VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Six patients in Singapore, including four who have no history of recent trips to China, have tested positive for a new corona virus, the Ministry of Health announced at a press conference Tuesday (4 February) in Singapore. In the press conference, Singapore Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said four cases of local transmission interacted with tourists from China. While the other two cases were Singaporeans who were evacuated from Wuhan on January 30. This brings the number of confirmed cases in Singapore to 24. But the Singapore government ensures that this virus will not be widespread in Singapore.

"Singapore has confirmed a total of six additional cases of the corona virus infection novel on which a cluster of four has no reason travel history to China and therefore that is a result of local transmission. There is however no evidence of widespread sustained community transmission currently. Three of the local transmission cases can be traced to contact with reason travelers from mainland China. The fourth case is a close contact of one of the local transmission cases. The ministry of health has commenced contact tracing to identify individuals who have close contacts with these cases so I assure to strengthen the cluster and limit for the spread. As I mentioned yesterday the cases of limited community transmission are not unexpected This is a scenario that we have prepared for and we are ready to manage it" Minister said.

Last Friday, it was announced that all new visitors with recent travel history to mainland China would not be allowed to enter Singapore. This visitor will also not be allowed to transit in Singapore. Those who have Chinese passports, with the exception of Singapore permanent residents (PR) and long-term passport holders, will also not be allowed into Singapore. The corona virus has killed more than 400 people and infected more than 20,000 worldwide. The World Health Organization has declared the virus outbreak as a global emergency. (VOI / NK / AHM)

The Embassy of the State of Palestine, in Jakarta on Wednesday (05/02/2020), held an event in support of the Palestine cause and rejection of, what it terms, the “illegal deal of the century”. Speaking at the event, the Deputy Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Indonesia Taher Hamad, gave a passionate speech about the history of Palestine and told the audience how the deal of the century ignores many of the finer details.

“They keep the Jewish settlement on Palestinian land which was occupied in 1967. And there is around 136 settlements in West bank and Jerusalem with 720,000 settlers. The second reason, there is any United Nation resolution, the right of the refugees to return back to their homeland. We reject this deal because of the refugees” The Ambassador said. 

He also noted that the deal doesn’t address the thousands of Palestinian prisoners who are currently held in Israeli jail. He said the history of Palestine provides for the rights of Muslims and Christians to peacefully practice their religion and called upon the Muslim and Christian community from across the world to reject this deal. He thanked the Muslim community of the world, the US congress for their support and also thanked the American people who held protests in New York against this deal. (VOI/SAYEE SHREE L.R/AHM)

Eleven Indonesian who are engaged in Media are scheduled to visit Japan from February 4th to 11th, 2020 as part of the Japan’s Friendship Ties Programs, “JENESYS 2019” promoted by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA). They will visit Tokyo and Fukushima to experience international program under the theme of “Exchange for Young Journalists”. In Tokyo, they will pay a courtesy call to the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Japan, and visit TV Tokyo Corporation etc. In Fukushima, they will visit local media and Fukushima Prefectural Centre for Environmental Creation, to observe its initiatives for recovering and re-creating the environment from the Great East Japan Earthquake, as well as to learn the importance of media, conveying the critical information promptly. Through the program, we hope the friendly relationship between Japan and Indonesia will be strengthen, and the participants proactively share the appeals and media initiatives of Japan which they experienced in Japan after returning to their home country. Japan's Friendship Ties Programs JENESYS 2019 People with the ability and future mission to deliver messages between Japan and the countries and regions of Asia and Oceania are invited and dispatched in order to promote an understanding of Japan with regard to politics, economics, society, culture, history, foreign policy, and the like, and pro-Japanese people and experts on Japan are discovered in order to strengthen Japan’s message to other countries and expand Japan’s diplomatic foundation by having the guests and dispatches take the initiative to spread information about the diplomatic stance, appeals, and other facets of Japan(ANT)

Muhammadiyah University of North Sumatera (UMSU) held anInternational Colloquium themed the Development of Malay Language and Literature in Medan recently. The event was held in collaboration with two prominent universities from Malaysia namely the Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI) and the Teachers’ Education Institute of Ipoh Campus, Malaysia. Rector of UMSU Dr. Agussani MAP in Medan told Antara on Sunday (2/2) that the International Education Colloquium is a pivotal and strategic activity especially for the Muhammadiyah University of North Sumatera which isenthusiastic to beholding international programs. The rector pointed out that the International Colloquium shows the commitment of the Muhammadiyah University of North Sumatera to maintaining good relations with Malaysian Universities. Meanwhile, Dean of the Language and Communication Faculty at the Sultan Idris Education University Dr. Marshan Azhad said that the theme on Malay Language and Literature is important because Malay/Indonesian Languages are supposed to be the official languages of ASEAN member countries. The colloquium also featured international conferences on Malay Language and Literature in the disruptive era which were attended by speakers from countries such as Thailand and Cambodia//(Ant/Trs.AL)