Indonesia. Ultimate in Diversity.

The big day was finally here...

Aku Cinta Indonesia!

After weeks of practicing and preparation, this was the very day everyone can showcase their hardwork.

On Friday, 20 March 2009, starting from 4pm, members of the Janur and Logistics groups began their work in decorating and setting up the venue. Take a close look at the art pieces done by our very own Janur team, exquisite aren't they? :) All thanks to them for beautifying the venue on D-Day!

-The Janur Group-

Final touch up

Our eye-catching banner

- proudly done by the Janur Group

Then came the memasak groups preparing their food on the buffet table...

-2 out of the 6 Memasak Groups-

Meticulously laying out their 'masterpieces' :)

Busy busy...

A spread of goodies! Yum!:P

After much hustle and bustle outside LT8, things were finally in place. At around 6pm, D-Day was announced to commence!

And now, let's get into the world of Indonesian culture...

...behind these closed doors...

Bahasa Indonesia 1 students present... 'Aku Cinta Indonesia'!

1) Kulintang

-The Kulintang Group-

Guided by Ibu Susanna, the girls presented two songs, namely Topi Saya Bundar and Nona Manis. Topi Saya Bundar resembles nursery rhymes, while Nona Manis is a love song about a man expressing his love to a woman.

Introducing Kulintang

Nona Manis!

It was not easy being the first group, and I must say, they did a fantastic job with the excellent coordination of music! The music played was so smooth, sweet, and soothing to the ears. It had been an enjoyable experience listening to them. Impressive performance put up, girls!

2) Kostum Tradisional

-The Traditional Costume Group-

Behold finally the full glamour of our traditional costume team. The hours of make-up and preparation went superbly well - marvelous, glamorous and absolutely stunning. Gold accessories shine amongst the depth of the already shimmering, brightly colored clothing of top worksmanship and quality.

Don't they just look fantastic? :)

All our very own LAB1201 students dressed up just for the D-DAY. As they sashayed down the LT, hundreds of eyes can't help but get stuck on these wonderful gracious couples as they snatch more attention than even the limelight can provide for. Their costumes immediately bring out the true feel of Indonesia in an instance. It had been an enjoyable time for all, hadn't it? :)

All the 12 pairs...

3) Angklung

-The Angklung Group-

The angklung group started off with 2 of their members introducing their instrument as a traditional musical instrument of Sundanese. All the members were splendidly dressed for the performance; the ladies were dressed in black tops and brown sarongs, while the gentlemen were dressed in brown batik shirts and black long pants.

Introducing Angklung

The angklung group was conducted by a student conductor during their performance. They performed Naik-naik Ke Puncak Gunung and Topi Saya Bundar, which are children songs of Indonesia. Even though the angklung group sounded a little uncoordinated at first, they managed to catch up and gave an excellent performance later. The audience showed great support for their short performance by giving them a great round of applause. This is definitely a great reward to the angklung group for the effort they had put in for their performance.

Let the music begin!

I am sure that both the Angklung group and the audience enjoyed the performance and gained more knowledge about the Angklung from this experience. The hard work, time and experience would be a valuable asset to the members of the Angklung group. The understanding of the Indonesian culture the audience gained from the performance can also be an enrichment to their lives.

4) Tari Saman

-The Saman Dance Group-

Getting into formation

See that? A wave!

The Saman dance was truly enjoyable to watch. The actions done by the performers were coordinated and synchronized, both with the music and with their counterparts. They started off with simple slapping movements. Gradually, as the tempo increases, the difficulty level of the dance also increases. At one point during the dance, the performers were unable to coordinate their movements with each other and they were frantically looking at each other for cues. However, they persevered till the very end of the dance and the audience gave them the applause that they truly deserved. Even though they made some blotches, it was understandable as the dance really required high level of coordination between the performers and given the short time that they have, they had put up a wonderful performance.

5) Menyanyi

-The Singing Group-

The menyanyi group showed off their musical abilities not just through singing, but also through creating their own background music with their very own members play the keyboard and violin for their first song, Ku Bahagia. They worked well together as a team and it was enjoyable watching them sing and dance to the soothing tunes of the violin.

They also presented a mini skit in their performance to bring out the meaning of their second song, PUSPA (PUtuskanlah Saja PAcarmu). The audience were duly entertained by the storyline which starred Roman and Wei Ting as lovers, whose relationship was made more complex by the intrusion of a 3rd guy, Johan. Everyone was tickled by how the 3rd guy failed miserably in persuading the girl (Wei Ting) that he likes to break up with her boyfriend (Roman) to say "I love you" to him. The group's efforts were evident in their smooth coordination of singing and dance steps, and they all certainly looked like they were enjoying themselves tremendously. Kudos to the Menyanyi group for a job well done!

6) Jumputan

-1 out of 3 of the Jumputan small groups-

Introducing Jumputan

Amazing, isn't it?

They've turned white plain cloths into such creative artworks!

7) Batik

Introducing Batik

Displaying their weeks of efforts. Great job done! :D

8) "Short Speech" by BI3 seniors

Consider taking up BI2 next semester? :)

9)Tari Maluku

-The Tari Maluku Group-

Introducing Tari Maluku

The group showed brilliant agility and group work. They managed to impress the audiences that responded with ‘woos’ and loud applauses during the performance. Though during the interview, they had voiced concerns about coordination, they managed to coordinate seamlessly. Leaping in and out of the bamboo poles with such fluid movements, they almost look like professionals!

10) Drama: Indonesian Folktales "Ande-Ande Lumut"

-The Drama Group-

The drama group put up a brilliant skit revolving around the extremely tampan prince, his very cantik lady love, the four power rangers... and a crab. It was an excellent close to the evening, to say the least, and they were indeed deserving of the waves of laughter they got.

Not forgetting our Master of Ceremony (MC) for the evening!