Malang – Ten international students of Muhammadiyah University of Malang (Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang/UMM) showed their capabilities in articulating Bahasa Indonesia in speaking lesson on Monday (1/12). They were students from United States, China, South Korea, Latvia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The examination was conducted in front of the office for Unit Pelaksana Teknis (UPT) Bahasa Indonesia for Foreign Speakers (Penutur Bahasa Asing/BIPA) of UMM was witnessed by the students of UMM who were in the area of the test. Every international student was given different topics to be presented.
In this examination, they were simulated as the ambassador who presented their programs in front of the audience. They became the ambassador of Bahasa Indonesia, Ambassador of Hygiene, Ambassador of Health, Ambassador of Traditional Clothing, Ambassador of Traditional Music, Ambassador of Tourism, Ambassador of Transportation, Ambassador of Environment, Ambassador of Traffic, and Ambassador of Traditional Food.
The Vice Rector (Pembantu Rektor/PR) III of UMM, Dr Diah Karmiyati Psi, also attended to open the event and watched the test held by BIPA UMM live. In her opening speech, she encouraged the international students to remain relax.
“Please smile,” she said, which was followed by smile and laughter from the international students.
She also added that the campus appreciated the effort from BIPA UMM which focused on accompanying the international students on their days at UMM.
“I also heard that the international students were also the winner for Indonesia culture contest. This is a very great achievement because they were also accompanied by great people,” said Diah.
She hoped that there would be more international students who came to UMM in the future.
The Head of BIPA UMM, Dr Arif Budi Wuriyanto Msi said that this event was not only an examination, rather, it would have different meaning in the next ten years.
“In the next ten years, our international students could be an ambassador or a consulate for their countries in Indonesia,” Arif said.
Arif continued that to celebrate the 70th Indonesia Independence Day, they will also hold an event with the theme of “Terima Kasih Indonesia” (Thank You Indonesia) by all of international students in Indonesia.
“I hope international students from UMM can participate and become the winner,” he said.
In their presentation, each international student talked about different topics related to the challenges faced by Indonesia. Tanapat Boonrat, a student from Thailand, explained that Indonesia as a big nation needed one language to unite all, Bahasa Indonesia.
“Even though Bahasa Indonesia keeps improving, it also undergoes a shifting. This shifting is mainly caused by Indonesian people who had no pride in their own language. Furthermore, there are another language; bahasa alay (too much and improper language, popular among youths) and bahasa gaul (slank language for everyday conversation),” he explained.
He gave solution to this problem, for example starting from the government to the people to keep using and have to use the proper Bahasa Indonesia in daily basis.
“The second one was to give attractive teaching modes, and the last one was to provide more reading places,” said Tanapat.
The topics were not only about Bahasa Indonesia, transportation problem in Indonesia also became the discussion topic. On this occasion, Justin, a student from South Korea was the one who presented this issue.
“I’ve lived for four months in Indonesia and I observed that the biggest transportation problem in Indonesia was traffic congestion and air pollution,” affirmed Justin.
He gave a solution on limitation of vehicles use, building more bus stops for mass city vehicle, and stationing traffic lights in some traffic jam points.
“But I think, the most important thing is balance tax paying. Because I believe that the rich have the responsibilities in helping the country with the money they earned,” he concluded. (sel/zul/han)