VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Voice of Indonesia in Jakarta presents Let’s Speak Bahasa Indonesia, a lesson in Bahasa  Indonesia or the Indonesian language on the radio, which introduces   some  Indonesian vocabulary and  guides  you to use them in a conversation. The segment of Let's Speak Indonesia is a cooperation of RRI World Service Voice Of Indonesia with the Language Development Agency, the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture.  Today’s topic is Sedang Apa? Or in English ‘What are you doing?’  

Next is a conversation about Sedang Apa? or in English ‘What are you doing?’ Endah is reading newspaper at family room. Tony comes and greets her.

After the conversation, now I’ll introduce some vocabulary and expressions related to the topic today. I’ll say each word slowly, and twice and you can follow after me.

In the dialogue, Tony asks Endah, Sedang apa? Which means ‘what are you doing? To ask about someone’s activities, you can say:

-      Sedang apa?”           

-      Kamu sedang apa?   

-      Anda sedang apa?    which means      what are you doing?

-      Mereka sedang apa?          which means     what are they doing?

Or you can say:

-  Apa yang sedang kamu lakukan?            What are you doing?

-  Apa yang sedang dia lakukan?                 What is she/he doing?                  

To answer the question or to mention your activities to others, you can say:

-  Saya sedang membaca koran                            I am reading a book.

-  Dia sedang membaca berita                      she/he is the news.

In a daily conversation with friends, someone usually uses the word lagi apa or sedang apa.

For example:

-      Kamu lagi apa ?

The question has the same meaning with     

-      Kamu sedang apa? which means        what are you doing?

The expression lagi apa is only used in daily conversation, instead of an official situation.

The governments of Indonesia and Malaysia held Fun Bike Tour De Malindo 2019. Director General of Foster Territorial Administration of Home Ministry, Eko Subowo said in Serawak, Malaysia on Saturday (24/08) that as the first event, Fun Bike Tour De Malindo is social and cultural cooperation to strengthen brotherhood among the two countries. In addition, the fun bike held on August 23-25, 2019 was also conducted in a bid to commemorate Independence Day of the two countries which were celebrated on August. Meanwhile, Minister of Youth and Sports of Serawak concurrently Minister of Tourism, Art and Culture of Serawak, Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah is optimistic that there will be various opportunities of cooperation between both sides to explore various potentials in border area.

Regeneration of agriculture and technological transfer become a basic factor to create sustainable food security. This was stated by Head of Food Security Agency of Agriculture Ministry, Agung Hendriadi as Head of Indonesian delegation on the 5th Ministerial Meeting on Food Security in Puerto Varas, Chile on Friday (23/8). On the occasion, he emphasized the importance to attract young generation interest to engage in agricultural sector. On the forum, Indonesia encourages Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation - APEC to strengthen international cooperation in technological transfer. Its goal is to anticipate climate change, to support partnership of government and private either in aspect of production, processing until food security, to create young generation of agriculture and to support eradication action of illegal fishing. 

Indonesian embassy in Vienna held folk-party to commemorate the 74th Indonesian independence over the weekend. The folk-party was participated in by Indonesian and Vienna citizens and other foreign people. The event was enlivened with pop and Dangdut musical performance which came from various cities in Austria such as Graz and Linz. In addition, the folk-party was also enlivened with various stands and bazar of Indonesian culinary.

The Ministry of Agriculture through the Agricultural Quarantine Agency (Barantan) as a facilitator of trade in agricultural products guarantees the health and safety of agricultural products sent to trading partner countries. Head of Barantan, Ali Jamil in a press release received in Jakarta on Sunday ensured that the service is fast, precise and in accordance with the technical requirements of the destination country. That was conveyed by Ali Jamil when reviewing the palm shell industry and releasing 22.8 thousand tons of palm oil derivative products from West Sumatra. Palm oil derivative products of each form of Refined Bleached & Deodorized (RBD) consisted of 4 thousand tons, CPO of 7.8 thousand tons sent to China and Japan.According to Ali Jamil, quarantine inspection treatment is carried out in accordance with international standards and requirements of each destination country. Strengthening the quarantine system is to maintain not only the preservation of living natural resources, but also the performance of agricultural exports. The implementation of online certification or e-Cert has been done by Barantan to guarantee the acceptance of agricultural products in export destination countries.The data exchange enables checking of technical requirements to be fulfilled before the product arrives. So if there is a discrepancy, it can be anticipated that the treatment will be immediately dealt with. This digital service provides sustainable solutions. He also pointed out that currently there are only four countries: Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Vietnam to cooperate with. He added that his side has instructed if possible, all countries may establish cooperation.Meanwhile, Head of Agricultural Quarantine in Padang, West Sumatra, Eka Darnida Yanto said that besides palm oil derivative products, other agricultural products from West Sumatra are also exported.The economic value reached Rp212.8 billion, consisting of 604.8 tons of rubber plate, 18 tons of coffee beans, 95 tons of cinnamon and coconut derivative products consisting of 83.8 tons of coconut milk, 25 tons of grated coconut and 71.2 tons of coconut water.The export destinations include the Netherlands, Spain, Norway, China, Bangladesh and Germany. Eka also explained that the export of palm shells from the quarantined automation system data, Indonesian Quarantine Full Automation System (IQFAST) underwent an increase of 28 percent. Total exports in 2018 were 404.8 thousand tons while by the second week of August 2019, the exports of palm shells had reached 344.4 thousand tons.

On August 16, 2019, President Joko Widodo officially asked permission from the parliament members to move the central government to Kalimantan. One week later, Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning / Head of the National Land Agency, Sofyan Djalil said that the new location of Indonesia’s capital would certainly in East Kalimantan Province. However, he emphasized that the land acquisition for the new capital is still awaiting official announcement from President Joko Widodo. President Joko Widodo confirmed that his side is doing a series of studies. But not revealed anything that has not been completed about the transfer plan of the capital. To be sure, President Joko Widodo will immediately announce it when he has received the full results of the study. The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI), which is the largest environmental movement organization in Indonesia, also responded the  statements of the state officials. On one hand, WALHI doubted the government's concern for the environmental impact behind the transfer plan of Indonesia’s new capital. On the other hand, Deputy Chairman of Commission II of the House of Representatives (DPR), Herman Khaeron asked the government to first propose the concept of capital relocation openly to the DPR. Although the transfer plan of the capital has been widely reported and is becoming public consumption, Herman emphasized that his side has not received official written notification regarding the government's plan to move the capital of Jakarta to Kalimantan. He considers that the right process is that the government must first propose the concept of moving the capital to the DPR for comprehensive discussion. He also emphasized that the policy of moving the country's capital must be determined by law. Obviously, there are still important matters that must be resolved to seriously move the nation's capital to the right and safe territory for long term. So, moving the capital does not need to be done in a hurry, let alone to cause confusing statements by the public.