VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Probably, recent days have been tough for Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The sharp increase in the spread of Covid-19 in the country has forced President Erdogan to take the decision to close or lock down his country completely until mid-May. This is aimed at avoiding  crowds of people when celebrating Idul Fitri on May 13, which could be a source of the spread of the Covid-19 virus. With this lockdown, someone can imagine that the country's economy will slow down again.

In addition, Turkey is also facing threats from Saudi Arabia to close 8 of the 26 Turkish-language schools in Saudi Arabia. Recently, communication between Turkey and Saudi Arabia has deteriorated as they became involved in various conflicts. It started with the case of Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the Saudi government, who was killed by a team of Saudi agents inside the country's consulate building in the Turkish City of Istanbul in 2018. Previously, the Turks wanted those involved to be tried in Istanbul, but the Saudis refused. Turkey was eventually forced to follow Saudi Arabia's decision regarding the sentence for the accused murder of Jamal Khashoggi. But the impact of the problem is an unofficial boycott of many Turkish products by Saudi Arabia. The trade rate for Turkish products in Saudi Arabia fell by 98 percent. It is not a simple number and the follow-up action is the closure of Turkish schools in Saudi Arabia. It is not clear what steps President Erdogan will take in response to this matter.

It is only logical that President Erdogan would then seek to improve Turkey's relations with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. With Egypt, for example, next week a meeting is scheduled to establish new cooperation. Relations of both countries have deteriorated since the Egyptian military ousted President Mohamed Morsi, who was close to Turkey in 2013. In time, Turkey started working to re-establish ties with Egypt and other Gulf states, while overcoming differences that left Turkey isolated in the Arab world. Since February this year, Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu has made a series of visits to all of the Gulf countries. During his visit to Qatar, he held a press conference with his Qatari counterpart, and promised that both countries would continue to cooperate to further develop relations in all fields. Minister Cavusoglu also hopes that Turkey's relations with the Gulf countries will return to normal sooner, starting with the lifting of the embargo and restrictions.

Hopefully, the Turkish negotiation and communication team can approach Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries with the right strategy. Thus, peace and cooperation among the Gulf countries can be created well.

Voice of Indonesia presents Let’s Speak Indonesian, a program that introduces the Indonesian vocabulary and guides you to speak in the language. Mari Berbahasa Indonesia or Let’s Speak Indonesian is a joint initiative of Voice of Indonesia and the Language Development Agency of the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture.  Today’s topic is still about Sakit which means Sick. 

Here is the conversation entitled “Kira-kira Pukul 14.30” which means “At About 14.30”. This dialog is between Kevin and a clinic staff. They talk on the phone. The clinic staff gives estimated time to Kevin to come to the clinic. Let’s listen to the conversation.

Having listened to the conversation, now I am going to introduce some vocabulary and expressions related to the topic of the day.

In the dialog, you listen to an expression Kira-kira pukul 14.30 (2x) which means At about 14.30. In the expression, there is the word kira-kira (2x) which means about. It is used to show estimated time.

Besides the word kira-kira (2x) which means about, the word sekitar (2x) which means around can be used to show estimated time.

Here are the other examples to show estimated time.

Kevin               : Pukul berapa saya harus tiba di klinik? (2x) which means What time should I arrive at the clinic?

Clinic staff: Kira-kira pukul 14.30 (2x) which means at about 14.30

Kevin               : Pukul berapa saya harus tiba di klinik? (2x) which means What time should I arrive at the clinic?

Clinic staff : Sekitar pukul 14.30 (2x) which means at around 14.30

In the dialog, you hear the clinic staff tells the time empat belas tiga puluh (2x) which means fourteen thirty. Indonesia uses 24-hour clock, which is zero zero until fifty nine minutes past twenty three. However, time telling may vary. Fourteen thirty can be said pukul empat belas lewat tiga puluh menit (2x) which means thirty minutes past fourteen, pukul dua tiga puluh siang (2x) which means two thirty and pukul setengah tiga siang (2x) which means half past two.

That was “Let’s Speak Indonesian” for today. Hopefully, this edition can be useful for those of you who want to know more about Indonesian language. 

The non-oil and gas processing industry trade balance of January-March 2021 was surplus US$3.69 billion. The amount increased 18.06 percent compared to the same period last year. This positive achievement resulted from the manufacturing sector's increasing export. That was stated by Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita in a press release on Sunday (18/4). He also said that despite the pandemic, manufacturing industry performance still dominates the national export value. In the first quarter of 2021, the manufacturing sector gave its greatest contribution up to 79.66 percent of the total national export that was US$48.90 billion.

Minister Agus Gumiwang further explained there were three sectors that made the manufacturing export performance great. The first is food and beverage worth US$9.69 billion, the second is the base metal industry worth US$5.87 billion and the chemical industry US$4.18 billion.

He assessed that, if viewed from the forming factors, the export value of the food industry sector is dominated by palm oil commodity. Meanwhile, thanks to the down-streaming in the metal sector, exports of Indonesian iron and steel products have provided significant added value for foreign exchange.

Then, various chemical products also became the top Indonesian non-oil and gas export. The chemical product is expected to be the future backbone of Indonesian export.

Minister Agus Gumiwang said that until now, industrial products can be the main pillar for national export value. The government is optimistic that the excellent export performance amid the Covid-19 pandemic showed that Indonesian industry players can use the opportunities. This can accelerate the national economic recovery.

Therefore, Minister Agus Gumiwang gave appreciation for national domestic players who are still aggressively penetrating the international market amid the pandemic. He perceived that fulfilling domestic needs, Indonesian industry has been able to make quality and competitive products in the global market.

Indonesian Ambassador to Cambodia, Y.M. Sudirman Haseng held a bilateral meeting with Cambodian Minister of Health, Y.M. Prof. Mam Bunheng at the Cambodian Ministry of Health Monday (26/4).  The main focus of discussion was to strengthen cooperation in the health sector.

Ambassador Sudirman Haseng explained that Cambodia is a country which heartedly provides a free vaccine program for the embassy and it is planned for foreigners who are in Cambodia, including Indonesian citizens.  He also expressed his gratitude to the Cambodian Government, particularly to medical personnel, who have worked selflessly in tackling the Covid-19 Pandemic in Cambodia, including also in providing the best care for some Indonesians affected by Covid-19.

On the occasion, Ambassador Sudirman also introduced and handed over Indonesian pharmaceutical products and packaged food as a form of solidarity, attention and appreciation of the Indonesian Embassy to the Cambodian Government.  The pharmaceutical products provided are in the form of immune-enhancing supplements and cold and cough medicines. The cooperation in the health sector is one of the topics for the discussion in the bilateral meeting between Indonesian President, Joko Widodo and Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit which was held in Jakarta on April 24, 2021. Besides emphasizing the importance of joint vaccines, at the meeting, President Joko Widodo also invited Cambodia to strengthen cooperation in the fields of pharmaceuticals, medicines and medical equipment.