ACAS celebrates Indonesian language, dance, and food traditions in Indahnya Indonesia

The Ateneo Center for Asian Studies (ACAS), in cooperation with the Ateneo Initiative for Southeast Asian Studies, and the Education and Culture Attaché of the Indonesian Embassy in Manila, celebrated Indonesian language, dance, and food traditions in Indahnya Indonesia.

The event, which was part of Social Sciences Week Week 2024, took place on 25 April 2024 at the Leong Auditorium, and offered presentations and workshops on Indonesian language and culture. It also served as the culminating activity for ACAS's Bahasa Indonesia bagi Penutur Asing 1 (BIPA 1) or Bahasa Indonesia Basic Level 1 course.

Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu, der rer soc, Dean of Ateneo de Manila's School of Social Sciences; and Prof Aisyah Endah Palupi, Education and Culture Attaché, Indonesian Embassy, opened the event with a few remarks.

Ms Nurlaela Jum then made a presentation on Indonesian culture and the BIPA program, noting how the program has grown and is now offered in multiple institutions in the Philippines. Following this, Ms Jum was joined on stage by Dr Violet Valdez, Director of ACAS, for the presentation of certificates to those who completed the BIPA 1 course.

This was followed by an Indonesian dance performance. Ms Namira Allegra Wibisono, Ms Deajeng Fereneza Ramadin, and Ms Eva Ristiana from Universitas Negeri Surabaya (UNESA) performed Bajidor Kahot.

Bajidor Kahot is a modified traditional dance from West Java. It is a dance about the joy of the mojang, the term for unmarried young women in the Sundanese language.

The dancers also hosted one of the workshops that the group broke out into after the performance. Here, they taught a group of students, faculty, and administrators the dance, including the hand and face gestures involved.

The other two workshops, on the other hand, focused on Bahasa Indonesia. The first, hosted by Ms Jum, focused on "Survival Bahasa." Here, the participants practiced key words and phrases that would be helpful for beginners who are just starting to learn the language.

The second language workshop was focused on existing BIPA 1 students, serving as a practice session for them.

Once the workshops were over, the participants returned to the Leong Auditorium where the participants of the dance workshop performed what they learned on-stage.

Ms Jum then gave a talk on Indonesian cuisine, presenting a dish of nasi tumpeng on stage. This dish consists of a cone or tower of rice set on a tampah (Indonesian for bilao) surrounded by various viands and side dishes from Javanese cuisine such as ayam goreng and bottles of sambal.

The event was closed by Dr Valdez who took to the stage to thank all those involved in the Indahnya Indonesia and the BIPA 1 program.

Following this, the group moved to the Leong Auditorium's foyer for snacks consisting of lemper ayam (sticky rice rolls filled with chicken floss) and lupis kukus (steamed glutinous rice cake) alongside Filipino sago't gulaman.