VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The European Union –EU appreciates the standard of Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil -ISPO. Head of the ISPO Commission Secretariat, Azis Hidayat said in Jakarta on Friday (10/5) that for two days from 8 until  9 May, nine European Union member countries: Belgium, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Sweden, Hungary, the Netherlands and Britain and The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative visited ISPO members of oil palm plantations in Riau province. The visit which was attended by the embassy representatives was an activity initiated by the American and European Directorate General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide understanding and concrete evidence of the application of the ISPO as Indonesia's commitment to implement sustainability schemes. During the visit, the European Union actively engaged in dialogue with oil palm stakeholders starting from the government, businesspeople and farmers.During the dialogue with the palm oil farmers, the European Union began to understand that ISPO is an important part of Indonesia's commitment to be able to increase the production of fresh fruit bunches up to 50 percent, improve quality and encourage high selling prices. They really appreciate that. Aziz said that the European Union praised ISPO member farmers who have good technical knowledge regarding productive and sustainable palm oil management. In fact, the European Union encourages more farmers to be involved in the ISPO scheme. Because oil palm plantations in Indonesia are an important part of people's economy with more than 40 percent of farmers' oil palm plantations.Aziz Hidayat also pointed out that from the visit, the European Union understood more about the Indonesian government being transparent and committed to sustainable management. Even the European Union has just learned that ISPO adopts not only international principles, but also standards above the average criteria required by international certification agencies. The Indonesian government also provides an understanding that palm oil production with ISPO schemes has a major role to reduce deforestation and improve environmental conditions. Aziz ensured that all ISPO certification systems refer to international standards and conformity assessments based on the National Accreditation Committee.Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Fiscal Division of the Indonesian Palm Oil Businessmen Association (GAPKI), Bambang Aria Wisena hopes that ISPO becomes the main platform for the sustainability of the Indonesian palm oil industry. As a mandatory certificate, ISPO with strict regulatory controls greatly helps the palm oil industry increase productivity in a sustainable, responsible and legal manner. Bambang Aria Wisena also emphasized that the strengthening of ISPO is an important part of maintaining Indonesia's position as the world's largest palm oil producer and the highest-earning commodity producer in Indonesia.

The voting implementation of the 2019 simultaneous general elections has passed for 3 weeks. Noise and mutual accusation are still ongoing between the camp of 01 and 02 that are most concerned with the results of the ballot counting of the presidential election by the General Election Commission -KPU. The issue of fraud continues to be voiced by both sides. Claims certainly attract the attention of some people in various regions. A group of people responds normally. However, some people feel emotional.At the grassroots level, they are tempted to question the issue of ‘people power’ which is highlighted by the camp of 02. The situation has been concerning lately. Moreover, the situation is worsened when hundreds of people who served at the polling stations and counting desks were declared dead because of being fatigue or other health problems. The fragment of grief news that appears almost every day is not able to encourage each camp to refrain. In fact, the fragment of the sad news is often put aside with issues about fraud surrounding the ballot counting.Disputes related to election results occur commonly. Abroad, the disputes arising from election results also often occur. Let’s look at the one that has happened in Venezuela more recently. This becomes international news. In Indonesia, the General Election Commission –KPU and the Election Supervisory Body –Bawaslu as the two institutions responsible for the administration and supervision of the elections have called on all stakeholders, especially the political elites and supporters of the two presidential candidates to refrain from actions that can worsen the situation. They must entrust fully the KPU and Bawaslu over the results of honest and fair general elections.Therefore, political actors must exercise restraint during this holy month –Ramadhan 1440 Hijiriah. We hope that the Ramadhan can encourage all communities, especially the two camps to introspect and reflect themselves. Indonesia's noble public ethics must not be damaged or setback because of the general elections.

Indonesia won in the badminton championship in New Zealand with 2 titles. Indonesia won the second title by the men's doubles pair. In the final, the men's doubles pair, Hendra Setiawan-Mohammad Ahsan defeated Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe from Japan. Through one-hour and seven-minute match at Auckland's Fida Stadium Event on Sunday (5/5), the Indonesian pair beat the Japanese pair through a rubber game with a score of 20-22, 21-15 and 21-17. As written by Antara, through this result, Indonesia closed the 2019 New Zealand Open by winning two titles, before Jonatan Christie won the men's singles. Jonatan Christie defeated Hong Kong player, Ng Ka Long Angus with a score of 21-12 and 21-13.

To increase the interest in surfing and tourism in Lampung, the World Surfing League (WSL) "Krui Pro" was held on April 29 to May 4, 2019. The location is in West Pesisir District, Lampung Province. The 3^rd international surfing competition is able to bring in foreign and domestic tourists. In this event, Lucas Silveira of Brazil won the throne of victory from compatriot Gabriel Medina who was the champion last year. Met after surfing on Saturday, May 4, 2019 at Tanjung Setia Beach, Lucas revealed that the Wave was the one that took him to participate in World surfing league Krui Pro 2019.“Well the wave it was perfect, it was hard to get better than this. The challenge was that the wave was so good and everyone played surf well. So, you had to do better to win. It was a long way since we got here and trained daily before we competed and woke up 5 am to train and a lot of high hits through the final. Everything took place so well,” said Lucas. Lucas added, this was the first time for him to compete in Krui and the world-class wave was the only interesting thing to come to Krui. He also emphasized that even though there was no competition, he would continue to play surf in Krui. The same thing was expressed by the 1st female champion, Leilani Mcgonagle from Costa Rica. According to her, the wave at Tanjung Setia Beach is amazing. It’s almost the same in her country.

The Indonesian men's relay team is optimistic that it can qualify for the 2020 Tokyo, Japan Olympics and one of the championships to win the ticket through the IAAF World Relays in Yokohama, Japan on May 11-12. That was stated by one of the Indonesian athletes, Lalu Muhammad Zohri when he was met at the Madya Stadium, Bung Karno Sports Complex, Jakarta on Tuesday (7/5).Zohri also said that there are some weaknesses in the relay team that must be addressed immediately, including at the "check mark". To qualify for the 2020 Olympics, the Indonesian relay team must be in the top 16 of 230 countries. At the 2019 Asian Athletics Championship that took place  in Doha, Qatar some time ago, Indonesia was in 16th place with one silver medal. The medal was won by Zohri in the 100-meter run with a time of 10.13 seconds. In the relay number, the Lombok sprinter will perform with Eko Rimbawan, Bayu Kartenegara, Muhammad Bisma Diwa, Joko Kuncoro (200 meters), Adi Ramli Sidiq in 100 meters.

South Sumatra is again trusted to host the international bowling championship in Jakabaring Sports Complex, Palembang, South Sumatra on 16-24 November 2019. Bowling facilities at Jakabaring are the best in the Asian region.The Executive Board Chairman of the Indonesian Bowling Association, Percha Leanpuri after meeting with Governor of South Sumatra, Herman Deru said that the championship would be attended by hundreds of the best athletes from some countries. Percha Leanputri added that based on the existing regulations, each country is limited to sending each of the best male and female athletes. The target of the participating countries is at least 65-75 countries. On this occasion, Indonesia hosts the second time after 1980. Meanwhile, Chief Executive of South Sumatra Indonesian Bowling Association,  Kurmin Halim said that his side would intensify promotions abroad, such as in Asia, Europe and the Middle East by hoping that the number of participants could reach hundreds of countries. If this is achieved, Indonesia can beat the record for the highest number of participants held by Singapore.

Magelang is one of  cities in Central Java province, which  has charming, wonderful  and beautiful nature. Unsurprisingly, the city becomes one of the favorite tourism destinations in Central Java.  As one of the most favorite tourism destinations in Central Java, Magelang has a lot of amazing tourism objects such as cultural and historic sites, contemporary photo spots, hills, parks and waterfalls that may really spoil the tourists’ eyes. The tourists who visit will also be served with a variety of delicious culinary of Magelang. One  of them is Senerek Soup.Senerek soup is one of the menus from the Dutch colonial era in Indonesia.  Senerek is taken from the word 'Snert' which means  ‘peas’ in Dutch. Because the tongues of the Magelang people were not very fluent in pronouncing “Snert“, the term slowly changes to be “Senerek”. Apparently, the snert soup was then modified with ingredients to be easily obtained by the local people, namely red beans. This soup is with complete vegetables such as carrots and spinach and it is added with  chives by using  herbs  spices as cloves and nutmeg. Then, all of these are   doused with fresh broth filled with beef or tripe. If we enjoy the soup, the aroma of garlic is so strong. The sauce tastes fresh, savory with a broth that tastes delicious. The Senerek soup is usually served with warm rice and chili sauce, as well as a variety of complementary food that can be selected based on our  taste, such as snail satay, tofu and tempeh. In Magelang, you can easily find this soup. The price is relatively cheap, about Rp 15,000 to Rp 20,000 per portion.