VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

North Sumatera has a natural tourism object which can be family’s recreation place with fresh air and green trees. The tourism object is called ‘Tangkahan’. Tangkahan is an eco-tourism which has been well known until abroad. Even, due to its beauty, Tangkahan is well-known by many people as “The hidden paradise”. It is located at Mt. Leuser National Park, precisely at Langkat regency, North Sumatera. Tangkahan is one of Indonesian regions, whose primate quantity is the most varieties in the world and the habitat for some earth species which are endangered. Tourism activity which can be enjoyed at Tangkahan is adventuring, swimming and trekking at tropical forest. For you who want to do trekking, you can take a walk accompanied by tourism guide or you can ride an elephant of Sumatera. Uniquely, the ridden elephants are trained ones that are also used to patrol or protect National Park from illegal activities such as hunting, and illegal logging. There are 3 trekking lines in the regions, beginning from soft trekking for kids or family until adventure. When trekking, you will be accompanied by local guide so that you can enjoy hidden natural wealth in the region. When trekking, you can visit interesting places at Tangkahan. One of them is Buluh and Batang Serangan rivers’ meeting which has small waterfall. You must walk to river basin around 100 meters to reach the waterfall. Sitting under the waterfall and feeling the freshness of the water are very pleasant. At Tangkahan, there is also bat cave. It is named the bat cave because it is the habitat for thousands of bats. But do not have to worry, the cave is very safe to be entered. Another activity which can be done is called ‘Tubing’. The activity makes you feel the heavy stream of rivers at Tangkahan by rafting and using inner-tube. While conquering the heavy stream of rivers at Tangkahan, you can also enjoy the beauty of the riverside. Various kinds of interesting activities can be enjoyed if you visit Tangkahan village which can be accessed through Medan, the capital city of North Sumatera around 3 until 4 hours by land transportation. Over there, there are also lodging and interesting tourism packages which can be chosen.

Starting June 9, 2018, Indonesian tourists are banned to enter Israel. Israeli government has issued a policy as a form of retaliation for the ban on Israeli tourists entering Indonesia. The Israeli government says, Indonesian tourists can still go to Israel until June 9. However, after June 9, they both individuals and groups will not be allowed to enter Israel. The decision is regretted by many parties because the city of Jerusalem in Israel is one of the frequently visited cities as a place of worship and religious tourism for Indonesian tourists. Indeed, Indonesia and Israel have no diplomatic relations until now. However, for tourist affairs, especially religious tourism in Israel, Indonesian tourists have a special visa. In regard to the next ban, Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the people of Indonesia to understand. Therefore, each country has a policy related to the granting of visa facility. For this matter, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi has coordinated with the Minister of Justice and Human Rights (Menkumham), Yasonna Laoly. The ban on the entry of Indonesian tourists to Israel is disadvantageous not only with Indonesian tourists themselves, but also managers of travel agencies. As we known that Jerusalem is a holy city worth visiting for believers of three religions, namely Jews, Christians, and Islam. Every year, Muslims from various countries, including Indonesia visit Al-Aqsa Mosque on special visas. In addition, Indonesian Christians also make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It is estimated that the number of tourists from Indonesia to Israel reaches about 40 thousand each year. With gross calculation, the financial loss due to Indonesian tourists who cannot travel to Israel per year could reach Rp 2.23 trillion. The calculation is by including the assumption of the number of tourists reaching as many as 40 thousand people and each person spends around Rp 55.8 million for the tourism cost. Indeed, the ban on Indonesian tourists to Israel does not have an economic impact for Indonesia. The ban is more social impact, especially for Muslims and Christians who want to carry out religious visit to the Holy City of Jerusalem. Especially for Christians, visiting the Holy City of Jerusalem is like doing Umrah to Saudi Arabia for Muslims. Jerusalem is the holy city for the populations of the world. Everyone has the same right to visit a place that is considered holy. So, it is not appropriate to ban anyone to make a visit to holy sites.

Indonesia and India signed 15 documents of memorandum of understanding on cooperation in a number of areas, witnessed by Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Wednesday (30/5). After a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Joko Widodo told reporters that Indonesia is ready to make closer and stronger cooperation with India. The President said that the strategic value of the relations between the two countries is shown in the renewal of cooperation in the field of defense. The two countries also agreed to form the Task Force Units for infrastructure development, related to the port in Sabang, in Malacca Strait as one of the busiest shipping routes in the world. Moreover Indonesian and India agreed to cooperate in Exploration and Space utilization for peace goal, rail sector, science and technology, capacity development of the state civil servants, dialogue between government and interaction of research institute, medicine regulation, cooperation of Bali Province and Uttarakkhand as well as health cooperation. In the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Joko Widodo especially demanded the lowering tariffs of import duty on Indonesian palm oil products to India. The President said that Prime Minister Modi agreed to review the policy related to the palm oil import duty. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India wants to increase trade values up to 50 billion US dollars in 2025. This is in line with the increasing trend of Indian investment in Indonesia which currently reaches to 18.7 billion US dollars. After bilateral meeting at the Merdeka Palace, President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the India-Indonesia Kite Exhibition at Monumen Nasional (Monas) area. The Kite Exhibition was aimed to increase the two countries relationships. On the occassion, President Joko Widodo and Prime Minster Modi played kites together. During the event Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met and spoke to thousands of Indian diasporas in Jakarta. In his speech, Prime Minister Modi said, that the presence of Indian diasporas has contributed significantly in promoting bilateral relations between India and Indonesia. After his visit in Indonesia Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Malaysia on Thursday (31/5), then to Singapore.

In addition to commemorating the birth of Pancasila on June 1^st,  the International Children's Day is also commemorated. International Child Day or Children’s Day is celebrated every June 1, while it is universally commemorated on November 20th. Children's Day is an important event whose warnings have different dates for each country. The celebration as great day aims to respect the rights for all children in the world. Many cases of violence and abuse were experienced by children in Indonesia and some other countries. These cases continue to increase each year, and become a frightening factor for younger generations. To support the welfare of children and protect their rights legally, one of the formations of Law No. 4/1979 on Child Welfare mentions the provisions of the problem for children in Indonesia. Then, Presidential Instruction No. 2/1989 states that the development of child welfare is based on the legal basis for the creation of Indonesian children in first decade -1986 - 1996 and the second decade in 1996 - 2006. Children as the next generation of nation shall be protected. Child protection cannot be separated from the children as victims, witnesses, or even as criminal suspects. Therefore, an effective child protection system is required on the condition that there are interrelated components. These components include the social welfare system for children and families, a system of justice in accordance with international standards, and mechanisms to encourage appropriate behavior in society. In addition, a supportive legal and policy framework, data and information system for child protection are required. At the community level, these components should be incorporated into a series of child protection services that promote child welfare and protection and increase the capacity of families to fulfill their responsibilities. The law and policy framework in Indonesia need to be strengthened to prevent and deal with violence, mistreatment, exploitation and neglect of children. The current law and policy framework are conducive to promoting the rights of children, but there are still some gaps. The legal framework should designate a government agency with clear duties, authorities and responsibilities for the handling and delivery of child protection services. Indonesia also faces the challenge of ensuring harmonization of regional  regulations (Perda) and child protection policies in nearly 500 districts. With the policy, the authority can enact its own rules. Therefore, the last step taken by the central government is to develop the guidelines of the regional regulation that refers to a system-based approach to child protection.