AIMEP — The Indonesia Australia Student Exchange Delegation (AIMEP) 2024 visited Yogyakarta for 2 days on Wednesday (18/9/2024) and Thursday (19/9/2024). During their stay in Yogyakarta, they stopped at Aisyiah University on Jalan Siliwangi Yogyakarta and the “Kali Opak” Cultural Islamic Boarding School in Srimulyo Village, Piyungan District, Bantul Regency.
At this Islamic Boarding School, the delegates were greeted with a welcome dance and the singing of Sholawat Empyak by the students. In fact, the delegates were also given the opportunity to play the angklung musical instrument and taste traditional Javanese culinary delights such as: Wedang Uwuh, Jadah-Tempe, Boiled Sweet Potatoes and other foods.
James Yaqub Philip, who was one of the delegates from Queensland, expressed his admiration for the development of Islamic culture in Indonesia, especially Yogyakarta. Therefore, this visit gave him a lot of new experiences and knowledge about Islamic culture in Indonesia.
“There are many things I learned from this trip to Indonesia. There are many things that I will bring home, including pride in music and the role of oral salawat in Islam and in my personal religious practice. ” said Yaqub in a special interview with Jogja Report in Yogyakarta, Thursday (19/9/2024).
Furthermore, Yaqub revealed that while in Jogja he saw several buildings of places of worship such as mosques, which had adopted the designs of many tribes. This shows that in Jogja, places of worship already depict tolerance between tribes.
“We stayed at the Melia Purosani Hotel and across the street there was a large mosque that had a very, very distinctive design. I thought it was a Javanese design, but an uncle at the mosque told me that it was actually (the design) from Kalimantan. Inside the mosque, the building is very traditional, made of wood, with a very traditional Indonesian design. Then I saw the old people who came, they were mostly wearing sarongs, and some were wearing turbans. Amazing. ” said Yaqub.
Meanwhile, Zulpha Styer, who is a delegate from the City of New South Wales, added that the cultural life in Yogyakarta is very different compared to Australia. This is because Muslims in Australia are a minority. Of course, this is very different in the development of Islamic culture when compared to Australia.
“Australia is a secular country, so we are a minority there. However, we still have the freedom to practice our religion. Although not much, there are also many halal foods and mosques there. ” said Zulpha.
Therefore, during her visit to Jogja, Zulpha admitted that she had gained many new experiences about Islamic cultural life. Of course, they will tell the Muslim community in Australia about everything they saw during their visit to Indonesia.
Regarding this visit, the Head of the Kaliopak Cultural Islamic Boarding School Jadul Maula expressed his gratitude for the concern of the delegates visiting his place. Furthermore, he hopes that after this visit there will be follow-up activities even though in a different format. (*/)
