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A photograph of a man and his son spearfishing, captured by Buchari Muslim Diken, an Indonesian police officer from Maluku Province,​​​​​​ won third prize at the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Awards (HIPA) this year. The theme for the ninth edition of the awards was ‘water'.  (Documentation of HIPA/gtm)

A police officer from Maluku Province, Buchari Muslim Diken, has bagged the third place in the ninth edition of the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Awards (HIPA).

The theme for the annual competition this year was “water”.

Diken, a second police inspector and a freelance photographer, submitted a black-and-white picture of a fisherman and his son spearing coral reef fish, off Negeri Liang waters, Ambon Island, Maluku Province, for the contest.

Diken said he had to dive underwater to take the award-winning shot, which took him three hours to capture. Diken said he snapped at least 100 photographs of the fisherman and his son, and chose the spearfishing picture of the young boy as it strongly reflects Maluku's traditional fishing techniques.

"Beta (Maluku's language for I) submitted the picture for the HIPA contest because this kind of local genius has become rare in our modern world. But, fishermen in Maluku, especially in Ambon Island, still catch fish in this old way," Diken said, referring to the tradition of using a spear to catch fish.

Diken, 32, has won several local and national photography competitions in the past. "I started submitting my works for the HIPA contest in 2015, and in 2017, a single picture of mine made it to the final. But, this year, I took third place in the contest's main category," he stated.

Founded in 2011, HIPA is an international photography award, initiated with the support of the crown prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid bin Mohammed al Maktoum. Offering US$400,000 in prize money, HIPA claims to be the largest prize among photography awards.

As the third-prize winner, Diken will receive a bonus of US$12,000 (around Rp168 million). He said he plans to use the cash to take his parents to Mecca, one of Islam's holiest cities in Saudi Arabia, for a Umrah pilgrimage. "It's a promise to my mother and father," he remarked.

For Diken, being recognized by one of the world's leading photography contests is more important than the prize. "Winning this prestigious competition is the dream of each and every photographer in Indonesia," Diken noted.

"I was shocked and surprised (on winning third place). I never expected my work would win at the contest. My wife, my child, and I spontaneously prostrated on the floor, offering our gratitude to the Lord Almighty Allah SWT," he added.

At this year’s HIPA contest, François Bogaerts from Belgium took the first prize, followed by Shantha Kumar Shivam Laila from India. Meanwhile, Australian photographer Jasmine Carey won the grand prize of US$120,000, "while Emirati creativity sparkled with a two-way victory through photographers Yousef bin Shakar Al Zaabi and Rashed Al Sumaiti," HIPA announced in a statement. (ANTARA)

Director General of Small, Medium and Various Industry, Gati Wibawaningsih (ANTARA)

The Indonesian Industry Ministry plans to impose safeguard measures to protect the national garment industry by preventing low-priced, imported products from flooding the markets.

"The Industry Ministry would provide protection through the imposition of safeguard measures for the garment industry. We have suggested this safeguard action on the basis that imports in the sector have increased during the past three years," the ministry's director general of Small, Medium and Various Industry, Gati Wibawaningsih, said in a statement in Jakarta on Friday.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), imports of garment products reached US$2.38 billion in the 2017-2019 period.

"The high import value in the sector should be accorded serious attention by the Industry Ministry. High imports could block domestic market potential as imported products are relatively cheap," she cautioned.

A safeguard policy would not only protect the garment industry from the flow of imported products, but it could encourage the growth of the sector, she added.

"Protection for the garment industry is a must, considering that it made a significant contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 5.4 percent in 2019," she remarked.

The safeguard measures, she said, would require synergy between the government, business associations, and business operators in the sector.

"We have to design these measures together. The government, business associations, and operators should work hand in hand to implement the safeguard measures," Wibawaningsih added.

The safeguard policy would be submitted to the Indonesian Trade Protection Committee (KPPI) of the Trade Ministry.

The imposition of the policy would be based on Government Regulation no. 34/2011 on anti-dumping, countervailing, and trade protection.

“Now is the right time to submit the safeguard policy. Hence, after the COVID-19 pandemic is handled and we return to normal conditions, the safeguard policy would be ready for implementation," she said. (ANTARA)

Minister of Social Affairs, Juliari P. Batubara, during a virtual discussion session with the press in Jakarta, Friday (12/6/2020). ANTARA/Desi Purnamawati.

The budget of the Ministry of Social Affairs reached Rp104 trillion during the COVID-19 pandemic, rising from the initial Rp62.7 trillion allocated in the budget.

"In terms of work programs, quite a substantial amount of budget was allocated up until today, with the amount having reached Rp104 trillion," Minister of Social Affairs, Juliari Batubara, stated during a virtual discussion session with reporters in the field in Jakarta, Friday.

Batubara pointed to the budget hike of Rp40 trillion that will be raised again to Rp120 trillion until December 2020.

"The Ministry of Social Affairs' budget had become the second-largest after the Ministry of Defense, from initially being the sixth-largest," he remarked.

With this substantial amount of budget, the workload of the Social Affairs Ministry too has increased mainly in connection with the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Social Affairs is tasked with distributing social assistance, in addition to regular social assistance, such as the Family Hope Program (PKH) and Non-Cash Food Assistance (BPNT), as well as special assistance for those affected by COVID-19.

The special assistance comprises basic food requirements worth Rp600 thousand, distributed monthly for a three-month period from April to June to 1.2 million beneficiaries in the Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi area. Moreover, Cash Social Assistance (BST) of the same value is intended for nine million people affected by COVID-19 outside the Jabodetabek area. (ANTARA).

Illustration - A tourist spot in Gili Trawangan, North Lombok DIstrict, West Nusa Tenggara. ANTARA/Dhimas BP

West Nusa Tenggara will reopen tourist destinations in Lombok’s three small island triplets -- Gili Trawangan, Gili Air, and Gili Meno -- that can serve as a model of reopened tourism attractions applying health protocols.

"The province will reopen tourist destinations in the three Gilis to serve as a model of tourism attractions that implement health protocols to prevent COVID-19 transmission," head of the province’s Tourism Office H. Lalu Moh Faozal remarked in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara province, on Friday.

The spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has decimated the tourism sector, thereby leading to the closure of tourism-related industries, such as hotels, in the region, he noted.

The reopening of the small islands triplets -- gili that means small island in local language -- is aimed at reviving the province's tourism industry and economy.

"We will continue to edify the public to improve their awareness to apply new normal standard procedures in their activities," he remarked.

The province' tourism office has worked jointly with the health office to formulate the standard procedure for tourism operations based on cleanliness, health, and safety (CHS).

The provincial government has also coordinated with the Lombok district administration to monitor the movement of tourists in the three islands and ensure the application of stringent health protocols in all hotels, restaurants, and tourist spots.

"These islands will be the first tourist destination to be reopened in NTB," he pointed out.

The three Gilis are a popular destination for tourists, especially for scuba diving and free diving in and around the islands, with prolific marine life and scenic coral formations.

Earlier last week, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) had expressed readiness to facilitate the recovery of the marine tourism industry in Gili Matra, North Lombok District, West Nusa Tenggara, following a plan on the implementation of the new normal amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gili Matra, spanning an area of 2,954 ha, is a national water conservation area currently being managed by KKP's Kupang National Water Conservation Office (BKKPN).

In addition to the health protocols, the Gili Matra tourism industry must follow the new normal tourism protocols on environmental preservation.(ANTARA)