VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Batu Cermin Cave is located in Wae Sambi Village, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara and only 4 Km from Labuan Bajo, the capital of West Manggarai. The discoverer of this cave was Theodore Verhoven, a Dutch priest who was also an archaeologist in 1951. According to Theodore Verhoven, this cave was under the sea which, after millions of years, it was lifted to the surface of the land. Because the mirror stone cave is a place that was once under the sea, on the walls, you can see some fossils of coral, and turtles. This 19-hectare tourism attraction with a cave height of about 75 meters is usually crowded during the day. When you enter the cave, you will feel your body is flanked by towering cliffs. The deeper you enter the cave, the cooler you feel and less light you will get. Before entering the cave, you will usually be provided with a flashlight by a tour guide. This is because Batu Cermin Cave is very dark and narrow inside.

To be able to see the turtle fossils on the walls of this cave, you have to walk in about 20 meters and because it is narrow and the air is limited. The number of  tourists who enter the cave is also limited; only 10 people may enter once for 30 minutes only. This cave is named Goa Batu Cermin because inside the cave, there is a hole at the top, so that during the day, sunlight can enter the cave through the narrow gap. When it rains, rainwater will enter the cave and cause puddles. The puddle water, which exposes to sunlight, will allow you to see your own face in the puddles that inundate the cave. That is why, this cave is called Batu Cermin Cave.

Getting to the Batu Cermin Cave is not difficult and it only takes about 30 minutes from Labuan Bajo port by public transportation or motorbikes. This transportation can only take you to the front entrance of this area. Afterwards, you have to walk for approximately 10-15 minutes to the Batu Cermin information post. To enter this Cave, you have to pay a ticket worth Rp 10,000 plus fee for a guide while in the cave of around Rp 20,000.

The Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) in Shanghai participated in the Shanghai Jiangxin Art Life Carnival and Baoku Third Quarter Exhibition. In the exhibition which takes place from September 22 to October 10, 2021, the Indonesian Consulate General in Shanghai displays batik. Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia for Shanghai, Denny Wachyudi Kurnia in his remarks at the opening ceremony said that batik has become a symbol of Indonesian people's life from birth to death.

The techniques, symbolism and culture surrounding hand-dyed cotton and silk garments known as Indonesian Batik symbolize the life of Indonesians from beginning to end: when you have a baby, infants using batik slings, even death, will be wrap by batik, surrounding by batik. So from the beginning until the end, batik is in Indonesian life.

Consul General Denny Kurnia also explained that batik also shows the past relationship between Indonesia and China. By participating in this exhibition, the Indonesian Consulate General in Shanghai hopes that the people of Shanghai will get a glimpse of Indonesian culture. Hopefully, it will encourage them to get to know and visit Indonesia in the future. It’s the first time for the Indonesian Consulate General in Shanghai to participate in this exhibition through an invitation from the Shanghai Baoku Cultural Center.

The Indonesian Pavilion is ready to present various weekly programs to show Indonesia's best potential at the Expo 2020 Dubai event which will start on October 1, 2021. The Indonesian Pavilion will carry the concept of "Connecting Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow." This concept will show the historical journey as well as Indonesia's major role in the international arena. The Indonesian Pavilion is divided into three zones, namely “Yesterday”, “Today”, and “Tomorrow” which describes Indonesia's past, present, and future readiness. The Indonesian Pavilion will present 26 weekly themes and more than 75 business forums.

The Indonesian government continues to accelerate the recovery of micro, small and medium enterprises from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This was stated by Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises, Teten Masduki in a webinar last Thursday, (23/9). He said that the recovery was through financing policies, assistance, institutional strengthening through cooperatives, access to marketing and digitalization technology, as well as multi-stakeholder cooperation with various institutions. According to Minister Teten Masduki, a financing stimulus has been provided for micro, small and medium enterprises. This includes  those that are not yet bankable, meaning that they have not met the bank's requirements to obtain business loans, or those that are already bankable.

Minister Teten Masduki further explained that the stimulus included Presidential Assistance for Productive Micro Businesses, interest subsidies for people's business loans, and cooperative financing through the Revolving Fund Management Agency.

The Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises also encourages the enterprises to transform digital flatforms. According to Minister Teten Masduki, the digital transformation is key to the recovery and economy of the micro, small and medium enterprises sector during the pandemic and post-pandemic. He also explained that so far, the onboarding to the digital ecosystem has reached 15.9 million, an increase of 7.9 million during the pandemic.

Minister Teten Masduki added that the government also continues to encourage banks to increase their involvement in efforts to help the micro, small and medium enterprises sector continue to grow and develop. He admitted that financing from banks is only 20 percent of the total bank credit. This figure is much lower compared to neighboring countries. The government targets that by 2024, banking credit to the micro, small and medium enterprises sector can reach 30 percent. Banks need to continue to encourage lending for investment in the productive sectors which have the potential to further encourage economic movement.

The webinar was also attended by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto. He said that the fiscal assistance that was rolled out for the sector through the National Economic Recovery Fund until September 23, 2021, has been enjoyed by 27.39 million micro, small and medium enterprises. The funds are channeled through several programs, such as interest subsidies, placement of government funds to banks and partners, to support the restructuring program and increase their  working capital. In addition, it is also rolled out in the form of productive assistance for micro businesses, cash assistance and final income tax incentives.

To prevent the spread of the Covid-19  virus and track people's mobility during the pandemic, the Indonesian government requires vaccination for the majority of citizens. Therefore, during the Implementation of Community Activity Restrictions,  the government has implemented the use of the PeduliLindung application on mobile phones. In today's digital era, this method is considered practical as it proves that a person has been vaccinated against Covid-19. PeduliLindung is an application developed to assist relevant government agencies in tracking to stop the spread of Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19).

Unfortunately, not a few citizens have difficulty downloading the PeduliLindung application for various reasons. For example, the memory on one’s device is already full, or he/she does not have a smartphone. Some  even admit that they have difficulty downloading the PeduliLindung application because they don't know how to do it.

To solve problems in the community, the Government, in this case the Ministry of Health, then improved the mechanism related to regulations regarding the use of the PeduliLindung application, especially when traveling by public transportation.

A press release from the Ministry of Health stated that starting in October 2021, a number of options were given to indicate a person's vaccination status. A person who does not have a smartphone and will travel by air or by train, does not need to download the PeduliLindung application. It’s enough with the vaccine certificate and the results of the PCR and antigen swab tests; his or her  presence related to the spread of Covid-19 can still be identified through the NIK (Population Identification Number) when buying tickets.

The Ministry of Health promised the readiness to apply the regulation at airports through data integration with airline tickets. It’s likewise with the validation of test results and vaccine certificates on train tickets.

This effort should be appreciated, because it is known that many citizens have complained about the use of the application. Not all Indonesians have smartphones and understand how to use this application. Moreover, it is common for this application to have problems when accessed by thousands, even millions of citizens at the same time.

Based on data from the Ministry of Health, in early July 2021, the number of PeduliLindung application users was still below 1 million people. Now, this application has been accessed by approximately 9 million people with 48 million downloads and about 55 million monthly users.

The Ministry of Health will also make the PeduliLindungi features accessible on other applications by coordinating with various digital platforms. Through that way, people don't have to use PeduliLindung exclusively  but they can take advantage of its features through applications on other digital platforms.

Hopefully, the integration of the PeduliLindung application that is connected to test results, close contact tracing results, telemedicine access for free drug services, as well as being integrated with the quarantine system, can run smoothly.