VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

to break the fast, we need a sweet, delicious and refreshing food or drink after fasting for approximately 12 hours. Usually, the favourite of Mandailing tribes during the month of Ramadan is Toge Panyabungan, which is one of the iftar menus that tastes sweet and refreshing. If you hear the name, Toge Panyabungan, people will think that this is the name of a type of vegetable, but it turns out that this is the name of a typical snack from Panyabungan City, Mandailing Natal district, North Sumatra.

Toge Panyabungan has been famous in Mandailing Natal since the 1940s, and since 2017. It has been designated as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of North Sumatra. In its place of origin in Mandailing Natal, Toge Panyabungan is served with shaved ice cubes, while in Medan, one of the fast-breaking menus is served warm. To make it even more savoury, before serving, the Toge Penyabungan is first doused with coconut milk and palm sugar water.

In its presentation, Toge Panyabungan looks like iced cendol or es campur. What distinguishes it is the type of mixture contained in it. Because the Toge Panyabungan consists of coconut milk, liquid brown sugar, and cendol, red sticky rice, ordinary sticky rice, tape, candil, and lupis. Toge Panyabungan must use real palm sugar, and the coconut milk must also be thick, and the lupis pulut must also be of high quality so that the taste is perfect. Most Toge Panyabungan vendors still maintain the traditional processing of raw ingredients by cooking it using a wood-burning stove. Then, the combination of white pulut, black sticky rice, candil spheres and cendol is cooked with coconut milk and palm sugar. One bowl of Toge Panyabungan is usually sold from Rp5,000 to Rp10,000.

Being an alumnus of a university abroad is certainly an honor. However, making a real contribution to Indonesia is more important and priding. Based on this understanding, the British Council is holding the Study UK Alumni Awards again. At the Fairmont Hotel in Jakarta on Wednesday (7/3/2024), the biennial awards event was held as a recognition of Indonesian student alumni in the UK who have had a positive impact on Indonesia. The Study UK Alumni Awards have 4 winners from 4 categories, namely Science & Sustainability, Culture & Creativity, Social Action as well as Business & Innovation

The winners and finalists of the Study UK Alumni Awards went through a quite long selection stage. The British Council opened this competition to the public. So, all Study UK alumni can register. Then, every alumnus who registers will be selected by the British Council and then evaluated in stages. The following are the names of the winners of the 2024 Study UK Alumni Awards: the Science & Sustainability Category was won by Wulan Koagouw, the Culture & Creativity Category was won by Denny Rasyid Priyatna, the Social Action Category was won by Tara Subba, and the Business & Innovation Category was won by Redita Aliyah Utomo. The British Council gave appreciation in the form of cash of GBP 2,000 (around Rp. 40 million) to each winner. The prize is awarded to support their professional development through courses, conferences and exhibitions.

The 2024 Study UK Alumni Award aims to continue to strengthen the interest of students from Indonesia to study in the UK. In addition, this event also marks the 75th anniversary of UK-Indonesia diplomatic relations, and it is a form of ongoing commitment supported by the UK government's seriousness in providing a platform that can introduce UK university alumni from Indonesia to the international stage.

           
On February 26, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno launched IndoFringe@Sekolah. IndoFringe@Sekolah is a creative economy movement in building and running inclusive and sustainable creative economy programs.

At the launch, Sandiaga Uno said that Indofringe@Sekolah is a forum for introducing and broadening the horizons of the younger generation about the creative economy. Especially regarding the implementation of festivals as a showcase for various sub-sectors of the creative economy.

Sandi Uno also supports IndoFringe@Sekolah, whose coverage will be expanded this year. IndoFringe@Skolah 2024 will be held in 20 cities in Indonesia with a target of 20-25 schools involved in each city.

In the IndoFringe@Sekolah program, the team from Indofringe provides educational programs for students and teachers regarding the creation and implementation of events using three learning methods. Namely project-based learning, collaborative lessons, and experience-based lessons provided by mentors from Indofringe.

The learning process for each school lasts for 12 weeks involving 10 selected students and 1 teacher. The material provided is related to festival planning, sponsorship, production and design, talent curation, promotion, as well as awards and certification.

After that, each school will hold a festival as a form of final learning and competition from all participating schools in IndoFringe@Sekolah.

In 2023 IndoFringe@Sekolah will be successfully implemented in 218 schools by presenting 396 performances, 1,327 talents, 11,553 visitors by presenting various creative works in the festival, starting from modern dance, traditional dance, band/music, solo vocal, painting, and theater.

The diversity of Indonesian culture was presented in the Malay Day cultural festival which was held in Yala City, Yala Province (23-25/2). Melayu Day is one of the biggest cultural festivals in southern Thailand which was initiated by the Yala City Government since 2014 in collaboration with the Indonesian Consulate Songkhla and the Malaysian Consulate General Songkhla.

During the three days of the event, Indonesia presented cultural clothing and dance performances, educational exhibitions, culinary promotions, and typical products from Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The Ratoh Jaroe dance presented by Ar-Raniry State Islamic University Banda Aceh opened the Indonesian performance, which was then followed by the Sinanggar Tullo dance from Kadin Fashion. Visitors also have the opportunity to taste the culinary taste of Acehnese noodles which are rich in spices and prepared directly by chefs from Aceh.

This cultural performance is used by various universities in Indonesia to introduce study programs including scholarship offers. Students in southern Thailand have always made Indonesia one of the destination countries to continue their higher education. Several Indonesian educational institutions taking part included Galuh University, Darunnajah University, National University of Jakarta, UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh, Muhammadiyah University of North Sumatra.

To support MSMEs Go Global, the Indonesian Consulate in Songkhla also facilitated the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Indonesian business actors operating in the apparel sector and their partners from Thailand. It is hoped that this signing will further increase product penetration, especially Indonesian Muslim clothing, in southern Thailand. Indonesia's participation is a good momentum as well as an effort to promote Indonesian culture, education and economy and strengthen Indonesia's image.