VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo said the Indonesian G20 Presidency invited the G20 group and the B20 community to collaborate to create real actions for global economic recovery. He conveyed the invitation at the inauguration of the virtual opening of the B20 "Inception Meeting" from Bogor Palace, West Java on Thursday (27/1).  The group B20 or the Business 20 is an international business community within the framework of the G20 group. On that occasion, President Joko Widodo stated that the Covid-19 teaches all parties that the pandemic is not only a problem but also an opportunity to grow better.

President Joko Widodo invites the G20 and B20 groups to take advantage of this opportunity to realize a more just world governance, provide prosperity and ensure more inclusive and sustainable economic growth./ In line with the main focus of the Indonesian G20 Presidency, there are 3 main opportunities that must be addressed  and exploited. They are first transition to a green economy, second increasingly rapid digital economy trends and third improvement of the global health architecture that is more responsive in the face of a global pandemic.

In terms of the transition to a green economy, the President expects the contribution of the B20 community to accelerate a smooth energy transformation without causing negative impacts on small communities. The President also emphasized that Indonesia invites investors that can encourage mutually beneficial added values.

In terms of the increasingly rapid digital economy trend, President Joko Widodo emphasized that Indonesia pays serious attention to the development of digital technology, especially those that have a direct contribution to the empowerment of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and the development of human resources.

In terms of improving the global health architecture, Indonesia invites the B20 community to collaborate in mobilizing resources to finance innovation and equitable production of vaccines, medicines and medical devices. The President also pointed out that Indonesia has encouraged investment in the health sector to meet domestic needs. He hopes that the B20 community will provide concrete offers that can be part of the concrete achievements of the G20 Summit.

The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Canberra introduced Topeng Tua dance performance in a cultural festival which was held as a form of the Indonesian Embassy's participation in the Chinese New Year Festival in the capital of Australia on Saturday (29/1). The Chinese New Year Festival is taking place from 27 January to 12 February 2022.

Education and Culture Attache of the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra, Mukhamad Najib explained that the cultural festival in Canberra is aimed at introducing Indonesian culture amid a multicultural society.

The Topeng Tua dance or popularly called the Pak Tua dance is part of the legendary traditional Balinese dance. So far, mask dance in Bali has two functions, namely as an entertainment show and as a complement of religious ceremonies. It is further stated that in Bali itself, Pak Tua dance is held as a complement of a religious ceremony called the Werda Lumaku dance.

During the performance in Canberra, the dancer walks up to the audience and dances in slow motion. Once in a while, the dancer takes deep breaths as if gasping for air and making movements to wipe the sweat from her mask in a humorous fashion. Then, the dancer sits and stares empty into the sky as if depicting an old man who is reminiscing about his past when he was young.

In addition to the Pak Tua dance, the cultural festival also held training on playing Angklung led by Rubby M. Al Burhan, a local staff member of the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra.

The festival was attended by the people of Canberra and visitors of cafes and shopping centers in the Dickson area. They seemed happy and enjoyed the show, which was shown. Seeing the enthusiasm of the people of Canberra, the Indonesian Embassy plans to hold more cultural festivals to introduce Indonesia's cultural heritage.

President Joko Widodo assessed that Omicron cases in Indonesia will continue to increase in the next few weeks. Daily cases of the CovidD-19, especially the Omicron variant, continue to experience a spike. Until Sunday (30/1), the government reported daily positive cases of Corona, although most were not the Omicron variant, as many as 12,422. This brings the total active cases to 61,718.

In a press statement last Friday (28/1), he said that the government had made a lot of preparations to deal with this surge by improving various health facilities which are adapted to the character of the Omicron variant.

President Joko Widodo also remarked that all cases of Omicron require health services. The symptoms do seem less serious than the previous variant, but they are still dangerous. Therefore, the most important thing is to minimize contacts with other people. In addition, the President also appealed to the public to always implement health protocols and reduce unnecessary activities.

He emphasized that if the PCR test results are positive even though there are no symptoms, the patients can self-isolate at home for 5 days. If there are symptoms of cough, runny nose, and fever, the patients can access telemedicine services to get free services, including medicines. Thus, health facilities can focus more on treating the patients with severe symptoms as well as the patients with other diseases that require intensive services.

The government did take a different strategy in dealing with the Omicron and Delta variants. In dealing with the Delta variant, the government focuses on providing high hospital capacity, while in dealing with Omicron, the government focuses on self-isolation with telemedicine services. This is because the level of treatment and severity of cases of the Omicron variant is lower.

However, people still need to be vigilant. In Indonesia until last week, it was recorded that three patients died due to this variant. Therefore, the public should follow the President's call to strictly implement the health protocols, and avoid crowds, including on the Lunar or Chinese New Year which is a national holiday on February 1st tomorrow.

The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Budapest, Hungary held an "A Day in Indonesia" event to promote Indonesian culture and tourism to the Hungarian people. The Indonesian Embassy in Budapest in its statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday stated that the event took place at Eőtvős 10 Cultural House in Budapest. The Indonesian Ambassador to Hungary AH Dimas Wahab noted that the event was a brief introduction at the beginning of a series of promotions of Indonesian culture and tourism which would be carried out throughout 2022. He also hopes that with the health protocols and the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly Hungarian people and the European community, in general, are able to return to visit many tourism destinations in Indonesia.

The promotion event of culture and tourism entitled "A Day in Indonesia" began with the screening of a music video from Indonesian children incorporated in the Indonesian Love Action. One of the unique and interesting things about this event was when most of the dancers performed a number of Indonesian traditional dances as Hungarian citizens.

Meanwhile, the gamelan musicians who performed classical Javanese instruments, including Ladrang Blabak, Gambyong, and Pangkur, were alumni of the Indonesian Darmasiswa, and the Hungarian people who learned to play gamelan at the Indonesian Embassy in Budapest. Then, Indonesian students and University students affiliated with the Indonesian Overseas Students Association in Hungary also enlivened the event by performing the Mask dance from Betawi and the Saman dance from Aceh.

Furthermore, the visitors to the "A Day in Indonesia" event were able to enjoy various Indonesian typical dishes, including chicken satay, Woku chicken, chicken soup, goat curry served by Restaurant ASLI, an Indonesian restaurant in Hungary. A number of Indonesian typical market snacks were also presented, such as Wajik, Risol, Omelet, and Lemper. During the cultural promotion event, the visitors must follow health protocols by showing their Covid-19 immunity card first, using hand sanitizer before entering, and wearing masks while inside the building. Then, the maximum number of visitors only allowed to enter the building was 180 people.