VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia has been named the most generous country in the world according to the World Giving Index (WGI) 2022. The annual report on global generosity, released by the Charity Aid Foundation (CAF) on Friday (21/10), confirmed Indonesia in first place with a score of 68 percent. According to the Chief Executive of the Public Interest Research and Advocacy Center, Hamid Abidin in his statement on Saturday ( 22/10), this shows the strong tradition of donating to the Indonesian people, which is inspired by religious teachings and local traditions that have been practiced for decades. The pandemic condition also did not affect the interest and enthusiasm for donating to the Indonesian people and only had an impact on the amount and form of donations donated.

Hamid also assessed that Indonesia's achievement as the most generous country in the world was influenced by religious history. In addition to the influence of religious teachings, he views this is also the success of philanthropic activists, especially Islamic philanthropy in raising, managing and utilizing religious donations as well as contributing to this achievement. Islamic philanthropic institutions, especially ZISWAF management bodies and institutions (Zakat, Infaq, Alms and Waqf) have metamorphosed into modern philanthropic institutions. According to Hamid, Islamic philanthropy has developed a strategy of raising conventional and digital religious donations, as well as implementing transparent and accountable donation management standards. In addition, he also remarked that the use of ICT is also a milestone for philanthropic institutions to be able to continue operating during the pandemic and facilitate the distribution of donations from the public.

Based on the 2022 World Giving Index (WGI) data index, Indonesia has a total presentation of 68 percent, 3 percent lower than the score in the previous year. This achievement places Indonesia as the most generous country for 5 consecutive years. CAF's research results show that 84 percent of Indonesians donated money in 2021, much higher than the global average score (35 percent). The percentage of Indonesians who participate in volunteer activities is also high (63 percent), almost 3 (three) times higher than the global average (23 percent). Meanwhile, the percentage of citizens who donated to foreigners was 58 percent, slightly lower than the global average (62 percent).

It is an incomplete vacation to Yogyakarta without visiting Malioboro, which is already very popular with tourists. Malioboro is the name of the main street that divides Yogyakarta City. Located between Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat and Tugu Pal Putih, Malioboro Street is a paradise for souvenirs, shopping and culinary tourism. At night along, Malioboro Street will be more crowded because many artists express their abilities, such as music, pantomime, painting and others. The pedestrian path equipped with several seats has been prepared by the Yogyakarta City Government so that domestic and foreign tourists are more comfortable and enjoyful with the atmosphere of Malioboro. The Malioboro area is always crowded with tourists, even if you don't shop, Malioboro is indeed very nicely captured using a camera. However, over the last 10 years, the Provincial Government of the Special Region of Yogyakarta has begun to make improvements and structured, and beautified the Malioboro street area.

Malioboro itself comes from the Sanskrit Malyabhara which means bouquet of flowers. There are also some experts who argue that the origin of the name Malioboro comes from the name of a British colonial named Marlborough who lived in Yogyakarta from 1811 until 1816. The Dutch East Indies government built Malioboro as a central area of the economy and government in the early 19th century. It became popular in the colonial era. There is another history about Malioboro Street which became a witness of the struggle for Indonesian independence. There was a great battle between the Indonesian fighters and the Dutch colonial troops, known as the General Offensive on March 1, 1949. The Red and White Troops succeeded in conquering the Dutch and occupying Yogyakarta after six hours of fighting.

Malioboro continues to grow up to date. By retaining the original concept, Malioboro has become the center of life for the people of Yogya. The local government is now continuing to make improvements in a bid to organize Malioboro into a comfortable area to visit. For the convenience of tourists, the street vendors, who have been decorating the shopping corridors along Jalan Malioboro have now been moved to a special place on Teras Malioboro 1 and 2. Besides being famous for culinary and souvenir tours, the Malioboro area is now listed as a Carnival tourism area. This is also inseparable from the successful implementation of the 2022 Jogja Fashion Carnival entitled "Abiwada Arsana" held on October 15, 2022.

The Indonesian Ministry of Health detected the Omicron XBB subvariant in Indonesia. Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, M. Syahril said that the first XBB case in Indonesia was a local transmission. This XBB variant was detected in a 29-year-old woman who had just returned from Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. There are symptoms, such as cough, runny nose, and fever. Then, she was tested positive on September 26. After undergoing isolation, the patient was declared cured on October 3.

Following this finding, the Ministry of Health rushed to take anticipatory efforts by testing and tracing 10 close contacts. As a result, all close contacts tested negative for the XBB variant of COVID-19.

Syahril further said that although the new XBB variant is contagious, the fatality is no more severe than the Omicron variant. However, the country cannot be said to be safe from the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, various mutations of new variants still have the potential to continue to occur. In recent days, cases have also been reported to increase in 24 provinces.

Since the first discovery of the Omicron XBB subvariant, 24 countries have reported the finding of this subvariant. Syahril also said that this XBB variant caused a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases in Singapore, accompanied by an increase in the trend of hospitalization. In the country, this variant has triggered a rise in cases to 6,000 positive confirmations per day.

Transmission of various variants of COVID-19 usually increases after the holiday season. Soon, we will welcome the Christmas and New Year holidays. This is when our vigilance must be raised.  Although the various variants of this virus are getting weaker, for certain people this virus can still be deadly.

Fortunately, Indonesia has not relaxed its vigilance against this virus. Inside buildings and on public transportation, the use of masks is still mandatory. Vaccination continues. However, this country is also not completely free from COVID-19. Each individual still has to take care of themselves by wearing a mask, washing their hands as often as possible, avoiding crowds and reducing travel.