VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - A chef from Qatar, Hassan Abdullah Alibrahim, said that he felt inspired by a visit to Petisah Market in Medan city, North Sumatra, where he got see a variety of vegetables, fruits, and spices.

His visit was organized on Sunday as part of the Qatar-Indonesia 2023 Year of Culture program.

"I got inspired on what to cook. Maybe I will make food that combines Qatari and Indonesian cultures," Alibrahim told ANTARA at Petisah Market here on Sunday.

The vegetables, fruits, and spices sold at Petisah Market are unique and interesting, he observed. He admitted that he had never even tried some of them.

For that reason, Alibrahim, who was accompanied by a well-known Qatari chef, Noof Ali Marri, bought some spices to take home, one of which was andaliman (Zanthoxylum acanthopodium).

They also tasted several fruits sold at the market, for example, tamarillos and mangoes.

"The taste is very interesting. This is a good experience for me. As a chef, I really like visiting traditional places like this and seeing the goods sold there," he said.

During their visit, Alibrahim and Marri were accompanied by Indonesian chef Arsyan Dwianto who was the third-place winner in the ninth season of MasterChef Indonesia.

Santhi Serad, the program coordinator of Iftar and Culinary Journey Qatar-Indonesia and one of the founders of the I Love Indonesian Food (ACMI) community, also joined them.

Serad said she took the two Qatari chefs to traditional markets like Petisah Market so that they could observe the regional cooking culture—in this case, North Sumatra’s—first-hand.

"To observe the characteristics of the cuisine, spices, and natural potential in a region, we have to go to the traditional market," she added.

The annual cultural program Qatar-Indonesia 2023 Year of Culture is being carried out in three regions, namely Papua (from June 19–24, 2023), Medan, North Sumatra (June 24–26), and Bali (June 27–July 2).

In Medan, the chefs took part in a series of activities, such as the visit to Petisah Market, a cooking workshop at Medan 14 Vocational School, and cooking traditional Batak snacks at the home of a local resident. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani reiterated the importance of global cooperation in the efforts to face climate change, as she believes that a country cannot work alone.

"Cooperation is needed, be it in terms of financing, technology, and expertise, in order to realize a fair and affordable transition for all," the minister remarked at the 2023 Paris Summit held on June 21-23, as quoted from the official statement received here on Monday.

The minister noted that several developing countries were facing financial constraints in their efforts to overcome the effects of climate change.

Bearing that in mind, Mulyani emphasized the importance of support from the global financial system, including multilateral development banks, in the efforts to address financing gaps experienced by developing countries, in particular.

Furthermore, the minister urged developed countries to take concrete steps to help finance climate change-related actions, including by fulfilling their commitment to provide the budget of US$100 billion per year.

Mulyani then drew attention to more dangerous climate change effects that can cause disastrous losses, both to the environment and humans.

In order to anticipate such dangers, Minister Mulyani highlighted several measures that can be taken, including increasing the capacity of multilateral development banks and financial agencies by prioritizing grant facilities and other concessional financing schemes.

The minister attended the summit on behalf of President Joko Widodo in response to the invitation of President of France Emmanuel Macron.

The climate summit was organized, with the objective of providing a forum for discussion and strengthening multilateral cooperation in finding solutions to issues related to global financing as an effort to achieve the common targets encapsulated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

On the sidelines of the summit, the minister also attended a series of bilateral meetings in London and Paris to exchange insights on global economic recovery, energy transition, the financing of climate change and carbon market, as well as Indonesia's ASEAN Chairmanship this year.

Minister Mulyani met several important figures, including the finance ministers of the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and India as well as representatives of the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the Climate Policy Initiative.

The minister also made the most of the bilateral meetings to seek support for Indonesia's priority agendas, such as in the energy and financial sectors, including cooperation at the G20 forum and strategic multilateral financial institutions. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is scheduled to make an announcement on the launch of the non-judicial resolution of past cases involving human rights violations in Aceh on Tuesday (June 27, 2023).

He confirmed that after inspecting Palmerah Market here on Monday.

"Will do, of course," the head of state said.

He informed that his administration has tasked Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD, with looking into the history of past gross human rights violations.

Minister Mahfud said that the kick-off event for the resolution of the cases will take place in Rumoh Geudong, Pidie district, Aceh.

According to Widodo, the government has acknowledged human rights violations in at least 12 past incidents.

Three of the incidents took place in Aceh: Rumoh Geudong and Pos Sattis in Pidie in 1989, Simpang KKA in North Aceh in 1999, and South Aceh Jambo Keupok in 2003, he said.

Minister Mahfud said that law enforcement against human rights violations in Aceh will not cease, and it is currently being handled by the National Commission on Human Rights' ad hoc team.

The victims of the human rights violations are spread across many places, such as Russia, Germany, Papua, and more, he informed. Hence, Rumoh Geudong was selected as the place for announcing the resolution of the cases.

The minister further said that there were some infrastructures that were damaged during those incidents, such as houses and mosques, which will be renovated. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Indonesian government on Monday dispatched humanitarian aid for the people affected by Tropical Cyclone Mocha in Rakhine State of Myanmar last May.

The humanitarian aid was sent off directly by Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy and Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Lt. Gen. Suharyanto at Soekarno Hatta Airport, Tangerang, Banten, on Monday.

They were accompanied by representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Indonesian delegations.

"This aid delivery is held based on the instruction of President Joko Widodo in response to the aid request official letter delivered by Myanmar to Indonesia," Effendy informed.

The aid worth US$525,464 is in the form of 45 tons of logistics supplies and equipment, comprising tarpaulins, family tents, refugee tents, carpentry tools, instant foods, hygiene kits, blankets, mattresses, and generators, the minister said.

"In addition, Indonesia has also provided a Herculean aircraft carrier to bring AHA Center (ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management) aid from Subang, Malaysia, to Yangon," he added.

According to Effendy, Indonesia has provided the aid to Myanmar as part of its humanitarian solidarity effort in the region as well as in its capacity as the chair of 2023 ASEAN.

"Earlier, similar humanitarian aid was also delivered by Indonesia in 2011 when Myanmar was struck by a flood," he informed.

Suharyanto led the direct aid handover to humanitarian representatives from Myanmar on Monday at 2 p.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB).

The aid was transported on Garuda Indonesia GA 8560 and My Indo Airlines airplanes which were scheduled to arrive at Yangon International Airport, Myanmar, at 5 p.m. local time the same day.

Tropical Cyclone Mocha devastated building infrastructure and public facilities in most of Rakhine state. As per temporary data and estimates, around 1.23 million people were affected by the disaster and 70 percent of Rakhine state was damaged in the cyclone.

The rainy season further exacerbated the situation, with 90 percent of public facilities experiencing severe damage. (Antaranews)