VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Embassy in Paris promoted a t-shirt with an exclusive design in commemorating the 76th Anniversary of Indonesian Independence in Paris, France on Tuesday (17/8). The sale of the exclusive t-shirt also enlivened the Merci concept store in Paris. For a whole month, various Indonesian creative products filled the huts and shelves of Merci Stores in Paris in a promotion entitled "Merci Beyond Bali". The presence of Indonesian products at Merci shows that even amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the resilient Indonesian people continue to work to grow and recover from the impact of the pandemic. In commemorating Indonesia's independence, on August 17, 2021, the Merci store launched a t-shirt with a special design that was sold exclusively and limitedly. The T-shirt design features the logo of the spirit of the 76th anniversary of Indonesian Independence, namely “Indonesia Resilient, Indonesia Growing” combined with the feel of summer in Paris.

Oxford City Council in collaboration with the Indonesian Embassy in London, the Indonesian diasporas and students held 'Indonesia in Oxford 2021.' The event to strengthen Indonesia-UK cultural relations was held in Oxford City, England, Saturday (21/8).  The event themed 'A Day of Inspirations & amp; The Opportunities' offered gamelan workshops, learning Indonesian for foreign speakers and demonstrations of Indonesian cuisine for British people living in Oxford and its surrounding area. Indonesian Ambassador to the UK, Ireland and IMO, Desra Percaya explained that Indonesia's presence in Oxford City is of strategic value, considering that Oxford is one of the most important and historic cities in the UK, as well as one of the world's academic centers.

The government of Indonesia officially opened the Indonesian Honorary Consulate in Constanta, Romania which coincided with the commemoration of the 76th Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia. Indonesian Ambassador to Romania and the Republic of Moldova, Amhar Azeth submitted a Presidential Decree to the Indonesian Honorary Consul in Constanta, Emil Sirbu. It marked the official opening of the Honorary Consulate in the city on Tuesday (17/8). The Indonesian Embassy in Bucharest in its written statement  received in Jakarta on Wednesday (18/8) stated  that the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia in Constanta City also serves in a number of other regions in Romania, including Tulcea, Braila, Galati , Giurgiu, Vaslui, Vrancea, Ilfov, and Prahova. The presence of the Indonesian representative in Constanta is expected to contribute to the development of bilateral relations between Indonesia and Romania in the economic field, people-to-people contact and other fields that have the potential to be further explored.

Besides, the representative of Indonesia is also expected to facilitate the entry of products from Indonesia to the European market, particularly in the Eastern European region and vice versa. Constanta, as a port city in Romania, is located about 227 kilometers to the east of the Romanian capital, Bucharest. Moreover, Indonesia is also considered to be a bridge for Romania in order to foster relations with countries in the Southeast Asian region. The inauguration of the honorary consulate was also witnessed by high-ranking officials in Romania, including the State Secretary of the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration, Mihai Lupu and Mayor of Constanta, Vergil Chitac. The inauguration ceremony was held face-to-face by applying health protocols. On the occasion, both countries presented typical culinary dishes of each country to be enjoyed by  the invitees. On the sidelines of the event, the invitees also enjoyed cultural performances by Romanian artists, including Balinese dance performances, Gamelan, and Poco-Poco dance and Maumere gymnastics.

Students of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, University of Indonesia (FIB UI) created an innovation for learning literature in the form of board games and cards with the theme of Indonesian literature called the Indonesian Language and Literature Game Board (Paman Sandi). This innovation was initiated by Paman Sandi's Student Creativity Program Team for Entrepreneurship (PKM-K). The idea for this innovation stems from their discovery of data from the Indonesian Survey Institute in 2018 about the lack of interest in studying literature in Indonesia.

From the problem, the three UI students got an idea to form Paman Sandi as a non-book literary learning product. In addition to the literary elements, Paman Sandi's product raises the language element which is applied to the questions. This is also based on the inequality of the names of national writers who are better known than regional writers. The shape of this game is like the Uno game card with a shape like a rectangular net that can be disassembled into a board. This game is also packed with 40 literary cards which are the main points of the game.

On each literary card, there are two sides of information; on the front side there is brief information about face illustrations, place of birth date, works of Indonesian writers, as well as interesting facts about the writer. Meanwhile, on the back side of the card, there are three questions about language and related to the interesting facts of the writer, as well as a quote from the writer's literary work. This game relies on the cards that the players get and the system is to exchange cards and answer questions on the cards. Each player is asked to question what card he wants to have with other players, for example a red card from the Java Island. If the player can answer the question posed by the opposing player who holds the red Java Island card, he or she is entitled to the literary card.

One of the cultures in marking Islamic big day, especially in the month of Java Suro (Muharam, Arabic), in addition to every 1 Suro night or the beginning of Suro jamasan keris or heirlooms. At 10 Muharam (Asyuro) is also very famous for the culture of Porridge Syuro.

Syuro porridge is like chicken porridge, but without the sauce and topped with shredded, dry tempeh, omelet, and other side dishes, it has always been the culture of Muslims and most of the Javanese.

If jamasan (washing) a keris or heirloom, it is like washing or cleaning a self as a form of philosophy of repenting and renewing with something new and good.

While the Syuro Porridge with white color with various additional side dishes and others is given the meaning that humans must whiten themselves or clean themselves. Because humans are basically full of knick-knacks of various kinds of mistakes like the side dish of Syuro Porridge.

According to Ustad Mahfudi, that the long journey of Noah's ship arrived at Zuhdi hill during the world flood, and failed to save his son, Kan'an. Approaching anchoring, when the position of the food is running low, it saves all the passengers on the ship by pulverizing the leftover food.

"So at that time the food on the ship was running low, then to keep enough and get the blessing, it was mashed into one and divided equally, all the passengers on the ship, until safe and. anchored in Asyuro," he said, Thursday (19/8/2021) to rri.co.id.

So, he said, if there is now Syuro Porridge, the history of the porridge itself already exists when 10 Muharam (Asyuro) became the staple food of the people of Noah's people who survived, as well as save the entire ship of Noah. 

According to Mahfudi, the porridge is the same but the shape and taste are different, it just means that the porridge from the time of Noah became a kind of togetherness, and now it is continued to maintain togetherness with friendship. To remind each other of truth and patience. (KBRN Surabaya)