VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

MOU signing between National Library of Indonesia and British Library Council - 

The National Library (Perpusnas) has again entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Library of the British Library Council of the United Kingdom of Great Britain or commonly called the British Library (BL).

The MoU was signed by Muhammad Syarif Bando from National Library and Phil Spence from BL. Previously, National Library of Indonesia and BL had entered into a memorandum of understanding in the field of libraries in 2018 - 2021.

Head of National Library Muhammad Syarif Bando stated that the MoU which will be implemented over the next three years is expected to establish close collaboration in the library sector. In the previous MoU period, several activity agendas were carried out including inviting Annabel Teh Gallop, Lead Curator specialist for Southeast Asia to become one of the reviewers in the National Manuscript Journal (Jumantara) published by the National Library and guest speaker at the webinar on Digitizing Archipelago Manuscripts.

The National Library together with the Yogyakarta Palace also succeeded in obtaining 75 digital copies of ancient manuscripts from the British Library to coincide with the 2019 Manuscript Exhibition "Strangling the Traces of Nagari Ngayogyakarta Civilization".

"On this occasion we would like to express our respect and gratitude to the British Library for receiving a visit from the National Library and for responding to the Memory of The World, we will prepare everything including academic manuscripts to obtain a letter of support from the British Library to nominate the Hamzah Fansuri Manuscript. included in the Memory of The World,” he explained in the signing of the MoU which was held at the British Library Building on Wednesday (24/5/2023).

Phil Spence also said that the relationship between the two institutions is very close and has been going on for years since the first Head of National Library, Ms. Mastini. "The British Library will always be the best supporters for the National Library," he said.

Head of National Library of Indonesia hopes that, in the future, the exchange of information and knowledge, sending human resources, and exchanging library materials, can continue. On this occasion the British Library was attended by Phil Spence (Chief Operating Officer), Xerxes Mazda (Head of Collections and Curations), Luisa Elena Mengoni (Head of Asian and African Collections), Annabel Teh Gallop (Lead Curator for Southeast Asia), Marcie Hopkins (Head of International), Khairul Munadi (Duties of Education and Culture Attache Indonesia Embassy in London).

On the same day, Muhammad Syarif Bando was also invited to a celebration event "The Bollinger Javanese Manuscript Digitization Project: 120 more Javanese manuscripts to be digitized" which was held in the Foyle Room, British Library Building.

“We are very grateful to William and Judith Bollinger that 120 Javanese manuscripts at the British Library have been digitized. The manuscripts date from the 18th to the late 19th century, and cover a wide range of subjects, ranging from Javanese literature, history and calendar traditions to Islamic texts on theology, law and Sufism, and include several volumes supplemented by illustration,” said Annabel Teh Gallop.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Thursday, the British Library is working with partners in Indonesia, especially National Library of Indonesia to help develop metadata for digitizing Javanese manuscripts and observing all aspects of manuscript management at BL.

The British Library also guarantees the Nusantara Manuscripts Society (MANASSA), and the Digital Repository of Endangered and Affected Manuscripts in Southeast Asia (DREAMSEA) to promote and conduct research on Javanese manuscripts in the BL collection.

Selected digital Javanese manuscripts from the British Library will also be transliterated in collaboration with the Sustainable Literature Foundation (YASRI) and will be accessible via the Javanese literature pioneer portal with the link https://www.sastra.org/.

In addition, the Head of National Library of Indonesia was also invited to enjoy the exhibition "Animals: Art, Science and Sound" which tells a global story about the relationship between humans and animals.

The collection draws from original manuscripts, print publications, artwork and sound recordings from the renowned British Library. Potential highlights in the exhibition include Robert Hooke's influential Micrographia (1665), drawings of the endangered South Asian river dolphin from Baburnama (Mughal India, c. 1590s), correspondence between Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace and the LP Songs of the Humpback Whale by Roger Payne (1970)//VOI

MOU signing between Indonesia and Australia on Water Management - 

Minister of National Development Planning/Head of National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Suharso Monoarfa with Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Penny Williams PSM Sunday it exchanged the latest memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the field of water resources planning cooperation. 

This 5 year agreement was signed on 17 April 2023 by Minister Monoarfa and Minister for Environment and Water Australia, Tanya Plibersek MP, to support information exchange and expertise between Australia and Indonesia in the areas of sustainable water resources management, adaptation and climate mitigation related to water, as well as effective water supply and sanitation practices.

“Effective water infrastructure supports the survival of the community, industry and the environment our live. This agreement demonstrates the strength of cooperation between Indonesia and Australia on the topic it is important to manage water resources," said the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Penny Williams. 

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Thursday, this renewed commitment builds on the hard work and strong collaboration of the previous MoU, which has helped realize various joint activities.

This includes successful joint training in the field of flood risk management and water resources governance and lake management workshops, which brought together experts from both countries to share ideas on how best to manage water quality and water scarcity issues.

Minister Monoarfa expressed his appreciation for the collaborative activities under the previous MoU in in flood management, water regulation, irrigation modernization, and lake management.

"We are collaborating on several activities that will bring the two countries towards management efficient, effective, accountable, transparent, and water resources and agriculture people oriented," he said.

Minister Monoarfa also said that water security and its relationship with food security and energy, are part of Indonesia's Vision 2045 in the long-term development plan
national. Senior Officials from Australia and Indonesia will meet again in late 2023 to developing new projects under renewed agreements//VOI

Head of the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (BPIP), Yudian Wahyudi - 

In commemoration of the Bung Karno month, the National Library (Perpusnas) through the Technical Implementation Unit (UPT) of the Bung Karno Library, held the Bung Karno Exhibition.

The exhibition entitled "Internalization of Bung Karno's Thoughts Through Various Collections of the National Library", was held at the Lobby of the National Library of Indonesia Services Building, Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan No. 11, Jakarta.

Head of National Library, Muhammad Syarif Bando said, June is such an important month. The reason is, it contains important dates related to Bung Karno's life.

Among them, June 1 marked the birth of Pancasila, Bung Karno was born on June 6, 1901, and Bung Karno died on June 21, 1970.

"This exhibition was held as an effort to internalize Bung Karno's thoughts, both regarding the values ​​contained in all the documents produced," he said after opening the Bung Karno Exhibition, Thursday (1/6/2023).

He explained that National Library has the main task of disseminating information about the nation's journey, to ensure that the younger generation does not lose its cultural roots.

"Then the symbol of the library is a bridge of past, present and future knowledge," he said.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Thursday, currently, the Bung Karno Proclamator Library UPT has a collection of 6547 copies about Bung Karno and 246,856 copies which are supporting collections related to Bung Karno's thoughts.

Meanwhile, Head of the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (BPIP), Yudian Wahyudi conveyed, one of Bung Karno's thoughts was the Pancasila concept which became the basis of the nation's philosophy of life.

"Pancasila as a state philosophy has proven everything, especially as a liberating and unifying ideology for the nation," he said.

He explained that Pancasila as the ideology of the Indonesian state includes values ​​that were also listed in the Proclamation of Independence.

"I say our proclamation is the best proclamation on earth in history. Because it happened in the middle of the second war, and we can be independent without military technology," he explained.
With this exhibition, he continued, it is part of remembering that history should not be forgotten.

"They used to be very simple, very limited but able to offer independence, so now it's our job and that of the younger generation to practice Pancasila values ​​in various ways of life," he continued.

He hopes that the younger generation can make Bung Karno a role model in increasing self-capacity and enriching insight.

"Of course by reading a lot of books, especially books in the library," he ordered.

The exhibition, which will be held from 1-30 June 2023, is open to the public. The exhibition displays a collection of historical books, tapes, photographs. This exhibition shows the deep thoughts of the Proclaimer.

Besides that, the Deputy for Development of Library Materials and Information Services at the National Library, Mariana Ginting said, the exhibition for the Bung Karno Month aims to introduce and socialize Bung Karni's thoughts through various types of library materials owned by the National Library.

"Not only exhibitions, we also organize other activities which are routinely held every year in Blitar in collaboration with the Blitar City Government," he said.

The activities carried out included Pancasila Grebeg, Economic Independence Talkshow, Bung Karno Library Expo, Videographic Literacy, Graphic Design Literacy, Mustikarasa Literacy, Safety Riding Festival, Painting Festival, to the Bung Karno Jackets Declaration (Bung Karno City/Regency Network) the plan will be attended by 22 regional heads throughout Indonesia//VOI

Head of National Library, Muhammad Syarif Bando, meets Commission X DPR RI - 

Commission X DPR RI supports the National Library of Indonesia (Perpusnas) to obtain more budget in the coming year. This reflects on the National Library's budget performance score which reached 94.42 in 2022 in the very good category.

This was revealed at the Hearing Meeting held by the National Library of Indonesia together with Commission X DPR RI in the agenda for discussing the Budget Work Plan (RKA) and Government Work Plan (RKP) at Senayan, Wednesday (31/05/2023).

Deputy Chairperson of Commission X DPR RI Faction of the Prosperous Justice Party Abdul Fikri Faqih explained that currently the indicative ceiling for National Library Spending for the 2024 fiscal year is IDR 721.19 billion. This figure increased by 45.29 billion rupiah from this year's only 675.9 billion rupiah.

"National Library is considered capable of carrying out what is the hope of Commission X DPR RI even though the budget is very small and limited," he explained.

Fikri said National Library of Indonesia had submitted additional proposals to the 2024 RAPBN to strengthen literacy and internal service quality in the amount of 383.16 billion Rupiah and was asked to complete a study of the determination of programs and activity targets.

“It needs to be completed with budget data along with qualitative and quantitative studies on target setting. So it can be seen clearly in the RKP which activities require budget support," he added.

Head of National Library, Muhammad Syarif Bando revealed, not only in terms of budget performance value, distribution of physical special allocation funds (DAK) for 2022 National Library of Indonesia also occupies 2nd position with a value of 94.93% compared to other fields/sub-sectors.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Thursday, even though the budget provided previously was limited, National Library of Indonesia has already implemented many programs that are in line with the theme of the 2024 RKP, namely accelerating economic transformation that is inclusive and sustainable.

"In the 2024 RKP, National Library will focus on developing a culture of literacy, creativity and innovation in an effort to improve the quality of life and welfare," he said.

The Head of National Library of Indonesia further explained that this would be achieved in various ways. These include improving the quality of library services based on social inclusion, strengthening literacy content that supports community productivity, and developing an Archipelago manuscript center as an effort to develop and utilize the nation's cultural treasures.

In an effort to preserve the Archipelago manuscripts, Syarif Bando revealed that the National Library had collaborated with various parties. One of them, namely the result of National Library of Indonesia collaboration with Leiden University in the Netherlands and various parties who succeeded in obtaining the designation of the Hikayat Aceh Manuscript as Memory of the World (MoW) by UNESCO on 18 May 2023.

National Library of Indonesia has also signed an MoU with the British Library in terms of documentation and research on the cultural heritage of the Indonesian nation in its collections as well as good practices in managing manuscripts as cultural and historical heritage.

In line with this matter, Member of Commission X of the National Mandate Party Fraction Zainuddin Maliki said that with a fairly limited budget, National Library has shown very good performance.

"The mindset currently owned by National Library of Indonesia in efforts to build and improve literacy culture to the producer level is very good. This will be achieved more quickly if we can provide support to increase the amount of the budget, "he concluded//VOI