Proud news comes from the children of the nation. The Reactics Chem-E-Car team from Gadjah Mada University has made another great achievement in the international Chem-E-Car competition.

Narantaka Reactics Chem-E-Car team of Gadjah Mada University took first place in the Chem-E-Car Race and third place for the best poster in the competition conducted by the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM), on the campus of Taylor's University, Selangor, Malaysia, last 1 December. This success was achieved after competing with 32 teams from various universities around the world.

Bintang Ramadhan, leader of Narantaka Reactics Chem-E-Car team of Gadjah Mada University, explained that the team started preparing for the competition in approximately one month, from October to November 2024. The preparation includes research, car design, data collection, and routine trials to get maximum results on the day of the competition.

According to Bintang, this victory is the result of hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm from all team members. Bintang further explained that this competition not only tests the technical abilities of team members, but also hones teamwork and problem-solving skills.

The Chem-E-Car competition involves several important stages that must be carried out by the team, starting from the evaluation of the car concept and safety aspect, poster presentation, to the race competition.

Interestingly, the race competition at the Institution of Engineers Malaysia event requires the car developed by each team to be able to complete two missions, namely pushing the ball to drop the bowling pin and pushing the ball into the goal.

In addition to being required to successfully complete both missions, the accuracy of the car's distance to the finish line was also taken into account. The car developed by the Reactics team was able to get a perfect point on the goal ball mission with a high level of distance accuracy.

Photo credit: Indonesian Embassy in Sarajevo

The Indonesian Embassy in Sarajevo once again participated in the Diplomatic Winter Bazaar (DWB) 2024 at Mirza Delibasic Hall, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on Saturday (7/12).

According to a press release from the Indonesian Embassy in Sarajevo, this event is a social event organized by diplomatic circles in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This year, DWB was attended by around 50 foreign representatives as well as 18 private vendors and sponsors,and was attended by 15,000 visitors.

Indonesia has participated in DWB since 2011, and 2024 is Indonesia's 3rd participation since the re-implementation of DWB after the pandemic. Indonesia's participation in DWB 2024 is a gastro-diplomacy effort in order to support the Indonesia Spice up the World programme.

During the event, the Indonesian Embassy in Sarajevo promoted Indonesian delights, such as chicken satay, bakso (meatball), and rendang, as well as Indonesian snacks, such as risoles, pastels, bakwan (vegetable fritters), onde-onde (glutinous rice flour balls), dadar gulung (rolled coconut crepes), banana bolen, and kue lumpur (mud cake).

In addition, there are a number of Indonesian handicrafts, such as batik scarves, batik blouses, rattan bags, fans, pencil cases, key chains, and more.

The Indonesian Embassy in Sarajevo said that the enthusiasm of the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the international community to taste Indonesian specialties was so high that the food and snacks provided had run out before the event closed. Some visitors also recognized Indonesian specialties.

The Indonesian Embassy in Sarajevo hopes that the brief experience felt by visitors can further encourage interest and curiosity to visit Indonesia.

Photo credit: Polri

Indonesia and Chinaarecommitted to enhancing cooperation in preventing terrorism at a meetingtaking placein Jakarta on Thursday (5/12).

On the occasion, Head of the National Counterterrorism Agency, Commissioner General Eddy Hartono said that cooperation between Indonesia and China in terms of capacity building is very important in preventing terrorism.

General Eddy Hartonowas quoted as saying in a statement confirmed by Indonesia Window here on Friday(6/12)that the collaboration is also expected to be able to provide effective solutions in dealing with the problem of terrorism, which endangers not only national security, but also regional stability.

During the meeting, General Eddy Hartonoand the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Indonesia, Wang Lutong, discussed strengthening cooperation in improving the national security of the two countries and the regional stability.

General Eddy Hartono emphasized thathis side will do its utmost to ensure that the domestic situation remains conducive and safe from terrorism. Given that both countries have long experience in dealing with terrorism, the discussion highlighted various concrete steps that can be taken to support each other's counter-terrorism efforts, including handling children associated with terror groups.

He considered the meeting to be a momentum to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in facing the increasingly complex threat of terrorism.

On the same occasion, Ambassador Wang Lutong hoped that the National Counterterrorism Agency and the Chinese government could carry out counterterrorism cooperation and training to increase the capacity of both countries.

Welcome back to the weekend edition of your Miscellany. Today, we bring you the story of the 2024 Indonesian Boat Contest (KKI), which was successfully held at the Surabaya PPNS State Polytechnic of Shipbuilding from October 23 to 27, 2024. A total of 101 teams, comprising more than 500 students from 45 universities across Indonesia, competed to showcase their best designs, innovations, and technologies on the prototype boats they had created.

The participants fiercely competed for the prestigious title in this national contest organized by the Indonesian Talent Development Center and the National Achievement Center of the Ministry of Education. A total of six categories were contested, including two main categories: design and prototype performance.

As the host, the polytechnic provided various supporting facilities to ensure the competition was conducted properly and transparently. This included live streaming for nearly all competition categories, making it easier for participants to monitor their respective prototypes. In his closing remarks, Acting Director-General of Vocational Education, Tatang Muttaqim, Ph.D., expressed his appreciation to the polytechnic for its excellent organization of the 2024 event, as well as to all participants for their outstanding performances. He emphasized that, as a maritime country, Indonesia prioritizes the blue economy, which is closely tied to water-based economic activities.

There are several aspects that made the 2024 Indonesian Boat Contest particularly special. First, there was an increase in the number of participating universities this year. Second, the competition underwent a rebranding, with its new name now the National Unmanned Fast Boat Contest (KKCTBN), along with the addition of a new category: Design Innovation.

At the 2024 Indonesian Boat Contest, the research team from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) emerged as the Overall Champion, successfully bringing home four champion trophies from this year’s event.

Welcome back to the weekend edition of Miscellany. This time, we inform you about a group of University of Indonesia students who are members of the MILBoard Team, who have successfully made Indonesia's name famous in the international arena by becoming champions at the UNESCO Youth Hackathon 2024, a prestigious event initiated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Youth Hackathon 2024 is a forum for bringing together young innovators from all over the world to design creative solutions to improve media literacy and understanding among the public. At the event, the MILBoard Team competed with 203 projects from 68 countries and managed to conquer the tight competition. This victory not only brought the MILBoard Team to the top of the championship, but also gave them the honor of attending the "UNESCO Global MIL Week Feature Conference 2024" in Amman, Jordan. In front of world leaders, they presented an innovative project that combines board games and digital applications to train children and adolescents' ability to filter information in cyberspace. As conveyed by Muhammad Rafi Aurelian R, a member of the MILBoard team, he and his team are very proud to be able to raise Indonesia's name on the world stage and play a role in advancing media literacy for the younger generation.

With an innovation that combines traditional games such as snakes and ladders, as well as interactive features such as challenge cards and QR codes, the game introduced by the UI Milboard Team offers an interesting learning experience for the younger generation. The MILBoard Team hopes that this work can reach children throughout the country, both in urban and remote areas, helping them recognize facts and avoid hoaxes. Their success shows that the creativity, innovation, and hard work of Indonesia's young generation can compete at the world level and inspire other children of the nation to continue to excel.

The Indonesian Embassy Canberra, Australia, invited more than 100 students, parents, teachers, and headmasters for a reception at the House of Indonesian Ambassador to Australia. The reception aimed to give appreciation for the students of Indonesian language and to encourage the parents, so that those students will continue studying Indonesian language at the next level of education.

The eight graders invited to the reception will decide to continue studying Indonesian language. In this event, some students gave speeches in Indonesian language. There were also explanations on Indonesian language by intern teachers at Australian schools. Some students also sang Indonesian songs, one of them was "Laskar Pelangi". Every participant also danced together to the song "Gemu Fa Mi re". The event ended with a banquet of typical Indonesian foods such as yellow rice, tempe orek, rendang, fried noodle, and meatballs.

The Education and Culture Attache at Indonesian Embassy Canberra Mukhamad Najib explained that the event was specifically designed to strengthen the promotion of Indonesian language to the students and parents. According to Najib, parents are a key factor in encouraging Australian students to study the Indonesian language.

Quoting okezone.com in Jakarta, Saturday (11/23/2024), Najib said that so far, parents of students have an influence in determining what foreign language lessons their children should take. Parents who do not understand Indonesia will encourage their sons and daughters to learn other foreign languages such as German and French. Therefore, promoting Indonesia to parents of students is important to strengthen Indonesian in Australia.

In addition, Najib said strengthening teachers and principals is also very important. According to him, principals have a role in determining whether or not there are Indonesian lessons in schools. The closure of Indonesian classes in several Australian schools is generally not because there are no students interested, but because the principals prefer European languages. Therefore, Najib believed that convincing principals about the importance of teaching Indonesian to students is a strategic thing to do.

In his remarks, Indonesian Ambassador Siswo Pramono conveyed the importance of learning Indonesian for Australian students. According to him, Indonesia is currently included in the group of the world's strong economic countries, namely the G20 group. Economic and investment opportunities in Indonesia are growing well and this provides opportunities for Australian companies to invest in Indonesia. If many Australian companies operate in Indonesia, then Australian students who master Indonesian will have a greater opportunity to work in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the Principal of Trinity Christian School, Ian Hewitt expressed his gratitude to the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra for providing opportunities and support for learning Indonesian at his school. He stated that he always supports strengthening Indonesian lessons. According to Ian, the distance from Perth to Jakarta is closer than Perth to Canberra, so it is unreasonable for Australian students not to learn Indonesian as the closest neighboring country.

According to Ian, it is undeniable that Indonesia is a very rich country in terms of social, economic, and cultural. So it will be very beneficial for Australian students if they can master Indonesian. Next year, his party will take students to visit Indonesia to get to know Indonesia better up close.

One of the students who attended the speech, Frida, said that she had been studying Indonesian at school for five years. Although there are many challenges in learning Indonesian, Frida admitted that she enjoys learning Indonesian and will continue her Indonesian lessons at the next level. Frida also expressed her gratitude for the support of the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra for Indonesian language lessons by sending assistant teachers. According to her, assistant teachers provide an opportunity to practice more conversation in Indonesian.

The parents who attended admitted that they were very interested in the way the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra convinced students and parents to learn Indonesian. They felt very supportive of their students to learn Indonesian at the next level. In addition to Indonesian being an important language in the future, the richness of Indonesian culture is also very worthy of being learned by mastering Indonesian well.

The participants enjoyed Indonesian food in the backyard of Wisma Duta. They were happy with the garden party that contained a variety of Indonesian food that the students liked. While getting to know each other and chatting, parents and teachers also seemed to really enjoy the Indonesian food served at the garden party held by the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra.

The Indonesian Embassy in Ankara on Friday (Nov 22) inaugurated the Indonesian Community Center (ICC) as a cultural and community center to strengthen Indonesia's relations with Turkey.

Indonesian Ambassador to Turkey, Achmad Rizal Purnama, through the Embassy's statement on Friday (22/11), said the center will be utilized for Indonesian language courses, cultural workshops, and art performances to introduce the richness of Indonesian culture to the Turkish people.

Quoted by ANTARA, Achmad said the center will be an important space for various social and cultural activities, in addition to supporting various activities of the Indonesian diaspora and Indonesian community organizations in Turkey, particularly in Ankara.

The center is also said to be the secretariat of the Indonesia-Turkey Friendship Association, whose members consist of prominent Turkish businessmen and academics committed to strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.

Currently, there are around 8,000 Indonesian citizens living in various cities and regions in Turkey. They include students, professionals, and individuals married to local citizens.

In Turkey, the Indonesian diaspora has established a number of organizations, including the Indonesian Student Association in Turkey, which has branches in 18 cities, an association of Indonesian citizens married to Turkish citizens in Ankara, and the Istanbul Indonesian Society.

There are also several Indonesian community organizations that have branches in Turkey, such as the Nahdlatul Ulama Special Branch Turkey, Muhammadiyah Special Branch Turkey, and the Islamic Student Association Special Branch Turkey.

The center will occupy the former Indonesian Embassy office, which was used until 2021, at 10 Prof. Dr. Aziz Sancar Street, Çankaya, Ankara.

Indonesian Ambassador to Japan, Heri Akhmadi, presented the 2024 Primaduta Award to APP Japan Limited at the Indonesian Ambassador's Residence in Tokyo, Thursday (11/21/2024).

The Primaduta Award is an annual award given by the Indonesian Minister of Trade to importers of Indonesian products abroad. This award is given as a form of appreciation for the contribution of importers in promoting Indonesian products and improving the quality of Indonesian products and human resources.

APP Japan Limited successfully beat 171 companies selected in the Performance Importer category from a total of 335 companies that registered to receive the 2024 Primaduta Award. The assessment was carried out by 20 related Ministries and Institutions in Indonesia. The assessment not only covers the value of product imports from Indonesia, but also in terms of compliance with the requirements for product import acceptance that apply in the Japanese market.

In an official statement, Ambassador Heri Akhmadi hopes this achievement can be maintained and continuously improved. He also hopes this spirit can be transmitted to other importers of Indonesian products in Japan, including Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

The Ambassador also conveyed the commitment of the Indonesian government to support business actors in strengthening economic relations, especially trade between Indonesia and Japan, through the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo.

In the statement, it was stated APP Japan's performance is real evidence of the economic diplomacy efforts of the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo in maintaining the positive export performance of Indonesian paper and tissue products in Japan. Based on existing data, currently, Indonesian paper and tissue products, through APP Japan, are able to control more than 20 percent of the market share in Japan, with an average import value of 300 million US dollars per year.

In the presentation of the 2024 Primaduta Award, Director of Market Development and Export Information, Ministry of Trade of Indonesia, Arief Wibisono, revealed APP Japan Limited successfully won the award not only because of the continuously positive import value aspect but also for its commitment in maintaining the existence of Indonesian products in the Japanese market.

APP Japan Limited is a company that started as a subsidiary of Sinar Mas Group Indonesia and has been present in Japan for the past 30 years. In addition to APP Japan Limited, a subsidiary, Universal Paper Co. Ltd., was also established, which focuses on selling tissue products and is now coloring the market in Japan.

Representative Director of APP Japan Limited, Tan Ui Sian, said one of the keys for APP Japan's imported products to survive in the Japanese market is a brand image that is strengthened by real contributions to help preserve forests in Indonesia. According to him, this effort can increase the trust of Japanese consumers to continue buying paper and tissue products from Indonesia.

Since 2010, APP Japan together with its main retail partner in Japan, Askul, has launched the 1 Box 2 Trees program, where for every sale of 1 box of paper products, APP will plant 2 tree seedlings to support sustainable forest conservation. This commitment continued in 2020, where APP Japan, in collaboration with the Belantara Foundation, launched the Forest Restoration program and invited all Japanese distributor/retailer partners to contribute to this program.

Rumah Indonesia or La Maison de L'Indonésie in France is promoting the archipelago's culinary through the Flavors of Indonesia event which will be held to welcome Winter in the country. According to the press release of La Maison de L'Indonésie received in Jakarta on Wednesday (20/11),  the Flavors of Indonesia event is held as part of gastro-diplomacy, with the aim of introducing Indonesian flavors and promoting the archipelago's typical food and beverage products. This activity will begin in December 2024. Some of these activities include Special Testing Chocolate which will be held at the Rumah Indonesia shop on December 6-8, 2024  and Rumah Indonesia's participation representing Indonesia at the Christmas Market which will be held at Place de la Bastille in Paris on December 14, 2024.

At the Special Testing Chocolate event, Rumah Indonesia will introduce Indonesian chocolate which will be processed into various types of food,  such as chocolate rendang,  chocolate lapis legit,  chocolate durian,  chocolate chili, chocolate cendol,  chocolate klepon.  Collaborating with Chef Stanly Rutten from Rumah Rasa in the Netherlands, the event which lasts for three days will also serve Indonesian drinks, such as jamu,  coffee, and tea.

For the participation in the Christmas Market, Rumah Indonesia will represent Indonesia in a culinary festival  which will be attended by hundreds of participants from other countries in the world. In the event, Rumah Indonesia will serve Indonesian specialties, such as rendang, palm sugar milk coffee, tubruk coffee  and jamu. The event is the first culinary event held in Paris, and is the largest International Christmas Market in Paris.

In addition to these promotional events, Rumah Indonesia also often serves Indonesian food and beverage products in their shop which takes place every day except Monday.