VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

After the Indonesian government announced that there were Indonesian citizens who were positive for the corona virus (Covid-19) some time ago, many residents were busy buying masks and hand sanitizers. So, the masks and hand sanitizers are becoming rare in the market. In fact, efforts to prevent the spread of the corona virus can be done with a clean and healthy lifestyle. One of them is by washing hands with soap. However, if it is outside and there is no water or soap, the choice is with antiseptic liquid hand sanitizer. Seeing this condition, one of the lecturers from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Gadjah Mada University, UGM, Dr. Ronny Martien, M.Sc., makes herbal Nano polymers hand sanitizer spray.

He makes herbal hand sanitizer spray Nano polymers. This product was made as an alternative to antiseptics because hand sanitizers are now rare and expensive in the market due to the outbreak of the corona virus in Indonesia. The raw ingredient is green betel leaf which is widely used as traditional medicine.Apparently, the development of a product called " Betel Infusion Nano polymer Spray " has been carried out by Ronny since last year. The green betel leaf was chosen as raw material because it has an antibacterial activity which is generally caused by bacterial infections such as Staphylococcus auerus and Escherichia coli. He also remarked that the use of many synthetic antibiotics cause bacterial resistance. Because it needs formulations from natural ingredients such as green betel leaf.

The hand sanitizer product made by Ronny uses Nano technology. The formulation in the form of nanoparticles is carried out because green betel leaves has relatively low solubility in water. According to him, the betel leaf infusion Nano polymer spray is made alcohol-free by formulating betel leaf infusion with chitosan. Therefore, he hopes that his creation can be an alternative solution in overcoming scarcity and the high cost of hand sanitizers on the market.

Indonesian Embassy in Seoul rotated the Aju Command Post close to Daegu City as the corona virus outbreak centers in South Korea by withdrawing the previous team and sending a second team on Thursday (12/3). The embassy in a press statement stated that Aju Command Post team from Daegu is in good health. After returning to the duty, the team will conduct an independent quarantine and work at home for 14 days. The team will be replaced every two weeks with the aim of changing officers to continuously monitor the situation of around 1,403 Indonesian Citizens (WNI) who live in Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do cities as the two areas most affected by the outbreak. The Aju Command Post was established on February 27 in Gyeongbuk, Euiseonggun, Bongyangmyeon Ansilgil 7-11, about 50 kilometres from Daegu City, as an expansion of the efforts to protect Indonesian citizens, particularly after the South Korean government set a high alertness status.

Indonesian Embassy in Singapore announced that there are five Indonesian citizens who are positive for COVID-19 in the local country and one of them is declared to have recovered and returned from the hospital. This was said by Head of the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore's Social and Political Affairs Office, Ratna Lestari Harjana on Thursday (12/3). The number of COVID-19 Positive Indonesians continuously grows.  Finally, the Singaporean Ministry of Health announced the 170th positive case of COVID-19 in Singapore on Wednesday (11/3), a 56-year-old Indonesian citizen with female sex arrived in Singapore on March 9, 2020 and was delivered to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) on the same day. The test results concerned tested positive for COVID-19 on the afternoon of March 10. The Indonesian citizen felt the symptoms of COVID-19 since March 6 while she was in Indonesia.  The Indonesian Embassy released that the Indonesian citizen is a family member of the 152th case of Indonesian citizen who has been declared positive for COVID-19.  The Indonesian Embassy will continuously and closely monitor and coordinate with relevant authorities regarding with the tackling of these Indonesian citizens.

Indonesian Embassy in Singapore urged Indonesian citizens who want to visit the "Lion Country" to prepare themselves with travel insurance related to local state policy in handling COVID-19.  Based on the provisions of the Singaporean Government, from 7 March 2020, all visitors visiting Singapore, with a short-term visit pass (tourist visa / 30-day visit) who undergo COVID-19 treatment in Singapore, are required to pay medical expenses. Head of the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore's Social and Political Affairs Office, Ratna Lestari Harjana stated on Thursday (12/3) that  it is important for Indonesian citizens to prepare themselves with travel insurance. The Singaporean Ministry of Health will continue to conduct COVID-19 tests free of charge to all parties as a preventive measure for the spread of COVID-19 in Singapore. On the occasion, the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore reminded all Indonesian citizens who are in Singapore and Indonesian citizens who plan to visit Singapore that DORSCON Orange status is still applicable.

When the Corona-virus was first discovered in Wuhan, China, and the country had to isolate, and close the way in and out of Wuhan, the world community had begun to imagine the economic impact that would occur. The threat of recession is predicted to happen not only in China, but also in other countries. This is even more apparent when a virus attack begins to cross and attack several other countries. Italy and South Korea are two countries that also experience the worst effects of corona virus attacks outside China. In fact, Italy must also impose lock down, or close access in and out, just like Wuhan. Another country which has also been declared a heavy attack is Iran. Some of the country's top officials are even declared to have contracted the dangerous virus. Around 100 countries are reported to suffer from the corona-virus attack with quite a number of victims exposed.

Economists were forced to make corrections to their predictions of the global economy. How serious is the impact of the spread of the virus on economic growth? Most believe there is a contraction in the first and second quarter of this year. The peak economic impact is predicted to be still within a few months. Yet with the current conditions, world economists have seen the recession begin to occur in Japan and Italy. Even, Europe as a whole will be hit economically. The longer this pandemic lasts, with dramatic efforts to overcome it, the greater the effect is on the global economy.

China is the hardest-hit country by this outbreak. Throughout February, the country's activities were disrupted and experienced its first economic contraction since the 1970s. Now, the number of corona-virus cases globally has risen above 100,000, and the governments of other countries outside China have announced more restrictions. Economists begin to consider more severe pressures on the global economy. It is estimated that the growth will experience a big surprise in the first half of 2020.

The shadow of the global recession that must be faced by world community will depend on whether the medical scientists are able to find the fastest way to overcome the corona-virus attack. Hopefully, an anti-virus vaccine will soon be discovered in addition to a healthy lifestyle that is expected to slow the spread of the corona-virus.

Voice of Indonesia presents “Let’s Speak Bahasa Indonesia,” a lesson in the Indonesian language on the radio. We introduce some Indonesian vocabulary and tips on how to use it in a conversation. This segment is a joint initiative of Voice of Indonesia and the Language and Book Development Agency of the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture.  Today’s topic is Memperkenalkan Diri   in English ‘Introduce oneself’.

Read to this conversation about Memperkenalkan Diri  which means ‘Introduce oneself’. Kevin asks Rama and Eko about their origin, instead, they also ask about Kevin's origin.

Rama         : Asal kamu dari mana, Kevin?

Kevin         : Aku dari Australia. Kamu?

Rama         : Aku dari Palu.

Kevin         : Kalau kamu, Eko?

Eko            : Aku dari Lombok.

Now, I am going to introduce the vocabularies and expressions related to the topic today.

Asal                               which means                Origin

Dari mana                                                           From where                 

Asal kamu dari mana?                                                Where do you come from?

Aku dari Palu.                                                     I am from Palu.

Aku dari Lombok.                                               I am from Lombok.

In the conversation, there is an expression Asal kamu dari mana? The expression is usually used to ask about someone’s origin.  To answer the question, you only need to mention your region of origin.

For example:

Rama         : Asal kamu dari mana?

Kevin         : Aku dari Australia.

Additional information:

To ask about someone’s origin, you also can use expressions such as:

-Dari mana kamu berasal?

-Dari mana asalmu?

To answer the question, you can use the word dari.

The expression is dari Australia.Or in a complete expression Aku berasal dari Australia.

For examples:

Rama         : Dari mana kamu berasal?

Kevin         : Aku berasal dari Australia.

Rama         : Dari mana asalmu?

Kevin         : Dari Australia.

That was “Let’s Speak Bhs Indonesia”, a lesson in Bahasa Indonesia or the Indonesian language on the radio. Hopefully, this edition will be useful for those who want to know more about Bahasa Indonesia.