Successful Bahasa competition gets Indonesian, Lao tongues wagging
 
The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia on Saturday hosted a Bahasa Indonesia language competition to foster closer relations between the peoples of the two nations.
The competition was held in conjunction with the 74th anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia’s independence.
Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr Toto Waspodo, officially opened the event which featured 50 students who attended the Bahasa Indonesia Course held by the embassy.
The contest comprised four sections: Bahasa Indonesia Speech Competition, Bahasa Indonesia Quiz, Singing Competition in Bahasa Indonesia, and the Journalism Competition in Bahasa Indonesia.
Mr Toto Waspodo emphasised that the event sought to foster closer relations between the people of Laos and Indonesia through the sharing of the language.
This is the second time the competition has been held after last year’s event, with the embassy motivated to organise it again following the enthusiastic reception from participants.
The competition was full of fun and an experience-enriching forum to improve Indonesian language skills, both in terms of vocabulary and word expression.
Even more important was the strengthening of close relations among those participating in the Indonesian language course, enhancing ties between the Lao and Indonesian communities.
The course was organised with the assistance of teaching staff from the Centre for Bahasa Indonesia Strategy and Diplomacy Development (Pusat Pengembangan Strategi dan Diplomasi Kebahasaan/PPSDK) in Indonesia.
Lao students, government officials, police and military personnel are among participants of the course, which has been run since 2010.  Prizes will be presented to the competition winners by the Ambassador during the flag hoisting ceremony at the 74th anniversary of Indonesia’s independence on August 17.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update August 13, 2019)