VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Many people are experiencing difficulties due to the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, especially the lower-middle-class people who are economically down.  In conditions like nowsdays, it turns out that there are also many people who want to give alms and help, but they do not know how to distribute. Seeing this condition, a number of residents of Banyumas Regency, Central Java, who are members of the Banyumas Forum (Banyumas Figure Ideas) created and launched an online alms application called "iWarga '' some time ago. This app makes it easy for people to give and get excessive food online.

According to Ahmad Ma'mum, a volunteer of "iWarga", this online alms application becomes a connector, an intermediary or media that connects the alms giver and the recipient. So, the food or used goods meet directly between the giver and the recipient through their chatting. He further explained that the excessive food to be donated is not leftover food that has gone stale. It can also be groceries or clothes and items that are not used.

Currently, according to Ahmad Ma'mun, the iWarga application cannot gather people in one place, but it only connects through the application. He hopes that in the future, there will be no more stories in an area where people are still hungry. He will also encourage hotels, restaurants, and bakeries to donate excessive food. Meanwhile, Regent of Banyumas, Achmad Husein appreciated this new application, iWarga. If there are residents who have excessive food, used goods and clothing or household appliances, even though they want to donate to other people, but don't know to whom, they can use this application free of charge.

To increase promotion and commemorate the National Batik Day 2021, the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Toronto in collaboration with Maison de Couture (MDC) held a "Mini Fashion Show" in Toronto, Canada on October 1. The activity took place with the applicable health protocols so that the number of attendees was limited.

As a co-organizer, MDC International Corporation has displayed a number of Batik collections around the world by highlighting Indonesia as the largest batik producing country in the world. Art and cultural products, such as Batik have the potential to be eroded by the times, especially due to the development of digital technology nowdays. Through this fashion show, MDC seeks to revitalize the artistic values of Batik, including Indonesian Batik which has been registered as a cultural heritage in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization -UNESCO.

The company headquartered in Paris, France is targeting to organize an international fashion show in Bali. The activity is planned to be a collaborative event with MDC Global Group, MDC Fashion TV Paris, Preferred Magazine and various fashion brands that are official sponsors, including Lamborghini, Rolex, Porsche, Sunnybrook, Chanel and Turkish Airlines. Verbally, MDC has said that it will submit a written proposal to get support from the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia noted that various fashion trends continue to develop in Indonesia; one of which is ready-to-wear clothing, which carries a lot of fast fashion business concepts with the character of fast fashion changes and low production costs. The Indonesian Consulate General in Toronto will also encourage the tourism sector, especially with more foreign tourists to visit Indonesia.

Although Indonesia has not officially opened its borders for foreign tourists, various efforts to promote Indonesian tourism need to be intensified. In a publication, the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy noted that various fashion shows in Indonesia, such as the Jakarta Food and Fashion Festival (JFFF), Jakarta Fashion Week, Indonesian Fashion Week, Jember Fashion Carnival have given their own interesting colors to Indonesian tourism destinations.

The Indonesian Trade Ministry inaugurated a new office of Indonesian Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC)  in  Dubai, United Arab Emirate  (UAE) to optimize the promotion of Indonesian local products. The Indonesian Trade Minister,  Muhammad Lutfi  in Dubai on Saturday (2/10) noted that  the trade office in Dubai is extremely good. The most important thing is not the display, but the result is satisfying. The movement of ITCP office in Dubai was done from Al Masraf Tower/Office 403/Baniyas Road/Dubai to  Port Saaed area/ Deira/Dubai which is more strategic. So, it is expected to further promote the Indonesian local products to the UAE and Middle East region.

The ITPC office in Dubai is located near an office of governmental institutions which become working partners of ITPC, such as Dubai Economic Development (DED) and Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA). The office is also amid office buildings, star hotels, and department stores. It is located near Dubai International Airport. Besides, the new location is also near one of the icons of Dubai, Clock Tower. Thus, the office of ITPC is now easily found  because  it is close to a bus station and  Metro train station. The new office of ITPC has a theme “Modern yet Ethnic“ which tends to be informal and minimal without ignoring Indonesian cultural identity. The office has also a special area to exhibit some excellent products of Indonesia, especially the products of Indonesian Micro-Small-and-Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and it has potential to be liked by buyers from UAE. For aesthetic purpose, efficiency and image, the exhibition room is also prioritized for Indonesian excellent quality products that have been selected by ITPC Dubai. The products that have been exhibited at the  ITPC office are  food, handicraft, accessories, cosmetics and clothes, sarong and batik as well as  leather shoes from 30 MSMEs across Indonesia.

Two neighboring countries, Singapore and Malaysia, are still sensitive to border issues. Tuesday, October 5, 2021, there was an incident by a Malaysian police helicopter crossing Singapore's airspace illegally. In response to the incident, Singapore reportedly deployed F-16 fighter jets to drive the Royal Malaysian police helicopter back into its airspace.

Singapore seems to be seriously responding to the incident. Singapore's Ministry of Defense commented on it as a potential air threat. Singapore's Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said the Malaysian police helicopter passed through Malaysian airspace as it flew to Tanjung Penglih in Johor. The Singaporean side at that time had made a call and warned it not to cross Singapore's air border. Channel News Asia reported that the F-16 fighter jet was then flown in to repel the Malaysian helicopter. In addition to the Ministry of Defence, the response to the airspace violation was also conveyed by the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs. So far there has been no clarification from the Malaysian side regarding the incident.

Relations between Malaysia and Singapore are quite sensitive in terms of the borders of the two countries, be it at sea, air or land. The last problem related to the border occurred in 2018. The two countries had an argument over the expansion of the Port boundary. At that time, the Singapore government expanded the boundaries of the port off the Tuas waters, supposedly in response to Malaysia's expansion of the Johor Baru port area. The Singaporean government calls the expansion of the Johor Baru Port an invasion of its territory.

The ebb and flow of relations between the two neighboring countries, especially regarding border issues, can occur at any time. National borders are indeed a sensitive matter. Therefore, in order to maintain good relations and improve cooperation, the possibility of actions that can be called intrusion or even invasion need to be avoided. Regarding the police helicopter flight incident which was deemed by the Singaporean authorities to have violated airspace boundaries, Malaysia needs to provide an explanation. In this way, tensions between the two neighboring countries can be avoided.