VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

If you are a culinary lover, and are in South Sulawesi, one of the typical South Sulawesi foods that you must try is Songkolo Bagadang. It is called songkolo because it comes from the word "Sokko" which means sticky rice. Because songkolo comes from processed sticky rice. "Bagadang" or staying up late is added because this food is often found late at night.

This Songkolo menu is included in the type of heavy food, because the main ingredient is made from white or black sticky rice. This sticky rice is cooked with coconut juice or coconut milk that makes the sokko taste delicious and sticky, especially with the addition of grated coconut which has been processed into "bajabu" or serundeng. Bajabu is often the best pairing for delicious sokko and is the right combination to shake up the tongue.

Usually, songkolo or sokko is combined with crispy anchovies, salted eggs and tomato sauce. Even in some places, songkolo is sometimes combined with chicken or beef. The combination of various flavors, including sweet, sour, spicy, savory and sticky, will add to the enjoyment of eating this songkolo. If you intend to bring songkolo or songkolo bagadang at home, then usually each portion of songkolo bagadang is wrapped in banana leaves tied with rubber. One pack of songkolo is sold from Rp 10 thousand to Rp 15 thousand. It’s very cheap, isn’t it?

For Makasar residents, songkolo is generally also eaten in the morning as breakfast before doing activities. What's unique is that when buying songkolo, you have to weigh it first, because there are 1.5 ounce packages and 2.5 ounce packages. These are, of course, different prices.

The Indonesian Embassy in Canberra Australia presented dances from various regions in Indonesia at the 2024 National Multicultural Festival organized by the local government on Saturday. Education and Culture Attaché of the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra Mukhamad Najib in a statement explained for this agenda the embassy presented Saman Dance from Aceh Randai Dance from West Sumatra and the Lutung Kasarung performance from West Java. Najib explained art performances from these three regions were meant to make the world community become more familiar with the diverse culture of Indonesia, apart from the already well-known Balinese culture. The Indonesian Embassy in Canberra's arts team also contributed to the Saman Dance performance. In addition, the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra especially invited the arts team from the Faculty of Language and Arts Education, Jakarta State University, to perform at the 2024 Australian National Multicultural Festival. Najib said, the audience who packed the location at the Canberra Center warmly welcomed the artistic performances from Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the Dean of the Faculty of Language and Arts Education, Jakarta State University, Liliana Muliastuti said the faculty wants to continue to be involved in introducing and promoting Indonesian culture to the world community. According to her, the 2024 National Multicultural Festival in Australia is very suitable for the mission which is part of the international community service activities of the Faculty of Language and Arts Education, Jakarta State University, She noted those who attended the event came from many countries. The biggest annual cultural festival in the Australian capital took place from 16-18 February 2024 and was attended by representatives from various countries in Canberra, including Indonesia. Besides dance arts, the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra also opened an Indonesian booth to introduce various tourist destinations and Indonesian food as well as Indonesian visa application procedures to the local community.

Indonesian students make the Indonesian nation proud i. the international world. After competing with students from European, American, Asian and Middle Eastern countries, the students from MAN 4 Islamic school Jakarta successfully won a gold medal at the 2024 Asean Innovative Science Environmental And Entrepreneur Fair (AISEEF) research event which was held online and offline on 2-5 February 2024. The research team was headed by Alifia Kayyisa (XII IPA 1), consisting of Afralifia Cahya Nadira (XII IPA 1), Ezza Azkiya Sanee (XII IPA 5), Rifelli Azkiyah Luqman (XI-4), and Nadia Pintenate (X-13). In their research, they examined banana peels to determine the borax content in food.

The research team consisting of five students conducted research for three weeks at MAN 4 Jakarta. They were accompanied by Nugroho Wahyu Sumartono as the supervising teacher. MAN 4 team leader, Alifia Kayyisa explained that banana peels contain many organic compounds that can be converted into carbon dots. Carbon dots are a carbon-based material that is nano-sized, non-toxic, and has the property of fluorescing with different colors depending on the substance involved when illuminated with a UV lamp. With these properties, carbon dots can be used as an alternative to identify borax in food. Alifia said that banana peels were chosen because the waste was very abundant. In this way, she hopes that the results of his research can be useful in making banana peel waste more useful. The team also concluded that borax is a material that is dangerous for the body. Meanwhile, the distribution of foods containing borax is currently very widespread and not everyone knows about it.

The competition was held by the Indonesian Young Scientist Association in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering, Diponegoro University (Undip), Semarang, Central Java. There are 447 teams taking part in AISEEF 2024 from 17 countries, namely the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Romania, Iran, Greece, Turkey, Macedonia, Portugal, the United States, Korea South, China, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. 152 Teams took part in the competition offline at the Undip campus. Meanwhile, 295 other teams participated online. AISEEF participants also consist of middle school, high school, vocational school students and university students.

The Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia held a Round Table Dialogue on Indonesia-Cambodia Relations for 65 Years at the Indonesian Embassy building on Tuesday (13/2). The dialogue aims at discussing aspects of relations of both countries, coinciding with the 65th anniversary of bilateral relations between Indonesia and Cambodia in 2024, precisely on February 13. Indonesian Ambassador to Cambodia, Santo Darmosumarto in the opening session of the event conveyed the dialogue aimed at taking ideas from academic discussions involving leading scholars and proposed strategies to further improve bilateral relations over the next 65 years.

Some important issues were discussed in this activity, such as the strong historical relationship between Indonesia and Cambodia, cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, tourism and infrastructure as well as the potential for partnerships in dealing with regional and global issues. The participants affirmed the importance to further strengthen the development of the ASEAN community through programs and activities that directly benefit the peoples of both countries. According to Ambassador Santo, Indonesia does not only want to be known for its services in Cambodia in the past, but also as a partner to advance Cambodia's developing economy. The Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh also suggested establishing a commitment between the governments of both countries to empower the young generation in shaping the future bilateral relations between Indonesia and Cambodia.

The dialogue was attended by Senior Minister Sok Siphana, Ambassador Phou Suthirak from the Center for Regional Studies of Cambodia, Vora Huy Kanthoul from the Cambodian Institute for Peace and Cooperation, and Mey Kalyan from the Cambodian Institute for Development and Resources. In addition to Indonesia from Bina Nusantara University Jakarta, Tirta Nugraha Mursitama and from the University of Indonesia, Ardhitya Yeremia. Last year, Indonesia was ranked 6th in trade partners of Cambodia, with total bilateral trade of around US$1.1 billion. Indonesia's successful leadership in ASEAN in 2023 was built on the achievements that Cambodia achieved during its ASEAN chairmanship in the previous year.