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| Rector of UMM, Fauzan saying hello to diplomats on Indonesian culture promotion on Tuesday (1/8) |
12 diplomats from 12 countries will learn Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language) and Indonesian culture at University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM) until next month. They are from South Africa, Fiji, Iran, Japan, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Columbia, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Spain, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe.
UMM is trusted to train them after passing series of selection processes conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemenlu) RI. This is the first time Ministry of Foreign Affairs cooperate with college. UMM gets this opportunity because of some reasons, which are the availability of supporting facilities in UMM, qualified teaching staffs, and standardized curriculum and syllabus.
Those 12 Diplomats have joined the opening of Indonesian language and Culture promotion held by Unit of Bahasa Indonesia for Foreign Speakers (BIPA) UMM last Tuesday night (1/8). The introduction of Indonesian culture will be conducted on 2 to 31 of August, 2017.
The Head of BIPA UMM, Dr.Arif Budi Wurianto MSi said that they will not only learn about language but also karawitan, dancing, batik, and tourism. Some tourism places in Malang, Batu, and Probolinggo that are the location of learning destination probably will become a good promotion to their countries. Besides, they will also attend the independence of Indonesia ceremony on August 17.
Arif said, “Later on, they are able to become Indonesian Diplomats or at least popularize Indonesian culture and tourism in their countries. This makes this program different with Darmasiswa RI program”
Rector of UMM in his speech said this learning becomes an important instrument for diplomacy. This is because a diplomat must have the ability of communication diplomacy and experience related to culture in the country where he works in.
At the opening of the event, they were not only introduced to BIPA team as the teachers but also Indonesian foods and Javanese songs. Some of them also sang songs, such as Jabulisile Creasantia Msibi who sang songs from South Africa.
This program also gives a chance for students from various majors to be buddies or guide. Every buddy will help the participants in learning and their daily needs. (lus)
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