Day: December 10, 2021

The government has revoked its ban on the sale of bulk cooking oil from the year-end after long consideration, Director Deneral of Domestic Trade Oke Nurwan at the Ministry of Trade has informed.

“To provide convenience and opportunity for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in running their businesses, especially the ease of getting cooking oil at affordable prices, the government hereby undertakes the revocation of the prohibition of selling bulk cooking oil,” Nurwan announced here on Friday.

He explained that the government had observed the commodity supercycle triggered by a number of factors, such as the economic recovery in some countries, which caused an increase in demand that was not accompanied by sufficient supply, resulting in inflation, including in cooking oil.

Currently, the international price of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) is in the range of US$1,305 per kg ton, or an increase of 27.17 percent compared to early 2021, which has caused the price of bulk cooking oil to inflate, he said.

“Bulk cooking oil is priced at Rp17,600 per liter, while packaged cooking oil is at Rp19 thousand per liter,” Nurwan pointed out.

The industry players’ and MSMEs’ requirement for bulk cooking oil is currently pegged at 1.6 million tons and 2.12 million tons for meeting household needs, while the national requirement for cooking oil has reached 5 million tons per year, he informed.

Meanwhile, Nurwan said, the revocation of the ban will be followed by some alteration to the Trade Minister’s Regulation No.30 of 2020 on Benchmark Export Pricing on Mining Products Subject to Exit Duties, especially Article 27, which has fixed the last day for the distribution of bulk cooking oil as December 31, 2021.

“Therefore, the sale of both bulk and packaged cooking oil can be conducted. Basically, bulk cooking oil is not banned, and the change to the regulation is in the process,” he added.

Source: Antara News

University of Indonesia’s child and family psychologist, Vera Itabiliana, S.Psi., in conversation with the press here Friday highlighted the importance of parents having playtime with their children to foster their mental development.

“Through playing with parents, children, with difficulties in communicating their thoughts and confused by what is going on and how they should behave, will feel understood and helped,” she remarked.

Mental health is the foundation of a person’s character to live life, face challenges, and shape his or her personality, according to Itabiliana.

Children, who are mentally troubled, often exhibit some negative traits, such as being aggressive, withdrawn, hyperactive, insecure, tense, isolated, and unfocused, as well as show several other characteristics, she pointed out.

To this end, she believes parents should become more aware of those traits. However, apart from asking for help from professionals, parents should set aside time for playing with their children.

In addition, she highlighted that by interacting with their children, parents can evaluate how to behave and babysit them.

Itabiliana stated that playtime can stimulate children’s motor and brain development, foster trust, and create a deep bond between parents and children.

She also advised parents to be always present for their children instead of dividing their attention.

“Eye contact with them is necessary. We are talking about quality, not quantity,” she affirmed.

According to Itabiliana, 15 to 30 minutes of parental interaction with children is sufficient, but regularity of the activities is better.

Furthermore, she stressed that parents should be mindful of how they behave in front of their children. If their attention is divided, children tend to become emotional and hyperactive to seek attention.

In connection with suitable play activities for children, Itabiliana suggested storytelling, music, drama, dolls, dances, or movements, and so on.

Itabiliana remarked that fairy tales can help develop children’s morality and spirituality. Meanwhile, art activities can encourage children’s creativity and help them to express themselves in a positive way, thereby making their brains active.

“With such play activities, children can gain information through metaphors, something that is applied in real-life daily,” she explained.

Source: Antara News

The Communication and Informatics Ministry and the West Manggarai district government are preparing to implement a Piloting Smart City project and a Digital Talent Scholarship program in Labuan Bajo village, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

“Let’s take advantage of the opportunity to provide effective and efficient services to the community,” head of the district, Edistasius Endi, remarked here on Friday.

Endi said he and the head of the ministry’s Human Resources Research and Development Agency, Hary Budiarto, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the programs.

Currently, the ministry is promoting the smart city project and the scholarship program to prepare Indonesia for the 4.0 revolution, which encourages the development of smart governments that require qualified digital human resources, Endi informed.

Hence, the community and the Regional Governmental Apparatus Organization (OPD) must cooperate to support smart cities by participating in the Digital Talent Scholarship, which will be held in 2022, the district head emphasized.

He said he expected the public to not miss out on the opportunity.

Furthermore, people in the district have been ready to participate in the training, which has a quota of 20 thousand participants, he added.

Endi said he believed that the participation of the local community in the upcoming 2022 Digital Talent Scholarship will create quality digital human resources for establishing a smart city in Labuan Bajo village.

The scholarship is an intensive training program for policymakers, governmental and private institutions leaders, technical workers, and the general public, he added.

The training will aim to create effective policies on the digital technology sector, improve skills and competitiveness of the community on the technical aspects of the sector, optimize the dissemination of positive content, as well as increase basic digital literacy required to prevent the spread of negative content — such as hoaxes, data leakage, and radicalism, he said.

Source: Antara News

Domestic travel has become a mainstay and travel trend in 2021, chairman of the Indonesian Tourism Industry Association (GIPI), Didien Junaedi, said at an online discussion here on Friday.

According to Junaedi, the trend of domestic travel has been supported by the government, which is focusing on quality rather than quantity in the development of tourism destinations.

He then highlighted the number of international events held in several destinations like Bali and Mandalika, West Nusa Tenggara.

“Thousands of people entered (Indonesia) through various events such as the World Superbike in Mandalika and G20 in Bali. This is a sign Indonesia’s tourism development is starting to improve,” he explained.

With international events being held in Indonesian venues, many surrounding tourism villages are also being developed, and they are safe places because they are not crowded, he said.

Furthermore, domestic travel is one of the keys that has helped revive Indonesia’s tourism industry and economy from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Junaedi added.

“What can save Indonesian tourism is domestic travel, considering there are many (different) offers now,” he remarked.

Nevertheless, he did not deny the fact that there are still some challenges that will be faced by the tourism industry in 2022.

“Challenges such as inconsistent regulations and funding. Government’s funding for domestic tourism should be well-organized and well-governed,” he elaborated.

The future trend in travel remains uncertain as the COVID-19 pandemic has not ended yet, he added.

“Along with the changes in regulations and policies, the (trend of travel) cannot be projected,” he pointed out.

However, he affirmed, no one is pessimistic about the situation. According to Junaedi, even though the pandemic is still on, the government, through the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, is continuing to promote Indonesian tourism in a reasonable way.

Source: Antara News