VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia launches a book to commemorate 25-year bilateral relations with South Africa

To commemorate 25-year diplomatic relations with South Africa, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Pretoria, South Africa, on Saturday (17/10 launched a book entitled "Indonesia South Africa: A South – South Partnership in the Making."  In the launch of the book  held virtually, the Indonesian Embassy in Pretoria collaborated with the South African Institute for International Affairs (SAIIA). It was attended by hundreds of academicians, policy observers, government officials and the diplomatic corps from Indonesia and South Africa.

The Indonesian Embassy in Pretoria in a written statement in Jakarta on Saturday (17/10) stated that the book contains of insights and perspectives on various topics such as the history of Indonesia-South Africa relations, contemporary issues and ideas for future  cooperation written by contributors of both countries.

Indonesian Ambassador to South Africa, Salman Al Farisi in his remarks emphasized the strong history of relations between the two countries and encouraged both sides not to fully feel satisfied with the current achievements. Moreover, he also highlighted  many potentials that can be explored by both countries. 

On the occasion,  Director General for Asia and the Middle East of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Africa, Ambassador Anil Sooklal affirmed  the importance of the South-South Cooperation scheme and both countries need to strengthen their people-to-people contacts in this modern era. In this virtual event, all related stakeholders of both countries are encouraged to maintain and improve the long-standing relations between Indonesia and South Africa.

Indonesian Embassy in Moscow promotes Indonesian coffee considering its very promising potential. First Secretary of the Education and Culture Function of the Indonesian Embassy in Moscow, Enjay Diana said in an informal meeting on Thursday (October 15), there were five representatives from three importers of Russian specialty coffee, namely Traveler's Coffee, Tea Company No.1 and Cezve Coffee that are interested in Specialty Coffee from Indonesia. It is hoped that this cooperation will increase the target of the Indonesian Embassy in Moscow to make Indonesia into the top five coffee exporting countries in Russia to be achieved in 2021. This meeting is part of a series of activities to commemorate the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Russia in 2020. Currently, Indonesian specialty coffee which is the most popular in Russia, generally is coming from Sumatra.

Indonesia is ready to host the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction -GPDRR forum in Bali in 2022. The government has started preparing and identifying the needs and problems that must be resolved immediately. This meeting will be the biggest event to be held in Bali, after Indonesia hosted the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in 2018. The government believes that Indonesia will benefit greatly from the willingness to host the GPDRR on 23-28 May 2022. Apart from being a soft diplomacy event to gain United Nations’ recognition, Indonesia is also benefited from the revival of the tourism sector, especially post-Covid-19 pandemic.

Padjadjaran University (Unpad) students developed the idea of a solar-powered electric bicycle. Using energy from the sun, the bicycle, which is named "Easy Bike", is believed to be more environmentally friendly than other electric bikes currently sold on the market. Apart from being environmentally friendly, Easy Bike also has access to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), GPS, and calorie counter. Because it utilizes solar energy, several charging stations have been initiated in the campus environment.

With the presence of Easy Bike, it is hoped that the use of motor vehicles on campus can be reduced and switch to using environmentally friendly vehicles. Considering the contours of the Unpad campus have many uphill roads and are challenging for the students who want to cycle, this environmentally friendly electric bicycle can also be a solution. One of the team members, Mutiara explained that his side has also calculated the carbon dioxide emissions that are estimated to be reduced if the students on the Unpad campus use Easy Bike. It is estimated that more than a thousand tons of carbon dioxide will be reduced if this electric bicycle is actually applied.

For charging, the team has also made a prototype electric bicycle with a charging station. In the future, Easy Bike will continue to be refined and it is hoped that it can be implemented on the Unpad campus. The idea of a solar-powered electric bicycle won first place in the Student Category National Scientific Writing Competition at the VOSICO event held by the State University of Malang in August 2020.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic that is still being dealt with in Thailand, Thai riot police carried out an evacuation at the outer office of the Thai prime minister from hundreds of thousands of protesters in the early hours on Thursday (15/10). An emergency decree was issued to tackle the growing protests by banning large crowds and the publishing of sensitive news.

A series of demonstrations over the past three months has brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets of Bangkok, Thailand. They are demanding the removal of Prime Minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, former leader of a military regime, and a new constitution. The protesters are breaking a long-standing taboo against the royal family, by calling for reforms to King Maha Vajiralongkorn's monarchy. They even dared to block the motorcade of the royal family, an act which the government used as an excuse to establish its emergency measure.

As soon as the emergency decree took effect at 04:00 local time, anti-riot police approached the protesters who were camping outside the Government Building. But many of them had left on Wednesday night.

The period of the Covid-19 pandemic is indeed a tough time for almost all governments in many countries. Maintaining economic stability is the biggest difficulty that must be faced. What is interesting is that in Thailand, whether it is the post-lockdown effect or otherwise, people are starting to question the power of the Thai monarchy that has not been touched. This is the first time the King of Thailand has been dogged by protests. Something has been taboo;  even violated the law.

Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn is known as one of the richest monarchs in the world with royal family assets conservatively valued at US $ 70 billion dollars. This is now the focus of the pro-democracy movement which demands greater transparency in monarchical finances, and limits on its very broad powers. This is the basis of the demonstration movement amid the pandemic which is then attempted to be resolved by decree.

Perhaps, this decree issued by the Thai government could hold back the demonstration. However, the Covid-19 pandemic is still difficult to predict when it will shake off. It is equally difficult to predict whether Thailand will not continue to be rocked by further demonstrations.