KangGURU
Travels to
Semarang in 2004
Kevin visited Semarang to chat
with teachers about the new Indonesian Competency Based Curriculum
and to see members of the English Society Club RRI Semarang
- Club # 10. Kevin then went to Jakarta to meet and interview members
of the Indonesian National swimming team, the leader
of AusAID's Water and Sanitation for Low Income Communities Phase II Project
(WSLIC II) and also to meet with Indonesian Idol finalists, Joy
and Delon. Kevin also conducted a Teacher Workshop
at IALF, Jakarta for 60 teachers.
Semarang and Jakarta
- October 8th - 13th
| On Friday the 8th of
October I went to Semarang via Jakarta. The journey, including delays
in Denpasar, took just 3 hours. I booked into the Grasia Hotel mid
afternoon and shortly afterwards called in to see Helena I. R. Agustien
at Mondial Education
in the hills above the city. Helena has been heavily involved in the
writing of the NEW Competency Based Curriculum for Indonesia. I
had met her the previous week in Malang and she invited me to visit
her. Helena had arranged for three teachers to meet me as well to
talk about the new curriculum. |
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We discussed the new curriculum and it was so good
to hear that these three teachers are very excited about the curriculum.
They are using it and they like it AND so do their students. The teachers
are Euodia Grace from SMA Negeri 5, Nur Zaida from SMP 8 and Melanie
Sudarwati from SMA 11. In the middle of our interviews the electricity
went out - mati listrik. We continued the interviews but it
was all very funny as we couldn't really see each other but we continued
to ask and answer questions. |
On Saturday morning I paid a visit to a very active
KGCC based at RRI Semarang. The
English Society Club RRI Semarang - Club # 10 is headed by a lovely
young woman called Keyko. She is active and bright and very motivated
for her club and with support from others, this club is a terrific member
of the Connection Club network. Approximately 20 members met me at RRI.
We spoke about club difficulties and we also spoke about the great things
happening at this club. Keyko and her committee are keen to keep the club
going strong and I think it is terrific that RRI supports the club. They
provide them with a meeting room and allow them to take part in their
series of interactive English language programs.
| I also met 4 presenters from RRI - Sony, Karen, Alice
and Rava. These presenters work on the 6pm interactive English programs
from RRI Semarang. This station has had an English language interactive
program 'on air' for many years and this is terrific for the people
of Semarang who enjoy English. We discussed many things and I am hopeful
that we may be able to assist them with their programs more in 2005.
If you live in Semarang I suggest you keep an ear open for news in
the coming years from KGRE. |
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I left Semarang on the 3.00pm flight to Jakarta and after 'hours and
hours' in Jakarta traffic I finally booked into my hotel in the Senayan
district. On Sunday morning I looked out of my hotel window and saw a
vantage car rally happening in the park opposite. I went over for a look
at the old cars. They were very interesting and there was even the original
car used by President Sukarno back in the 1950s.
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Monday October 11th -
activities included a visit to IALF Jakarta and several interviews.
The first set of interviews were held at the swimming pool at Senayan.
http://www.kangguru.org/englishmagazine.htm#swim
were happy to meet with KGRE and to talk about their sport and their
careers. Albert Sutanto was a member of the 2004 Indonesian Olympic
team and went to Athens to represent his country. Bobby Bangkit Guntoro
also went to Athens. He was not a member of the swimming team at the
Games but he went to Greece because he was chosen as one of the two
Indonesian representatives at the Olympic Youth Camp. He was chosen
because of his swimming potential so look out for Bobby in the 2008
Olympic Games in China. He has a great future in the pool. Sherly
Yunita and Delfina Chandra. All four swimmers were keen to speak English
during the interview and KGRE wishes them all the best in the future
especially in the lead up to the 2008 Olympic Games. |
Mike Ponsonby from the Water
and Sanitation for Low Income Communities Phase II Project (WSLIC II)
met me at my hotel and explained more about the involvement of AusAID
in this huge $100 million project. This water and sanitation project is
spread across 7 provinces including provinces in Sumatra, Java, NTB and
South Sulawesi. Mike talked about the work of the project amongst poor
villages throughout the country and we will feature more news of this
terrific project in the December 2004 magazine.
On Monday it was KGRE
Teacher Workshop Day at IALF Jakarta in conjunction with AEC.
Seventy teachers attended and I have to say that they were one of the
most active groups of teachers I have seen for a long time. Hopefully
we can have more in 2005.
| In the late afternoon I went to Plaza
Semanggi to meet with Delon from 'Indonesian
Idol'. The finalists of the 'Indonesian Idol' team were held
up in traffic so our interview did not get underway until almost 7.30pm.
Wawan, Delon's manager, finally found me waiting in nearby Starbucks
and he took me into to meet Delon. During the 40 minute interview
Delon spoke freely about his education, his entry into Idol and his
plans for the future. We spoke together for almost an hour and Delon
was also very keen to know more about KGRE as well. Then the Idol
team had a short dance practice session in preparation for their final
'Indonesian Idol' performance to be recorded the following day and
to be broadcast on Saturday, October 16th. It was fun to watch them
'at work' and they certainly all had a good time - lots of laughter
and funny antics. Joy spoke with KGRE after the dance session.
She talked about her singing career and her planned family holiday
in Bali. Joy is looking forward to her holiday and to having some
rest. We spoke for about 15 minutes. The 'Indonesian Idol' team all
headed home to rest for their busy day the next day. Rather than catch
a taxi, Joy offered me a lift back to my hotel as it was on her way
home. As her driver battled the traffic, Joy and I chatted some more.
Hopefully Joy will do another interview for KGRE soon. Many
thanks to Wawan for his assistance with arranging these interviews. |
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On Wednesday morning I flew back to Bali.
Return to Past Travels of KGRE in Indonesia
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