VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A number of Padjadjaran University students are trying to help reduce a number of smokers who are addicted to smoking in Indonesia. The effort is in the form of candy innovations/lozenges. If smokers enjoy the candy, they can get rid of smoking addiction. The students are Rifky Adhia Pratama (Chemistry), Tiara Zahra Shafira (Accounting), Endang Juliansyah (Chemistry), Iis Kurniasih (Chemistry), and Kevin Reza Reynantha (Business Administration) as well as supervisor lecturer Rani Maharani, PhD. This team succeeded in making candy that contains cytisine, or a natural compound that can reduce nicotine addiction in smokers. According to Rifky, the innovation is based on the results of the team's search which found that Indonesia's smoking prevalence rate ranks seventh in the world with a smoking rate of 39.90 percent. The team is also trying to find a solution to reduce the death rate due to smoking in Indonesia. One of them is by looking for natural compounds that can reduce nicotine addiction in the brain. From the search results, it was found that the natural compound cytisine has the ability to bioactivate to prevent the binding of nicotine to receptors in the brain.

Rifky explained that nicotine is an additive that is able to bind to receptors in the brain. The impact of the binding of nicotine to the receptor is to cause an opiate effect. Based on the results of existing studies, cytisine has the ability to bind to receptors in the brain seven times stronger than nicotine. Thus, there is more cytisine bound in the brain than nicotine; it will be able to reduce the effects of smoking addiction in smokers. Cytisine compound itself is already popular in European continent as a therapy to reduce cigarette addiction. In fact, this compound has been organically synthesized and widely traded in tablet form. Unfortunately, it is still not popular in Indonesia. Rifky further explained that the team looked for natural ingredients containing cytisine compounds. Assisted by a supervisor, the team found research results that cytisine extract could be obtained from the genus Laburnum or golden chain tree in sufficient quantities.

Then, the team had the idea to formulate the cytisine into candy or lozenges. The selection of lozenges was based on the results of a study describing the side effects of cytisine tablets sold in Europe. The effects felt by consumers when taking these tablets are nausea and the feeling of wanting to vomit. Rifky also pointed out that the team chose the type of lozenges with a chewy texture (chiwi) rather than a solid crystal texture. To avoid nausea, the team also combined it with fruit flavors. It aims to increase sensation in the mouth, so the smokers can have a psychological alternative in the mouth that is able to divert activity in the mouth from the desire to smoke. The lozenges product is given the name "Kokro'' which is a syllable reversal of the morpheme “Rokok” or in English means "cigarette". Rifky explained that changing the syllables in cigarettes to "Kokro" has the hope that this product will be able to restore human health to how it used to be before smoking addiction. The cytisine content in Kokro is adjusted to the content in cytisine tablets sold in Europe, which is 1.5 milligrams. Therefore, the consumption of "Kokro" has its own dose. In addition, Kokro can also be consumed by non-smokers or passive smokers, mainly to avoid nicotine in the body. The "Kokro" product was developed as a form of implementation of the Student Creativity Program. This product was successfully funded by the Directorate General of Higher Education for the category of Student Creativity Program - Entrepreneurship. The plan for candy "Kokro" will be launched in early August.

Closing to  the complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, China began to exert influence in Afghanistan. Among other things, by receiving a visit from a Taliban delegation led by one of its founders, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, to meet with high-ranking Chinese officials, last week. The official website of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs posts a photo of Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and his delegation in Tianjin before starting the talk. Meanwhile, the conflict between the Afghan government military and the Taliban was still ongoing. The Taliban continues to spread its wings, especially in northern Afghanistan. On the other hand, the government forces, apart from defending themselves, also retaliated against attacks.

The diplomatic narrative emerged from a meeting between the Taliban leadership and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who stated that his government was adhering to a policy of not interfering in Afghanistan's internal affairs. The Taliban said via twitter that Afghanistan would not be a hotbed for terrorists.

The United States has responded to the Taliban meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on the sidelines of his visit to India, Thursday, July 29, stated that China's involvement could be a good thing, if Beijing could seek a peace resolution.

Meanwhile, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani responded to the visit of Taliban to China. In essence, he doubts the Taliban's statements or narratives regarding a political solution in Afghanistan.

Whatever the implications, the Taliban's visit to China has happened. The friendly reception by Foreign Minister Wang Yi could at least imply that the Taliban were politically recognized by China. It seems that China sees the strategic position of the Taliban after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. China recognizes that the factor of the Uyghur Muslim minority in its country is a sensitive matter, especially for countries with Muslim majority populations. Including Afghanistan, especially the Taliban, who are known as hard-line Muslims. In addition, China does have a special interest in Afghanistan because parts of the territory of the two countries are bordering each other.

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 and Culture.  Today’s topic is still about Transportasi which means Transportation.

Here is the conversation entitled Lewat Mana? which means Which Way? Kevin takes an online taxi to go to the office. The taxi driver asks Kevin which way Kevin wants to go. Let’s read to the conversation.

MUSIC

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

In the dialog, you hear Mau lewat mana?(2x) which means Which way do you want to go? In the question, there is the word mana (2x) which means which. It is used to ask someone or something from a group or a choice. In the dialog context between a taxi driver and Kevin, there are two routes towards Jalan Sudirman street, namely toll road or normal road. Therefore, the taxi driver asks Mau lewat mana?(2x) which means Which way do you want to go?

Let’s read to the other examples of expressions to ask one of ways that someone wants to take.

Sopir taksi  : Lewat mana, Pak?(2x) which means Which way, Sir?

Kevin          : Jalan biasa saja.(2x) which means Just take the normal road

Sopir taksi  : Mau jalan mana?(2x) which means Which road do you want to take?

Kevin          : Lewat tol agar tidak macet.(2x) which means Take the toll road to avoid traffic jam

In Indonesian language, there is a special term to refer small road, which is jalan tikus which means shortcut. It is called jalan tikus becauseit is small and only for one car or even one motorcycle. Jalan tikus often becomes an alternative route when the main road is congested.

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. 

The bronze medal gained by the men's singles badminton player, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting on Monday (2/8) completed the task of the Indonesian contingent at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Previously, the Indonesian people also enthusiastically welcomed the gold medal from the badminton branch by the women's doubles: Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu. Thus, the Indonesian contingent has won 1 gold medal from Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu in women's doubles badminton, 1 silver medal from Eko Yuli Irawan in weightlifting, and 3 bronzes from Windy Cantika Aisah, Rahmat Erwin Abdullah in weightlifting and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the men's singles badminton. On Monday (2/8), the Indonesian contingent ended their duties at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In regard to this achievement, the Indonesian team can be said to be successful at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, considering that only 8 sports were participated in by Indonesia in the global competition. The Indonesian nation should be grateful to all the athletes who have competed in this international match. It seems that the Covid-19 pandemic, which has haunted Indonesia for about a year and a half, has not reduced the determination and enthusiasm of Indonesian athletes and officials to participate in the Olympics.

It is conceivable how the Indonesian athletes did prepare for the Olympics with all the limited space for selection, training and even financial limitations. Because the fight against the pandemic has drained the country's resources.

The Indonesian people should also be grateful to government administrators who did not put aside Indonesia's participation in the Olympics by reason of focusing on addressing the pandemic. Full moral and material support was given to the athletes and officials. Thus, they could show proud achievements.

Now, the people of Indonesia are waiting for the 20th National Sports Week -PON, which will be held in Papua next October. The pandemic may not completely shake off in the month. The condition of human resources and the economy is also certainly not fully recovered. However, the same support is expected from government administrators so that the national sporting event can also run smoothly. Indonesia can learn from the Tokyo Olympics how to organize a sport event with super-strict health protocols. Thus, all participants of the 20th PON can compete with a sense of security and show their best quality.