VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Traveling to South Sulawesi, particularly  Makassar City, you don't have to forget to taste its various typical  culinary. One of them is Bassang. Bassang is a kind of porridge food. The main raw ingredient is Pulut corn or typical sticky corn  of Makassar. This culinary is usually eaten in the morning as breakfast or as a snack in the afternoon. It is very delicious to eat while it is still warm.

The main ingredient is Pulut corn, namely the corn with white seeds. The texture of the corn is softer than yellow sweet corn. Besides  Pulut corn, Bassang is also made from wheat flour, sugar and salt. To make it,  you just soak the corn overnight. Then, you must boil it and add some coconut milk and Pandan leaves. Then, it is cooked with a mixture of flour and water, then add enough salt and vanilla until it is cooked. Bassang is served in a thick form like rice porridge but the texture of the corn still looks intact. Then, sprinkle it with sugar based on the taste you like. It  can also be given other variations, such as grated cheese, messy  chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate powder milk, spices, or eggs.

When it is eaten, it tastes delicious, sweet with a smooth and thick texture. Bassang can also be enjoyed for a breakfast menu of someone who is getting sick. Currently, it is not easy to find Bassang in restaurants, because Bassang sellers sell  it on motorbikes around  villages. The price of one cup of Bassang is relatively cheap, about Rp. 5,000 to Rp. 10,000.

Two Indonesian students from Ambon, Maluku made achievements in the international arena in the 2020 International Conference of Young Social Scientists (ICYSS). Both of them are Angelica Hitijahubessy and Fiodory Leuwol. These students, who are currently pursuing junior high school education at the GenIUS School, won 2nd place in the field of psychology, with a research entitled "Mikaniki's Effect in Improving Cognitive Pattern Recognition".

Chairperson of the GenIUS School Committee, Edwin Matatula said in Ambon, Tuesday (Nov 17) that Mikaniki is a digital game prototype developed by Azalia Herma, S.Si and Dr. F.X. Ivan, Ph.D. Mikaniki focuses on using patterns and numbers as symbols, and has an interesting storyline. In this study, Mikaniki was used to improve cognitive abilities in pattern recognition. 

According to Edwin, based on research, this game is able to improve the cognitive ability of pattern recognition of elementary school students from eastern Indonesia by 37.4 percent. However, this research will continue to be studied further. It was explained that this research emerged after the two students played the Mikaniki game. Then, they were interested in introducing it to others. In this study, they examined the effects of Mikaniki's game on elementary students from eastern Indonesia.

Edwin Mataluta further said that this proud achievement was inseparable from the Ambon City Government's policies in the education sector. The International Conference of Young Social Scientists (ICYSS) is a competition for youth scientific work in the fields of psychology, history, geography, sociology, and economics, which is designated for the best high school students around the world.

The 2020 International Conference of Young Social Scientists is the third time it has been held since 2018. This year, it was held in Serbia. Students who become participants are representatives of the country or cannot be sent individually. In 2019, with the same research, Angelica and Fiodory won the first place in the 2019 Youth Papua Research Competition and became participants in the 2019 National Youth Research Competition. Then, this achievement led them to an international event held in Serbia. They competed with participants from eight other countries, namely Guam, Macau, Malaysia, Slovenia, Turkey, Republic of Moldova, and Mexico.

Indonesian Minister of Trade Agus Suparmanto officially closed the 35th Trade Expo Indonesia Virtual Exhibition (TEI-VE) in Jakarta, Monday (Nov16). Until the last day of its implementation, this year's TEI-VE has recorded a total transaction value of 678.1 million US dollars. Minister Agus expressed his gratitude and high appreciation to all parties who participated and supported this activity.

This year's Trade Expo Indonesia Virtual Exhibition managed to record a temporary transaction value of US $ 678.1 million, covering trade in goods, investment and services. This value will continue to increase, considering that there are several transactions still in the negotiation stage until the closing of the product exhibition on December 10, 2020. The Minister said, in this TEI-VE, the countries with the highest trade transactions in goods are Japan, Egypt, Australia, Malaysia, and Netherlands. While the products with the largest transaction value are paper, coffee, vehicles and vehicle components, strategic industrial products, and spices. Until the last day, the 35th TEI-VE had been visited by 7,156 people from 127 countries. The largest number of visitors came from India, followed by Pakistan and the United States.

Minister Agus Suparmanto explained that various other activities were also carried out in this 35th TEI-VE. These activities include the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Director General of National Export Development with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Trade Tourism and Investment Forum, the launch of the IDN Store platform, business forums, business outreach activities, and virtual business meetings between the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency and buyers from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

The Minister also expressed his appreciation to foreign trade representatives who were actively promoting the 35th TEI-VE by holding various activities such as socializing the TEI-VE in countries respectively, assisting buyers in finding Indonesian products, opening a help desk, and holding business gatherings. Synergy, coordination, and collaboration between the government and business actors in increasing national exports will continue to be improved in the future. Therefore, export performance will continue to increase and contribute to driving the wheels of the national economy.

The animation film, "Battle of Surabaya" is screened at the Argentine cultural festival

The animation film, “Battle of Surabaya” created by Indonesia, was shown online at the Vive Asia cultural festival in Argentina. It succeeded to attract the attention of local audiences who watched the film. This film was chosen to commemorate “Heroes' Day” every 10^th of November. The film is complemented in Spanish, written by Indonesian Diasporas in Argentina so that it was able to be enjoyed by the local community.  Indonesian Ambassador to Argentina, Niniek Kun Naryatie stated on Thursday (19/11) that the screening of the film “Battle of Surabaya” is a very good opportunity to introduce Indonesia to the Argentinian people.

By involving the Indonesian male and female Diasporas in making the subtitles of the film in Spanish, the Spanish people are expected to learn more about Indonesian language that is no longer used routinely in their daily conversations.

In the translation process, they must be assisted by their parents who are the first generation of the diaspora. Although the background is World War II, the story in the Battle of Surabaya film does not focus on war; it narrates about sacrifice in protecting the beloved one. The message of the film is how war always brings about loss, destruction and regret. The film audience who watched gave appreciation and warm welcome.

Meanwhile, for the Indonesian Diasporas, the film succeeded in treating nostalgia and at the same time, it brings them to remember the services of heroes who fought to defend Indonesia's independence. Besides the screening of the film, Battle of Surabaya, the Indonesian Embassy in Buenos Aires also presented Gamelan performances from Sang Bagaskara.