JEDDAH — A three-month Indonesian language learning program was officially inaugurated by Indonesian Consul General Mohamad Hery Saripudin on Sunday evening here in Jeddah. Bahasa, the Indonesian language, course focuses on enabling Saudis and local expatriates with a different background of professions to learn the language. The program is scheduled to run until May 12 and will award the participants at the end of the program with certificates indicating that the they have met its required minimum standard, proven in the performance of written and oral tests and class participation with attendance of no less than 75 percent. Saripudin, in his opening remarks, emphasized four benefits from mastering the Indonesian language. "Language is a medium of communication and means to build a strong bond of friendship. If you are able to speak Indonesian language, you will have a wider range of acquaintances, friends and brothers, not only from Indonesia, but also from almost a half of population of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), amounting to 600 million," he said. The Indonesian Consulate General here, he said, intends to go hand in hand with relevant authorities in the Kingdom in terms of service improvement by offering a free Indonesian language training program, especially to employees working in Haj and Umrah companies and establishments as well as at airports inside the Kingdom, so that they can extend better quality services to Haj and Umrah pilgrims from Indonesia. It is worth noting that number of Indonesian Umrah pilgrims last year was around 800,000 and is expected to rise this year up to 1 million. Meanwhile, the number of Haj pilgrims for 2017 will increase significantly to 221,000. "Seeing this fact, mastering Indonesian language will be a great help for those employees while they are on duty," he stated. Aside from growing business contacts with Saudi Arabia, the number of Saudi tourists visiting Indonesia, either for business, leisure and for other purposes has further witnessed substantial growth. This has also driven Saudis and expatriates living in the Kingdom to learn the Indonesian language. The Indonesian language course program, organized by the Consulate, has attracted more and more Saudis and expatriates to join. With 19 days of registration, more than a hundred people appeared to be enrolling in the program, 86 of them have been successfully selected by the organizing team of the Consulate, 70 of whom are Saudis. The Indonesian Consul General really appreciates the extraordinary interest of the participants to learn ‘Bahasa' Indonesia. He hoped that they would take this opportunity very seriously and succeed in learning the language.
