Day: March 8, 2023

Japan (ANTARA) – Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin met with Kyoto University President Nagahiro Minato and urged the university to accord priority to new students from Indonesia, including students from Islamic boarding schools.”The opportunity to study in various universities in Japan will contribute to improving the quality of our human resources,” he said on the sidelines of delivering a public lecture at Kyoto University, Japan, on Wednesday.

ccording to him, Indonesian students in Japan will also contribute to the understanding of religious moderation, especially in the Indonesian Muslim community.

“As well as encouraging interfaith dialogue to foster a sense of tolerance,” Amin added.

He said that interfaith dialogue is an important forum to understand each other, build tolerance and harmony, as well as world peace.

Institutions such as Kyoto University are the right places to build understanding and awareness of the need to foster a sense of tolerance, he added.

“Therefore, I hope for further support from Kyoto University to strengthen the cooperation that can encourage an increase in interfaith understanding,” he noted.

The Vice President also lauded the well-established cooperation between Kyoto University and various universities and research institutes in Indonesia so far.

“It is good to know that Kyoto University is one of 13 universities in Japan that opens study opportunities for Indonesian citizens,” he said.

The Vice President also called for opportunities to increase educational cooperation in the fields of research and technology, curriculum development and innovation, cross-sectoral collaboration, and student/lecturer exchanges.

“Kyoto University’s experience as the oldest research university in Japan will boost the improvement of the quality of education and human resources in Indonesia,” Amin said.

Meanwhile, Minato said he understood the situation faced by Vice President Amin.

“For the sake of advancing the friendship between the two countries, we will improve cooperation in other fields, including social culture,” he remarked.

Source: Antara News Agency

Yogyakarta (ANTARA) – The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) is planning to hold the ASEAN Regional Disaster Emergency Response Simulation Exercise (ARDEX) with other ASEAN countries in Bantul, Yogyakarta.”Today, the (Bantul) District Head received us to report on the planned activities of 2023 ARDEX, a disaster mitigation exercise for ASEAN countries, as part of Indonesia’s commitment as ASEAN Chair this year,” BNPB Chief Secretary Lilik Kurniawan explained here on Wednesday.

ccording to Kurniawan, the 2023 ARDEX is planned to be held from July 31 to August 3 outside the Sultan Agung Stadium in Bantul.

“It has been programmed, and we chose Bantul to be the training venue because it has the capacity to support it and has the most number of volunteers in Yogyakarta Province, which is about three thousand people from the disaster mitigation community,” he remarked.

In addition, Kurniawan said, the disaster resilient village program is applied in almost all villages of Bantul.

This year’s ARDEX will be part of the exercise commemorating the 17th anniversary of the 2006 earthquake in Bantul.

“Now, Bantul already has the contingency plan that we will test together. We expect all ASEAN countries to attend, with at least each country sending five to 10 people. With 10 countries, it means that between 50 and 100 people will come to exercise together,” he remarked.

He revealed that the BNPB will also invite countries that are Indonesia’s partners in disaster mitigation, such as Australia, the US, Japan, and Switzerland, as well as other regions as observers.

Furthermore, he noted that the BNPB has been working to design the different types of activities for the four days of the exercise that will be adjusted to the existing contingency plan.

“We have received the district head’s support to carry out the program because we have to involve the resources in Bantul, from facilities and infrastructure, such as the stadium and others, and regional mitigation agencies (BPBD), the health office, volunteers, and forums,” he stated.

Source: Antara News Agency

Maluku (ANTARA) – The Maluku Language Agency included the Seram language from Eastern Seram and Tarangan language from the Aru Islands into the regional language revitalization program.”This year, we continue the Maluku regional language revitalization program, and there are two additional languages from Eastern Seram and the Aru Islands. Hence, we are revitalizing five regional languages,” Head of the Maluku Language Agency Sahril stated here on Wednesday.

Last year, the agency sought to revitalize three regional languages: Kei language from Southeast Maluku, Buru language from Buru District, and Yamdena language from the Tanimbar Islands.

Sahril deemed it necessary to revive the number of local language speakers, as the figure was decreasing, in an effort to sustain the use of languages.

ccording to the agency head, regional languages are not always spoken in daily lives, especially among members of the younger generation, as they are only consistently spoken during traditional ceremonies or rituals.

Hence, he pressed for the need to conduct revitalization efforts, so that regional languages in Maluku do not fall into extinction.

He explained that the revitalization program in Maluku was implemented in stages due to the large number of regional languages in the province and the limited number of human resources and available funding.

Moreover, Sahril said that the targeted languages were determined by the agency after consulting with community representatives and local governments.

fter consulting with them, out of the 14 regional languages in Eastern Seram and 11 in the Aru Islands, Seram and Tarangan languages were considered the common languages (lingua franca) there due to which they were accorded priority in the program.

His side will implement the program in elementary and junior high schools through poetry recitation, speech, singing, writing letters to officials, and stand-up comedy competitions.

Source: Antara News Agency

Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) – Religious Affairs Deputy Minister Zainud Tauhid Sa’adi has praised the Jayapura city government for maintaining the unity of the local community as well as providing a communication platform for religious, educational, traditional, and women leaders.”Jayapura city, as a city of faith and modernity, is a valuable investment, which we should be grateful for,” he remarked while inaugurating the Harmony Award Monument in South Jayapura Sub-district here on Tuesday.

He recalled that the city received the Harmony Award from the Religious Affairs Ministry on January 3, 2021.

Still, it is expected that the local people and the government will continue to strengthen their joint commitment to bolstering the spirit of harmony as well as the growth of the city for the glory of God, the deputy minister said.

He said he hoped that the commitment can actually be realized by developing the city in a conducive and orderly manner.

“Thus, we can create various development innovations to realize a peaceful and prosperous urban society,” he added.

Sa’adi appealed to all regions of Indonesia to emulate the attempts made by the Jayapura city government for achieving harmony in society since harmonious conditions can prevent various negative impacts of the development of science and technology in terms of the social aspect.

He said he expects that instead, the community will optimize science and technology to capture business opportunities, improve spiritual and educational literacy, as well as promote the results of the development programs in their respective regions.

Meanwhile, acting Mayor of Jayapura CityFrans Pekey said that the Harmony Award Monument is not a mere building as it will always remind the people in the region about the importance of religious tolerance.

“Thus, it (the monument) will be able to ignite people’s spirit to continue to maintain the harmony of inter-religious relations,” he added.

Source: Antara News Agency