VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Recently the Kasunanan Surakarta Hadiningrat Palace or Solo Palace held the Hajad Dalem Malam Selikuran parade. In the parade, abdi dalem or the palace servants distributed 1,000 packs of food.  The parade participants departed at around 8pm from Siti Hinggil, Solo Palace to Sriwedari Park. King of the Solo Palace, Pakubuwana XIII, along with the Empress, Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Pakubuwana and the Crown Prince, Kanjeng Gusti Pangeran Harya Purbaya led the Selikuran Night Parade.//

The parade participants walked along Jalan Slamet Riyadi Street. They carried lanterns, lamps and jodang or long wooden boxes filled with food. Right at 9.30 pm the parade participants arrived at Sriwedari Park. Then it continued with a handover procession by Pangageng Parentah of Solo Palace, KGPH Adipati Dipokusumo to the Nahdlatul Ulama Branch Manager in Solo, Mashuri.// After that, the jodang was placed in front of the stage to be prayed for. After that, the palace servants distributed the jodang to the residents.

The Surakarta Hadiningrat Palace in Solo city, Central Java held Malam Selikuran or Twenty-first Night, to welcome the 21st night of Ramdhan or the last 10 days of the month of Ramadhan.// The last ten days of the month of Ramadan are the most important time for Muslims. Among the odd nights in the last 10 days of Ramadan, there is the night of Lailatul Qadar or the night of a thousand months.// On that night, the reward for performing worship is the same as performing worship for a thousand months.//

“Mari Berbahasa Indonesia” or Let’s Speak Bahasa Indonesia introduces Indonesian vocabulary and guides you to speak in Indonesian language. Mari Berbahasa Indonesia or Let’s Speak Bahasa Indonesia is a collaboration between Voice of Indonesia and the Language Development Agency of the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research & Technology. Today’s topic is “Titik Nol Nusantara” (2x) which means “Nusantara Point Zero.”

Here is a monologue about “Melewati Bukit dan Hutan Raya” (2x) which means “Passing Hills and Great Forest”. The conversation is between Chris, a vlogger from Australia, on his trip in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan. Chris was making a travel vlog on a motorcycle from Balikpapan to the Point Zero of Nusantara Capital City in North Penajam Paser Regency. Chris was describing the scenery he was passing.

Chris (P)           : ( berbicara sambil mengendarai motor).  

                             Saat ini saya sedang dalam perjalanan dari Kota Balikpapan ke

                             Titik Nol Nusantara. Sebentar lagi saya tiba di Titik Nol Nusantara.

                             Saya melewati bukit dan hutan raya.

Here are some vocabulary and expressions related to today’s topic, “Melewati Bukit dan Hutan Raya” (2x) which means “Passing hills and great forests!”.

In this monologue, there is an expression “Saya melewati bukit dan hutan raya” (2x) which means “I pass hills and great forest”. The phrase ”bukit dan hutan raya” (2x) which means “hills and great forest”. The word ”bukit” (2x) which means “hills” or a higher land. While ”hutan raya” (2x) which means “great forest” or a “forest for research and recreational purposes”. The phrase ”bukit dan hutan raya” (2x) which means “hills and great forest” was used by Chris to describe the objects in the landscape he saw on his trip from Balikpapan to Nusantara Point Zero.

Here are other examples of describing environment.

Sungai ( 2x) which means “River”

Chris menyusuri sungai dengan klotok ( 2x) which means “Chriss passes through the river on a boat”

Sawah (2x) which means “field”

Petani memanen padi di sawah (2x) which means “Farmers harvest the rice in the field.”

For your information, to reach Nusantara from Balikpapan, visitors will pass through the Soeharto Hills Great Forest Park. The 61 thousand hectares great forest park is in Kutai Kartanegara Regency and North Penajam Paser Regency, East Kalimantan Province. The spot was named Soeharto Hills after it was inaugurated as a natural tourism park area in 1991 during the era of the 2nd Indonesian President Soeharto.

Sumber Brantas Village, Bumiaji District, Batu City, Malang, East Java, is known as the best potato producer in East Java. Potato production from this village is the second best in Indonesia. Potatoes in Sumber Brantas Village are known as Skyline Potatoes, because this potato field is at the foot of Mount Arjuno and Welirang. The potatoes produced are quite large in size and taste delicious. As the best potato producing village, the lives of the people of Sumber Brantas Village are not far from the activity of planting potatoes. They even have traditional rituals before potatoes are planted. This ritual is known as Ponco Kentang.

Ponco is a Javanese term which means planting. Thus, Ponco Kentang is a ritual, which is carried out just before planting potatoes. The ritual, which is carried out in the middle of the fields, is usually carried out to start the potato planting season. Ponco Kentang is held to offer prayers so that the potato plants would be safe from all plant diseases. During the ritual, farmers provided a number of types of food, complete with wungkul ingkung or whole roasted free-range chicken. As time progressed, some farmers carried out this ritual in their homes. However, some others still maintain old customs, continuing to carry out rituals in the fields.

Before the Potato Ponco ritual began, prayers were chanted in Javanese by the elders of Sumber Brantas Village. After saying a prayer together, Ponco Kentang process began. Elders and the people of the village put 16 potato seeds into the ground. Sixteen potato seeds is not just a number. This number has apparently been determined from the Javanese calendar, where the day for planting potatoes falls on Saturday Pon. In this ritual, people must pay attention to the Javanese calendar. After planting the 16 potato seeds, farmers are free to plant their fields.

The University of Indonesia held a meeting with the Chilean Ambassador to Indonesia to explore the potential for further collaboration with universities in Chile. Previously, University of Indonesia has collaborated with Universidad Catolica Del Maule, from 2018 to 2023. Secretary of the University of Indonesia, dr. Agustin Kusumayati in Depok, Wednesday (27/3), said that the potential for collaboration could provide positive opportunities for both parties and open up opportunities for the University of Indonesia to expand international collaboration with universities in Chile.

Agustin also said that progress in relations between the two parties was not only carried out by the University of Indonesia and universities in Chile, but was also a good collaborative initiative between the two countries. She proposed establishing wider collaboration with various universities in Indonesia and universities in Chile.

Meanwhile, the Chilean Ambassador to Indonesia, Mario Ignacio Artaza Loyola, said that the visit of the Chilean Embassy to Indonesia to the University of Indonesia was aimed at identifying potential areas at the University of Indonesia that would be collaborated with the Chilean government. He also encouraged students and lecturers at universities in Chile to get involved in international collaboration initiatives.

Ambassador Mario explained various problems occurring in the world such as climate change, gender equality, welfare and public health as threats and challenges for every country. He saw the need to initiate high-level cooperation between Indonesia and Chile which would involve Indonesian universities, students and professors to contribute to overcoming these challenges.