VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Vredeburg fortress is a fort which is located in front of Gedung Agung and Yogyakarta sultanate, precisely on Jalan Margo Mulyo. Now, the fortress becomes a museum. In a number of buildings inside the fortress, there is diorama on Indonesian history. 

Vredeburg fortress was built by Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono I for the first time in 1760 on the Dutch request, which was at that time governor of Director of Java’s North Coast, led by Nicolaas Harting.

The fortress was built as the central government and residential defense of the Dutch at that time, by being surrounded by trenches which most of it has been reconstructed and can be seen until now. The squared-shape fortress has monitoring tower at the four corners.  

Since 1992 based on the Education and Culture Ministry’s decree, the fortress has been functional as museum. Some of the main collections of the museum are diorama of Soedirman’s inauguration as Great Commander of Indonesian Military, Surjopranoto’s typewriter, Soetomo’s document and many others.

The museum opens every Tuesday until Sunday. Visitors only pay Rp 3,000 for adult, Rp 2,000 for kid and Rp 10,000 for foreign visitors.

More recently, earthquakes have shaken several parts of Indonesia. Last week, another earthquake occurred in the provincial capital of Maluku, Ambon, Indonesia. Around 90 houses in Ambon City were damaged by the earthquake. Parts of Bali and North Sulawesi were also hit by the earthquake which caused damage to people's homes and public facilities. Some areas hit by the earthquake are tourism spots. In addition to the earthquake, the disaster was also caused by a volcanic eruption. Mt. Merapi in Central Java often erupts. Hot clouds have caused the area around the volcano to be affected by dust. Like Bali and North Sulawesi, the area around Mt. Merapi is also a tourism destination, one of which is Borobudur Temple which is the target of foreign tourists’ visit.

Natural disasters are one of the frightening events for tourists who intend to visit Indonesia. Perhaps, information about the disaster has delayed a planned visit or canceled a scheduled trip. But for some tourists, the earthquake or eruption of Mt. Merapi is no longer a factor that can discourage to make a visit to Indonesia. Bali which is often shaken by either an earthquake or the eruption of Mt. Agung remains a favorite location for tourists.

The enthusiasm of visiting Indonesia is not reduced due to a better information system. The Indonesian government agencies responsible for disaster information have sought to improve performance and equip its institutions with good and early detection equipment. The slightest earthquake that occurs is always detected. In regard to this, preventive efforts are also carried out quickly.

Indonesia is one country that is often hit by earthquakes and mountain eruptions. Certainly, it is not as frequent as Japan for instance. However, this is certainly not the main reason to make Indonesia scary.

Indonesia and Colombia agreed to soon start joint fit study in exploring market access expansion of a number of  Indonesian products to Colombia. This was stated byDirector of Bilateral Negotiations of  Indonesian Ministry of Trade, Made Marthini on Thursday (14/11). The agreement  was agreed at the preparation meeting of future trade agreement between Indonesia and Colombia in Bogota. Besides, to do joint the fit study, Indonesia and Colombia also agreed the term of working reference. Both countries target that the study will finish in June 2020.

Indonesian elementary school karate team won five medals consisting of three gold medals, one silver and one bronze at the international karate championship, the 4th Edition of the International Karate Open of Province de Liege 2019 in Herstal, Belgium from 6th to 13th November.  As quoted  by Antara News Agency,  Director of Elementary School Development of the Directorate General of Primary and Secondary Education at the Ministry of Education and Culture, Khamim hoped in Jakarta on Wednesday (13/11) that the achievement of the students can motivate Indonesian children  to be always able to obtain achievement.

An Indonesian scientist, Prof. Bambang Hero Saharjo from Faculty of Forestry at the Bogor Agricultural University was awarded the 2019 Mad Madox Prize. The announcement of the award took place at Wellcome Collection, Euston, London by John Maddox's daughter, Robyn Maddox, with an introduction from a leading scientific magazine editor and Nature. This was attended by more than 100 leading British scientists. It was conveyed by Education and Culture Attaché of the Indonesian Embassy in London, E. Aminudin Aziz in a press statement on Wednesday. Robyn Maddox also said that  Prof. Bambang set aside 206 selected candidates from 38 countries.

Indonesia and Colombia agreed to soon start joint fit study in exploring market access expansion of a number of  Indonesian products to Colombia. This was stated byDirector of Bilateral Negotiations of  Indonesian Ministry of Trade, Made Marthini on Thursday (14/11). The agreement  was agreed at the preparation meeting of future trade agreement between Indonesia and Colombia in Bogota. Besides, to do joint the fit study, Indonesia and Colombia also agreed the term of working reference. Both countries target that the study will finish in June 2020.

Indonesian elementary school karate team won five medals consisting of three gold medals, one silver and one bronze at the international karate championship, the 4th Edition of the International Karate Open of Province de Liege 2019 in Herstal, Belgium from 6th to 13th November.  As quoted  by Antara News Agency,  Director of Elementary School Development of the Directorate General of Primary and Secondary Education at the Ministry of Education and Culture, Khamim hoped in Jakarta on Wednesday (13/11) that the achievement of the students can motivate Indonesian children  to be always able to obtain achievement.

An Indonesian scientist, Prof. Bambang Hero Saharjo from Faculty of Forestry at the Bogor Agricultural University was awarded the 2019 Mad Madox Prize. The announcement of the award took place at Wellcome Collection, Euston, London by John Maddox's daughter, Robyn Maddox, with an introduction from a leading scientific magazine editor and Nature. This was attended by more than 100 leading British scientists. It was conveyed by Education and Culture Attaché of the Indonesian Embassy in London, E. Aminudin Aziz in a press statement on Wednesday. Robyn Maddox also said that  Prof. Bambang set aside 206 selected candidates from 38 countries.

Finally, after a series of fierce battles since Tuesday 12 November and killing 34 Palestinians, the Islamic Jihad Militant Group announced a ceasefire agreed with Israel. Islamic Jihad militant spokesman, Musbab Al-Berim said that the ceasefire came into effect on Thursday November 14 at 5:30 local time. Unfortunately, there has been no confirmation from Israel at the ceasefire. Fierce fighting between Israel and Islamic Jihad broke out on Tuesday 12 November morning after an Israeli air strike killed a Senior Islamic Jihad Militant Commander, Material Abu el-Atta who was thought to be responsible for a series of rocket attacks and planning large-scale attacks. If Islamic Jihad considers that a ceasefire agreement had been reached, the Israeli side did not comment at all. The Islamic Jihad group submitted a list of demands, including that Israel stop the targeted attacks on Islamic Jihad militant leaders and open the blockade on Gaza, that has been in place for the past 12 years.

The Gaza militant ceasefire agreement with Israel mediated by Egypt almost never ends smoothly. A truce is rarely recognized by Israel. Even last year, exactly 15 November 2018, Israeli Minister of Defense, Avidgor Lieberman announced his resignation from the right-wing coalition government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Avidgor protested the ceasefire in Gaza at that time. He instead asked Israel to be more aggressive in Gaza.

Learning from the previous conditions, it is appropriate for the international community to be pessimistic about the ceasefire reached in Gaza today. The presence of international institutions, especially the UN peacekeeping force is jointly needed to ensure the peace realization between Palestine and Israel in Gaza.