VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Vietnamese university students learn Indonesian language online

A total of 49 students from many universities in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam followed the Indonesian Language for Foreign Speakers (BIPA) program from Adi Buana University Surabaya, held online. Rector of Adi Buana University, Marianus Subandowo along with the Indonesian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanif Salim, officially opened the program on Sunday (7/2). In his statement in Jakarta on Monday (8/2), Hanif Salim stated that the high interest of Vietnamese students to learn Indonesian language has shown the huge potential of Indonesian language in the Southeast Asian region, even though it may potentially become one of the official languages of the United Nations.

Moreover, Hanif also explained that Vietnam pays serious attention to improve the quality of its human resources because it has the second highest economic growth in Asia after China.  Vietnam considers Indonesian language lessons as an important key to explore a strategic partnership with Indonesia, as the largest political and economic power in Southeast Asia. Rector Marianus Subandowo stated the online BIPA program was attended by students from many other countries, including Thailand, the United States, England, Italy, Spain and Poland, with a total of 88 participants.He further said that Vietnamese university students become the most participants at the program.  In line with the Indonesian Consul General, Rector Marianus also explained that "the Adi Buana BIPA online class program is a contribution to the efforts of Internationalizing Indonesian Language.

Myanmar has become the center of international attention again. The rejection of the Myanmar people towards the coup of civilian rule by the military has attracted the attention in various countries. Although television and news coverage at home is limited, news of the coup and demonstrations of thousands of Myanmar people across the country, has spread throughout the world. To reduce the spread of calls for demonstrations and news about it, the military has taken steps to close access to social media.

Concern over a military coup against civilian rule will be discussed at the United Nations. It was reported that on Friday, February 12, 2021, the UN Human Rights Council will meet specifically. As reported by Reuters news agency, the UN Security Council has stated that the agenda to be discussed is the crisis in Myanmar. On Monday, February 8, 2021, Britain and the European Union had requested a special session on this matter. The Asian countries that have supported the Movement at the United Nations are South Korea and Japan. Meanwhile, until the beginning of the second week of February 2021, not a single ASEAN member country has commented on this issue. Understandably, the ASEAN Joint Commitment affirms that ASEAN members may not interfere in their respective domestic affairs. The political crisis in Myanmar also seems to be seen as a domestic problem in that country.

The United States will support the proposals of the UK and the European Union, because since Joe Biden became President, the United States has regained its membership in the UN Human Rights Council. Washington has also reacted to the military coup in Myanmar and stressed the possibility of sanctions.

Facing the international community reactions, the Myanmar Military Junta has so far not responded. Myanmar Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has said he will hold elections soon. It is very likely that this election will not be followed by Suu Kyi, who has been detained by the police, on charges of unsubstantiated matters.

Whether international pressure, minus ASEAN, will destabilize the military junta is still uncertain. The Military coup and forced elections will certainly have implications for the life of democracy and the people of Myanmar. The country, which has just recently entered the democratic era after ended the military dictatorial regime, is now in a decisive moment. Going back to a totalitarian or democratic era.

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 “Semoga Saya Bisa Bekerja Dengan Baik”which means “I Hope I Can Work Well”.

Read to the conversation about “Semoga Saya Bisa Bekerja Dengan Baik”which means “I Hope I Can Work Well”. This conversation is between Kevin from Australia with his colleague, Ayu, in their office. 

Pre-recorded:

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 the statement “Semoga saya bisa bekerja dengan baik” (2X) which means “I hope I can work well”.  In Indonesian language, the expression semoga (2X) which means hopefully is used to show hope. Semogais followed by an expression about the hope. For example, Saya bisa bekerja dengan baik (2X) which means I can work well. Besidessemoga, another hope expression inIndonesian is mudah-mudahan (2X) which also means hopefully.

For example:

-Selamat datang di kantor kami  (2X) which means Welcome to our office.

-Terima kasih. Mudah-mudahan saya bisa bekerja dengan baik (2X) which means Thank you. Hopefully I can work well.

To a friend who is sick, you can say:

Semoga cepat sembuh  (2X) which means get well soon.

To a friend who is having a birthday, you can say:

Semoga panjang umur (2X) which means wish you long life.

To a friend who will do a test or face a challenge, you may say:

Semoga sukses (2X) which means good luck.

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. 

Indonesian Embassy in Panama City has facilitated cooperation between several universities in Indonesia and several universities in Panama-Costa Rica. The Indonesian Embassy in Panama held a virtual meeting to discuss international cooperation in the field of higher education between Indonesia, and Panama-Costa Rica. The virtual discussion was held on Friday, February 5. Opening the meeting, Indonesian Ambassador to Panama City, Sukmo Harsono said that one of the efforts that could be made was to increase people-to-people contact through cooperation between universities.

The virtual meeting was attended by 65 participants from 9 universities in Indonesia, Panama and Costa Rica. Several universities from Indonesia include Gunadarma University, STIMATA, STIENUS, STMIK Jakarta and AKMRTV. The universities from Panama include Universidad de Panamá and Universidad Technologica de Panamá. Meanwhile, from Costa Rica, Universidad de Costa Rica and Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica.

Ambassador Sukmo conveyed that Indonesia has more than 4,000 public and private universities. Of the thousands of universities, Gunadarma University is one of the private universities in Indonesia that is ready to collaborate with universities in Panama and Costa Rica.