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Doraemon, tip money and Tukul in Japanese speech contest
Words like minasang, watashiwa, domo, and konichiwa echoed in the Radio of the Republic of Indonesia's auditorium, Jakarta, throughout Saturday afternoon during the national finale of the 38th Japanese speech competition
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Words like minasang, watashiwa, domo, and konichiwa echoed in the Radio of the Republic of Indonesia's auditorium, Jakarta, throughout Saturday afternoon during the national finale of the 38th Japanese speech competition.
Clad in a long black skirt, Dwi Puspitosari - the third participant - made the audience laugh with her speech "Time Machine", which referenced Doraemon, Naruto and other Japanese cartoon figures.
Participant number nine Diani Chrifilda Kekung, in a pink top, started her speech slowly but later peppered her sentences with examples of laughs and big wide smiles. It made sense: her speech was about laughter as the secret of youth.
Auliya Agung Barkah delivered a speech about the lifelong motivation of Tukul, an Indonesian comedian, while Habriyanto Rosyidi Suprapto, a Padjajaran University student of Bandung, delivered a speech about cipua - tip money - and the need to familiarize yourself with the habits of the people you visit.
"Today demonstrated the warmth of our countries' relationship," sai Kojiro Shiojiri, Japan's ambassador to Indonesia.
He said there were about 270,000 people learning Japanese in Indonesia, and one of his duties was to encourage the people of both countries to share their cultures.
"Many Indonesians learn Japanese, and as the Japan Ambassador, I want to say terima kasih banyak Indonesia."
In his opening speech, Director of the Japan Foundation in Jakarta Kanai Atsushi said, "Language is the window to the people of a nation."
He added the close friendship between Indonesia and Japan would continue far into the future.
The event was a collaboration between the Japan Foundation, Persada (Association of Japan Alumni), Panasonic Corporation, the Jakarta Japan Club, and Japanese language students from across the region.
There were 13 participants in the competition, from West Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Bali and Greater Jakarta. They had won competitions in their home province.
The winners were: Sintawati Wijaya for the first position, Fenny Violenty came second, Salma Intifada third, Dwi Puspitosari fourth, Amriadi Djunaidi fifth, and Okie Dita Apriyanto as the favorite winner.
Sintawati, the 20-year old first-prize-winner, delivered a speech on 51 years of friendship between Indonesia and Japan. She said she had worked on the speech for about a week and spent another week to practice it. She studies Japanese at the Darma Persada University, Jakarta, and is in her third year.
Fenny Violenty, the 2nd prize winner, gave a speech on not being alone. She told the audience about the love she had received from friends. She is a sixth semester student of Japanese at Brawijaya University, Malang, East Java.
The 21-year old delivered the speech with an outfit inspired by a Japanese school girl comic figure; a ponytail tied with a tiny cow pillow completed her costume.
The first and second prize winners will represent Indonesia in the Japanese speech competition among ASEAN countries that will be held in Tokyo this October.
Six juries graded the participants based not on their speech alone, but also on their appearance and their answers to the short interview that followed their speeches.
One of the jurors, Mazawa Yukiko from the Japan International Corporation Agency, said, "They are of similar competencies, but of course the three first winners were the better ones. It was hard to decide, due to all the interesting topics." (iwp)
