VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

This is RRI World Service -VOI with Today in History.

I’ll begin with October 23, 1956 when the Hungarian people's revolution against the Soviet Union started.

On October 23, 1953, the Hungarian Communist Party was dissolved by Imre Nagy, the nationalist Prime Minister of Hungary. Then, an independent and separate military government from the Soviet Union was formed.However, the Hungarian communist group with the help of the Soviet Union military and fund crushed the struggle of the people of this country and hundreds of people were killed. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 could be crushed, but the struggle of the people of this country was still ongoing. Finally, in 1989, Hungary won its independence and became a member of NATO.

I’ll turn to October 23, 1983 when two major explosions occurred in the US military barracks in Beirut, Lebanon.

A high-powered bomb explosion on October 23, 1983 killed 220 marines, 18 sailors and 3 soldiers. All of them were part of a multi-national force that was trying to end the civil war in Lebanon. This incident began when two trucks were deliberately crashed into the US military headquarters in Beirut. The two trucks are known to carry 1.4 tons of explosives. The collision immediately triggered a super large explosion which destroyed the US military headquarters. Both truck drivers, Abu Mazen and Abu Sijaan were immediately killed on the scene. This was also believed to be a suicide bombing. Less than an hour after the attack on the American base, other terrorists detonated a bomb outside French barracks in Lebanon, killing 58 paratroopers. According to BBC, Mazan and Sijaan were part of the Islamic Revolution movement of Lebanese Radical Shiites based in Eastern Lebanon. Shortly after the incident, US Defense Minister, Caspar Weinberger said that Iran, Syria and the Soviet Union were behind the attacks.

This edition of Today in History ends with October 23, 2002 when there was hostage taking at the Moscow Theater by Chechen rebels.

October 23, 2002 was the most gripping day in the Moscow Theater, Russia. Around 850 people from various countries, who enjoyed a grand music concert performance, Nord Ost, were suddenly shocked by the arrival of dozens of terrorists in black uniforms and wearing masks. The attackers, led by Movsar Barayev, claimed that they were from an Islamist separatist movement in Chechnya. They demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya and ended the Second Chechen War. At that time, 129 hostages and 41 Chechen guerrillas were killed. Most of the hostages were killed by gas fired by Russian troops at the Chechen rebels.

That was Today in History

This is RRI World Service -Voice of Indonesia with Diplomatic Corner, a program which presents information about activities and progress of Indonesia’s diplomacy in the international world.

First information is that Indonesia Establishes Resilience Education Cooperation with Jordan.

The Indonesia National Resilience Institute -LEMHANNAS and the Royal Jordanian National Defense College -RJNDC have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning cooperation in Education, Training and Strategic Studies in the Field of Defense and Security which took place in Amman on Wednesday (17/10). The signing of the MoU was carried out by  Governor of LEMHANNAS, Retired Lieutenant General, Agus Widjojo from the Indonesian side, and Brigadier General Abdullah. S. Al Shdaift, as the RJNDC Commander from Jordan. General S. Al Shdaift said that Jordan wants to learn a lot from Indonesia's experience of thousands of islands and diversity but is able to maintain unity and security. On the other hand, Governor Agus Widjojo emphasized that LEMHANNAS also wants to share experience with Jordan that is able to maintain its national security amidst an unstable political situation of Middle East. The signing of this MoU is considered important because both parties stated that it is necessary to conduct strategic studies on the latest regional and international issues in the field of defense and security.

The second information is that ASEAN and Partners continue to strengthen cooperation in science and technology.

ASEAN and its speaking partners continue to strengthen cooperation in the fields of science and technology. This was noted by Indonesian delegation from the results of the 10th Meeting of Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Science & Technology (IAMMST-10), the 75th ASEAN COST and Other Related Meetings on 15-19 October 2018 in Cebu, the Philippines.

In the meeting led by the Philippines, there were three ASEAN Dialogue Partners, namely Japan, the European Union and the United States. In regard to this, Indonesia will host the 6th JASTIP Meeting (Japan-ASEAN Science, Technology and Innovation Platform) Symposium in Tangerang, Banten on November 1, 2018. JASTIP is a collaborative platform to support the achievement of SDGs’ targets through science, technology and innovation (STI).

Furthermore, Indonesia will host the 16th ASEAN Food Conference meeting in Bali, October 15-18 next year, with the theme "The Big Picture: Outlook and Opportunities of Food Technology and Culinary for Tourism Industries." In addition, Indonesia will also deliver 19 proposals for cooperation in January 2019, in the ASEAN-EU Joint Funding Scheme (JFS) program.

The last information is that Inclusive Palm Diplomacy Guards Indonesia's Palm Interests.

To strengthen national palm diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs involves all stakeholders in the preparation of the palm oil diplomacy strategy. Collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Palm Oil Research Center, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs represented by Directorate of Trade, Commodities and Intellectual Property held an input network meeting and dialogue entitled "Palm Diplomacy: Challenges and Strategies" in Medan, North Sumatra on Thursday (18/10). Director of Trade, Commodities and Intellectual Property at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tri Purnajaya in opening the seminar and input network said that there are at least three points that underlie the need to strengthen national palm diplomacy. First, palm oil is Indonesia's largest export commodity today. Second, it’s a new and renewable energy source. Third points is that the number of workers absorbed by the palm oil industry continues to grow. These three aspects show the major role of oil palm in achieving the SDGs sustainable development targets, the fulfillment of world food, and supporting the improvement of the welfare of small palm-oil farmers.

That was Diplomatic Corner.

This is RRI World Service -Voice of Indonesia with Mosaic of Archipelago. Today, I’ll present some information. First, Probolinggo Regency Government Campaigns for Tourism Awareness Movement. Second, Japan is invited to invest in three sectors in North Sumatra. The last is that Sukabumi Improves Pencak Silat Festival.

The Probolinggo Regency Government, East Java campaigned for the Tourism Awareness Movement and Sapta Enchantment Action. This is done to increase community participation for the advancement of Indonesian tourism.Head of Probolinggo Youth, Sports, Tourism and Culture Office, M Sidik Widjanarko said in Probolinggo, Sunday (21/10) that the Tourism Awareness Movement and Sapta Enchantment Action have  tremendous benefits for the progress and development of tourism potential, especially tourist destinations in Probolinggo Regency. He also said that his side held an event of Tourism Awareness Movement and Sapta Enchantment Action at Bentar Beach tourism object in Curahsawo Village, Gending District on Saturday (20/10). The movement is one of the 10 priority programs of the Ministry of Tourism to encourage the integrity of the government and stakeholders in a bid to create a conducive climate for tourism in Indonesia. He hopes that the movement can encourage the development of tourism potential in Probolinggo Regency to be more advanced and developing.

Japanese investors are invited to invest in three sectors: agriculture, education and health in North Sumatra. Deputy Governor of North Sumatra, Musa Rajekshah said in Medan on Sunday that to offer the investment, the North Sumatra Provincial Government held a meeting with Japanese investors who are members of the ASEAN Nagoya Club in Jakarta. He said that the Japanese executive claimed to be interested in new investments or increasing investment in North Sumatra. Meanwhile, Head of the ASEAN Nagoya Club Office, Hisaya Matsuhita said that there are several sectors that have great opportunities to be developed jointly between Japan and Indonesia. One of them is waste management which maintains not only environmental cleanliness, but also business opportunities from the waste.

Sukabumi City, West Java improves the activities of Pencak Silat or martial arts festival. The move is carried out to preserve the art and culture of the nation's heritage and to seek superior mainstay in martial arts. Deputy Mayor of Sukabumi, Andri Setiawan Hamami said on Sunday (21/10) that Pencak Silat must be preserved because of cultural heritage. This is done by holding Pencak Silat festival. He considered that the implementation of the martial arts festival held by the Military District Command-Kodim 0607 / Sukabumi City Saturday (20/10) to Sunday is a real manifestation to maintain and to preserve the existence of Pencak Silat. Meanwhile, Sukabumi City 0607 Military District Commander Lieutenant Colonel Kav, Mujahidin said that the Pencak Silat festival is a traditional art one that is open to the public. It is a cultural heritage that must be developed as an Indonesian indigenous cultural heritage.

That was Mosaic of Archipelago.

International dragon boat race re-enlivened the city of Tanjung Pinang, Riau Island. The event that includes in the annual agenda of Riau Island provincial government has entered the 17^th year. Met after the opening ceremony on Friday, October 19^th 2018 in Tanjung Pinang, Riau Island, Head of Tanjung Pinang Tourism Agency, Raja Kholidin said that the international dragon boat race brings about a remarkable impact on Tanjung Pinang economy.

“The dragon boat race activity has been held for 17 years. This is one of the efforts to re-elevate Chinese culture that the dragon boat is unique and loved by our people. That’s why, we make it as an event which also becomes tools to promote our region. So, foreign tourists want to visit Tanjung Pinang. This activity is held because of our colleagues from the ministry of tourism and provincial and city government also supports us. The event is part of Tanjung Pinang tourism annual agenda. So, every year, we hold this because the impact is remarkable on this event as we can see now. Previously, Tanjung Pinang was very quiet but now is busy. At least, the people crowd the event once a year.” Raja Kholidin said. 

Raja Kholidin added that this event can fulfill the targeted number of 50.000 foreign tourists by the Tourism Ministry for Tanjung Pinang. Held since October 19^th to 21^st 2018, International dragon boat race is participated by 44 teams; 10 of them are from other countries. Malaysia becomes the biggest participants in this event by delivering seven teams while Brunei Darussalam with two teams and Singapore one team. Meanwhile, there are 10 teams from other regions that join in this race, such as Jakarta with two teams, Riau province three teams and Jambi with five teams. While, the rest is the local people with 24 teams. (VOI/NK/RHM)