VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

In this digital era, local governments take advantage of digital services, both through applications and social media to respond to public complaints. As what the Bandung City Government has done, this integrates all digital services in an application called ‘Smart City Sadayana’. This application is a one-stop service to access various online services provided by all Regional Apparatus Organizations, Bandung City Government. Acting Mayor of Bandung, Yana Mulyana said that the integration of digital services is an effort to provide convenience for the community so that the community can be served one door through Sadayana.

The service, which was launched on December 17, can be accessed via the smartcity.bandung.go.id and a mobile version is already available. The utilization of Sadayana is expected to be able to discuss several things that have been problems in the community. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, digital use has become the main medium in providing services. The concept of smart city services is not only about information technology, but also about an effort to suppress the spread of the virus by minimizing physical interaction. There are many features in the Sadayana application, such as 112, complaints, and there is also a chat board. To date, there have been around 5,000 people who have downloaded the mobile version.

Besides Sadayana, the Bandung city government also launched the Sigayapintar application (Integrated Prestigious Cultural Heritage Information System). This application makes it easier to access the existence of cultural heritage, empowers effective management and supervision, and becomes a reference for determining policies related to cultural heritage buildings.

The Indonesian Embassy in Bandar Seri Begawan expressed its appreciation to the Acting Head of the Belait and Tutong Districts, including the Immigration Service, Labor and Police for their efforts to protect Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) in Brunei Darussalam. Indonesian Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam, Sujatmiko expressed his appreciation to them because of facilitating the Indonesian citizens, particularly PMI who work in the two regions. The Indonesian Embassy in its press statement on Friday (24/12) stated that Ambassador Sujatmiko on his working visit to the two districts explained that PMI who are earning of a living in Brunei can support their family's economy in Indonesia.  Brunei also gets benefits from the support of PMI in driving the economic activities which are not fulfilled by the local residents.

Based on data from the Indonesian Embassy in Bandar Seri Begawan, a number of problems faced by PMI are the issue of unpaid wages, inappropriate work agreements, illness and violence. The Indonesian Embassy and the leaders of the two regions of Belait and Tutong agreed to continue the good cooperation between the Indonesian Embassy in Bandar Seri Begawan and related parties in Belait and Tutong to protect the Indonesian migrant workers in the two districts.

Besides, Ambassador Sujatmiko also hopes that such cases can be overcome firmly based on the applicable law, particularly for agents who bring PMI illegally from Indonesia to Brunei.

The existence of the Indonesian diasporas in the United States of America, including the Muslim diasporas, is an important means and asset to build the Indonesian state and create a superior generation in the future in order they will not forget their nation's roots. This statement was made by Indonesian Ambassador to the United States of America, Rosan Perkasa Roeslani when officially opening the Indonesian Muslim Society in America (IMSA) – Malaysian Islamic Student Group (MISG) Conference in Los Angeles, United States on Sunday (26/12). Ambassador Rosan Roeslani said that Indonesian Muslims should be proud because so far they have been considered the friendly face of Islam, go hand in hand with modernity, democracy and uphold women's rights.

Meanwhile, in his remarks, President of IMSA, Aria Novianto expressed his appreciation for the consistent support of the Indonesian Representative. Diasporas from Demak, Central Java who have lived for decades in the United States, hoped that the congress, with the theme "Unity Through Community: Stronger Together", can bring many tangible benefits and further strengthen the ties of brotherhood.

The Indonesian Consul General in Los Angeles, Saud Putranto Krisnawan also emphasized the important role of the congress’ participants. He hoped that the participants of this congress could better understand the meaning and enhance unity, not only among Indonesian and Malaysian Muslims but also interfaith communities in the United States of America.

As reported by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Tuesday (28/12), that this year, IMSA-MISG Congress was attended by around 1,300 Indonesian and Malaysian Muslim diasporas. 700 of them are in the youth category, not only from the USA but also from Canada. This congress, in addition to containing various discussions to improve the role and quality of the Indonesian Muslim diasporas in the USA, also raised the agenda of empowering the younger generation and women, such as entrepreneurship. During the congress, the committee applied very strict Covid-19 health protocols. All congress participants were required to show proof of vaccination or negative evidence of a PCR test, including children.

Voice of Indonesia presents Let’s Speak Indonesian, a program that introduces the Indonesian vocabulary and guides you to speak in the language. Mari Berbahasa Indonesia or Let’s Speak Indonesian is a joint initiative of Voice of Indonesia and the Language Development Agency of the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology.  Today’s topic is about Perpisahan which means Farewell. 

Here is the conversation entitled Mudah-mudahan Kita Bertemu Lagiwhich means Hope We Can Meet Again. This conversation happens between Kevin and Nuni. Kevin is going back to Jakarta. He says farewell to Nuni.  Let’s read to the conversation.

After reading to the conversation, now I am going to introduce some vocabulary and expressions related to the topic of the day.

In the conversation, you hear the expression Mudah-mudahan kita bisa bertemu lagi (2x) which means Hope we can meet again. In the expression, there is the word mudah-mudahan (2x) which means hopefully. It is used to show hope. Another word to show hope is semoga (2x) which also means hopefully and aku berharap (2x) which means I hope. So, when you want to say farewell and hope to meet again, you can say Mudah-mudahan kita bisa bertemu lagi (2x) which means Hope we can meet again.

Let’s read to the other examples of a hope when saying farewell.

Kevin : Sampai jumpa. Mudah-mudahan kita bertemu lagi, ya (2x) which means See you. Hope we can meet again.

Nuni  : Amin (2x) which means Amen

Kevin : Aku pulang, ya. Semoga kita jumpa lagi suatu hari nanti (2x) which means I’m going home, ok. Hope we can meet again one day.

Nuni  : Amin. Kita pasti bertemu lagi (2x) which means Amen. We must meet again.

Indonesian people often say Hati-hati di jalan which means Take care to those who want to go. The expression shows care and hope that the person is safe on the way.

That was “Let’s Speak Indonesian” for today. Hopefully, this edition can be useful for those of you who want to know more about Indonesian language.