VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Diplomatic Corner presenting you various Indonesian diplomacy, both domestically and internationally.

The first information is from The Hague, Netherlands. Indonesian Embassy in The Hague, cooperating with Pelangi Wastra Indonesia, held a fashion show themed “The Modest Heritage of Indonesia” on Friday (7/12). Six fashion designers, one shoe designer, and one bag designer joined the group. The event aimed to promote Indonesian cultural wealth and diversity through traditional cloths, the basic fashion material of Pelangi Wastra Indonesia. Indonesian Ambassador to Netherlands, Wesaka Puja in his speech said, through the fashion show, the visitors were expected to understand Indonesian cultural wealth and the developing creative industry of the country.

Next is from South Africa. Indonesian Batik became the top favorite during Diplomatic Fun Fair 2018 at Ditson Pioneer Museum, Pretoria, South Africa on Saturday (8/12). More than 200 visitors hunted Batik, traditional food, and coffee of Indonesia. Diplomatic Fun Fair is an annual event hosted by South African Foreign Ministry to introduce their people to diplomatic world. The event also enables representatives in South Africa to introduce their countries through art and culture. This year, there were 2000 visitors and 15 foreign representatives joining the event.

We end the Diplomatic Corner with information from Cambodia. For the 4^th time, Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh participated in the Cambodia Import-Export and One Province One Product Exhibition in Phnom Penh on December 8-11. This year, Indonesian Embassy facilitated 9 small-medium enterprises from Indonesia to enter Cambodian market with their products, such as Batik, F&B, accessories, cosmetics, and medicines. Besides, there were 10 distributors in Cambodia participating to promote Indonesian products.

Indonesian Ambassador to Cambodia, Sudirman Haseng said, the Embassy will use more trade promotion activities in Cambodia to intensify the promotion of Indonesian top products, especially from small-and-medium enterprises -SMEs. The Ambassador said, the good quality of Indonesian products have been recognized by Cambodian people, especially the always-expected Batik.

In this edition, I will bring you some information about the Indonesian Choir which won perfect score at the Internazionale Chorus Inside Advent Festival in Italy. So, stay tuned in to RRI World Service, Voice of Indonesia that you can listen to via shortwave on 3325 Khz, streaming at www.voinews.id or RRI Play application on your smart phone. 

Indonesia once again can be proud of its youth who have brought fame to the nation. Young people from Indonesia who are members of the Jakarta Youth Choir (JYC) won five awards at the 34th Internazionale Chorus Inside Advent Festival. A choir competition that took place from 1-3 December 2018 at the Pantheon, Rome, Italy.

The Jakarta Youth Choir itself is an organization focused on the field of choir art, under the auspices of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Youth and Sports Agency. This organization was formed in 2015 by Septo Adi Kristanto. Members of the Jakarta Youth Choir themselves come from various circles, there are university and highschool students, employees from state-owned and   private companies also government agencies.

In the 34th Internazionale Chorus Inside Advent Festival, the Jakarta Youth Choir had to face participants from eight other countries, namely Italy, France, Croatia, the United States, Romania, Ghana, Russia and Poland.

The performance of the Jakarta Youth Choir in the festival managed to impress the judges and spectators. In its performance, the Jakarta Youth Choir presented Indonesian regional songs such as Soleram, Jali-Jali, Toki Tifa, Hela Rotan, Bungong Jeumpa, and Yamko Rambe Yamko, as well as other popular songs like O Nata Lux, Cantate Domino, and Gloria Patri.

Thanks to excellent performances and also supported by attractive costumes and choreography, Jakarta Youth Choir won awards in five categories, namely champion Folklore Category, Golden Mixed Category Diploma (Music and Choreography), and Special Award for Best Choreography and Best Conductor, Septo Adi Kristanto Simanjuntak. Jakarta Youth Choir was also named the overall champion with the acquisition of perfect scores, namely 30/30. This is the first time the jury has given a perfect score to any participants.

That was today’s edition of Miscellany with the topic of Indonesian Choir won a perfect score at the Internazionale Chorus Inside Advent Festival in Italy. We will meet again in the next colorful edition. 

Today and tomorrow, December 6 and 7, ten ministers and a head of state (from Nauru), will attend the Bali Democracy Forum- BDF 2018. This year the annual event, held  by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, enters its 11th year.

The years 2017 and 2018 are special because Indonesia managed to open two BDF Chapters, one for Africa in Tunisia and one for Europe in Berlin, Germany. These two Chapters or branches were formed because of the interest of countries in Africa and Europe in the dialogue surrounding the challenges of contemporary democracy which have apparently increased. However, the type of problem handling cannot be the same because each continent has a different history of problems.

Europe for example, discussed the challenges of contemporary migration and how democratic values can prioritize humanity and human rights although political and social costs cannot be fully predicted. While in  Africa, the issue is fair governance.

This year the Bali Democracy Forum is themed, "Democracy and Welfare." Most countries in the world consider democracy to be the best system of hope. How do democratic countries achieve prosperity? Maybe that will be discussed by participants in the Bali Democracy Forum in two days.

Indeed,  the purpose a country is established is for the welfare of its people. In the Democratic system the state is managed with inclusive participation from the community. In this case the democratic system must also be able to answer aspects of the state's goals, namely welfare.

Every democratic country has its own experience in developing democracy. Democracy grows and develops in each country in a different way. Therefore, there is actually no similar democracy formula that can be applied in all countries.

For eleven years Indonesia has been successfully  organized the forum for democracy. Not to patronize other countries on  how to practice  democracy, but to provide opportunities for various countries to share democratic experiences. Hopefully the Bali Democracy Forum 2018 will also be a  success.

The commitment of Indonesian citizens abroad to preserve the values of Pancasila continues to be fostered. Pancasila values are guidelines, philosophies, and life views of the nation and state. This was expressed by President of the Indonesian Diaspora Network-United (IDN-United), Herry Utomo in the Pancasila Week event in Melbourne, Australia (28/11). As quoted by tempo.co, Herry Utomo said that the values of Pancasila must be implanted in the Indonesian diaspora and future generations as a form of love for the homeland, Indonesia.

The week event of Pancasila is a series of workshops, dialogues and seminars from 28 November to 1 December 2018. The event was also attended by members of the Steering Committee of the Pancasila Ideology Development Board (BPIP), Mahfud MD as the speaker at the event. He said that the history of Pancasila and the importance of Pancasila values are the fortress to prevent radicalism. He remarked that there has been an effort to eradicate the Pancasila ideology so that it needs socialization and guidance for the Indonesian citizens not only in the country but also abroad.

Meanwhile, Member of the House of Representatives, Daryatmo Mardiyanto in the absorption of community aspirations with the theme "Stabilization of Pancasila Ideology" at United Futsal Singocandi, Kudus, Central Java (29/11), as quoted by tribunews.com, viewed that rural communities have applied more values that contained in the Pancasila. The values are mutual cooperation, togetherness and tolerance. He also said that the communities, especially those who live in villages, are very familiar with cooperation.

Member of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) of the Republic of Indonesia at the Regional Election of Bangka Belitung (Babel), Bahar Buasan calls for all Indonesian people, especially Bangka Belitung people to strengthen the values of Pancasila in their environment. He views that the values of Pancasila must be taught mainly to the family. As quoted by Posbelitung.co, Bahar Buasan said that families play a major role in establishing Pancasila values in their activities. Take for example; they participate in ongoing socialization activities. Thus, the communities are able to re-practice the Pancasila in people's lives. Pancasila needs to be re-instilled from the family so that it can be understood and practiced in daily life. Bahar Buasan also explained that strengthening Pancasila values in people's lives at this time is very necessary because the national challenges to be faced by Indonesia in the future are even greater. He also added that strengthening Pancasila values could fortify itself from various negative influences from both internal and external, such as the rapid flow of globalization.