of sliced fruits, this rujak is made from young coconut shells. The shells are scraped off, washed, mixed with rujak seasoning, and topped with lime juice. It tastes fresh and stomach-filling.

Jakarta also has its rujak. It's called rujak juhi. The Betawi rujak uses "juhi", fermented and dried squid, as the main ingredient. Besides juhi, there are also other ingredients, such as cabbage, potatoes, lettuce, cucumber, and noodle crackers. As for the sauce, Rujak Juhi uses fresh peanut sauce drizzled on top.

If you come to Bali, don't forget to try rujak kuah pindang, or rujak with pindang sauce. Rujak kuah pindang consists of fruit slices such as green mango, papaya, grapefruit, and June plum. What makes rujak kuah pindang different is that if rujak is generally drizzled with shrimp paste sauce or peanut sauce, this Balinese rujak is drizzled with fish head pindang sauce. The fish head was previously salted and seasoned, then boiled until dry. The special sauce offers a unique sensation like sweet, savory, and spicy.

On February 26, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno launched IndoFringe@Sekolah. IndoFringe@Sekolah is a creative economy movement in building and running inclusive and sustainable creative economy programs.

At the launch, Sandiaga Uno said that Indofringe@Sekolah is a forum for introducing and broadening the horizons of the younger generation about the creative economy. Especially regarding the implementation of festivals as a showcase for various sub-sectors of the creative economy.

Sandi Uno also supports IndoFringe@Sekolah, whose coverage will be expanded this year. IndoFringe@Skolah 2024 will be held in 20 cities in Indonesia with a target of 20-25 schools involved in each city.

In the IndoFringe@Sekolah program, the team from Indofringe provides educational programs for students and teachers regarding the creation and implementation of events using three learning methods. Namely project-based learning, collaborative lessons, and experience-based lessons provided by mentors from Indofringe.

The learning process for each school lasts for 12 weeks involving 10 selected students and 1 teacher. The material provided is related to festival planning, sponsorship, production and design, talent curation, promotion, as well as awards and certification.

After that, each school will hold a festival as a form of final learning and competition from all participating schools in IndoFringe@Sekolah.

In 2023 IndoFringe@Sekolah will be successfully implemented in 218 schools by presenting 396 performances, 1,327 talents, 11,553 visitors by presenting various creative works in the festival, starting from modern dance, traditional dance, band/music, solo vocal, painting, and theater.

For the first time, Indonesia was present at the Salon International de l'Agriculture (SIA) in Paris, France. The agricultural product exhibition has been open from Saturday (24/2)  until Sunday (03/3). As  quoted from a press release of  the Indonesian Embassy in  Paris, France, Indonesia's participation in the 60th Salon International de l'Agriculture is represented by a number of Indonesian companies that have implemented sustainable principles and have geographical indication certificates. Organic agricultural products which are displayed in the Indonesian booth at SIA including coffee, cocoa, tea, spices and organic agricultural products.

Besides promoting Indonesian agricultural products, participants from Indonesia also explain the efforts that have been made so far in implementing sustainable agricultural practices to the people in France. According to the Indonesian Embassy in Paris, Indonesia's participation in the SIA exhibition is a concrete manifestation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' commitment to encouraging visibility and sustainable presence of Indonesian agricultural products to have wider market access in international markets.

Moreover, Indonesia's presence in the event was a collaboration between the Directorate Generals of America and Europe, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indonesian Embassy in Paris, supported by Indonesian business actors who are committed to sustainable agriculture. The Salon International de l'Agriculture is one of the largest annual international exhibition agendas in the world that brings together business world and stakeholders operating in the agricultural and livestock sectors.

Since it was first held in 1964, SIA has become the main reference for world agribusiness circles to introduce the superiority of their products, as well as a place for business actors in the agricultural and livestock sectors to develop business networks and strengthen research and technology in the agro-industry sector.

The agro-industrial product exhibition took place at the Porte de Versailles, Paris, and it was opened by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron. Last year, the SIA exhibition was attended by more than 615,000 visitors, and 40,000 international business professionals and delegates in the agribusiness sector. Around 1,100 exhibitors from France and abroad participated in this year's SIA, and it received extensive French and international media coverage.