A Quarter Century Indonesia And Ireland Together

IndoIrish.Com - Indonesia and Ireland celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the two countries on 12 November 2009 at Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin, Ireland. This celebration was hosted by the Indonesian Ambassador to UK and Ireland, H.E. Mr Yuri Octavian Thamrin and and the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland. It was attended by politicians, business people, Indonesian and Irish citizen who live in Ireland, Northern Ireland and UK. The Ambassador of the Netherlands and the Ambassador of Nigeria also attended along with other dignitaries. The guests were offered drinks and light Indonesian snacks made by the Indonesian community.

Unfortunately due to other commitments, the guest of honour, Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Michael Martin could not stay too long. Mr. David Cooney, the Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs attended and gave a speech on his behalf. Both countries expressed their satisfaction of the diplomatic relationship and planned to develop more in the future. The speeches were followed by cultural performances from both countries. There were a number of Indonesian performances; the mesmerising Legong Dance from Bali, the graceful Yapong Dance from Java, the hilarious Rampak Gendang musical performance from Java and the excellent Saman Dance from Aceh were performed by the Indonesian community and representatives from the Indonesian embassy. A number of energetic and lively Irish dancing performances lead by Mr. Kevin Warren also entertained the guests in between the Indonesian performances. The costumes from both countries were rich with colour and tradition. It was a great night.

The night closed with some photo opportunities to mark this eventful occasion. Thank you everyone for making the night special.(By Mogi NP & Maya S)

Samaners Busking On Grafton Street

IndoIrish.com - A group of 12 Indonesian wearing beautiful Red and Yellow outfits were seen dancing on Grafton Street yesterday, Sunday, 8 November 2009. This group is known as Samaners. The name Samaners is taken from the name of the dance itself, Saman Dance. In which it originally comes from Aceh, Sumatera, Indonesia.

Nowadays the Saman Dance has been well-known abroad as dance of a “Thousand Hands”.
The unique part of this dance is that the performers do not use their feet at all. They sit and kneel on the ground. The music is from a singer that sings live while hitting a traditional drum called Gendang. Besides from the singer, the music also comes from the dancers singing and clapping their hands, slapping chest, thigh and
slapping floor. They start the movement slow and it gets faster and faster.

Samaners busked were to raise funds for the earthquake victims in Padang, West Sumatera, Indonesia that happened on 30 September 2009 ago. Earthquake 7.6 SR that killed hundreds of people, destroyed villages, and made big damage in several places. Samaners busked in 2 places, in front of St. Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre and on Grafton Street (near HMV). The first performance was at 1PM and the second one was 3PM. During the break Samaners and crews had a picnic in the St. Stephen’s Green Park. Even the weather was very supportive. It was one lovely day. They were sitting on the grass, overlooking the pond, had lunch and chat. Everybody can feel togetherness was in the air. With total 4 performances and each performance took about 10 minutes, Samaners raised 250euro!!

The money will be donated through Indonesian Red Cross. The kids were also so brilliant and cute in supporting the busking by passing through the money baskets. After dancing, Samaners did not hesitate to dig their own pockets to contribute to the money baskets too. Sore knees, cold breeze, hard base are just little
things compare to what the earthquake victims have been through. Samaners & Crews are willing to do anything they could to help the earthquake victims to have a better life. The busking went very well. It was the first busking experience for all Samaners. Something they never thought they would do, but they did it to help others. Some eyes were shedding tears because of the great dedication.

Samaners & crews felt overwhelmed and thanked Dubliners for their support. The complete
members that support busking are:

Saman dancers: Abdul Mudjib, Ipung Purnomo Hadi, Yuanitari Aziz, Sonya Kaber-
Wawolumaya, Mogi Nadia Prasetyo, Sarah Effendi Stevenson, Yulinda Fitriana, Sherly Henry, Corry Pambuko, Hiswaty Hafid, Amalia Zahra.

Crews & Supporters: Maya Yusuf Kirby, Olive Kirby, Hazel Kirby, Aileen Balfe, Yanti Soeharsojo
Faisal, Sri Meifiana Sari, Rayhan Irfan, Callista Irfan, Mark Suleiman, Asyilla Suleiman, Hanna Suleiman, Aben, Bambang Sumantri, Tosh Browne, Samson Kaber, Vic Terlier, Ulfah Beauvillain, Patrice Beauvillain, Loane Beauvillain, etc.

Nevertheless, this busking was also an event to promote Indonesian Cultural Night that will be held on 13 November 2009, 7PM, at Break for the border, organized by Indonesian Irish Association in aid for the earthquake victims. For those who haven’t booked or buy the ticket, please do so to avoid disappointment as the place is very limited. Ticket is €15 including entertainment, finger food, and free entry to BFTB night club with DJ. Hope to see you there. (Mogi Nadia Prasetyo).

Aksi Para Samaners Dublin Untuk Sumatera!

IndoIrish.com - Siang itu, pada hari Minggu Grafton Street yang terletak tak jauh dari Stephen Green Dublin City Centre telah diramaikan oleh salah satu aksi Samaners dari Indonesia dengan tujuan satu: "Indonesia Appeal Earthquake". Setelah Samaners Dublin sempat menggebrak Festival World Of Culture pada bulan Agustus 2009 dengan kekompakan dan gerakannya yang memukau, kali ini Samaners Dublin yang mayoritas asli terdiri dari orang-orang Indonesia kembali beraksi demi sebuah tujuan yang mulia.

Pementasan terbuka di Grafton Street ini dilakukan oleh Samaners Dublin dalam rangka penjualan tiket untuk acara "Indonesian Support Cultural Night for the Earthquake victims 2009" yang akan di adakan pada tanggal 13 November 2009.

Usaha dan semangat para Samaners Dublin inipun tidak sia-sia, total sumbanganpun yang dihasilkan dalam pementasan tersebut telah menghasilkan 250 Euro!

Cuaca yang mendukung pada pada hari minggu itu mendukung pementasan, warna-warni keindahan dari pakaian dan gerakan kompak serta semangat yang nampak dari para wajah Samanerspun menambah para pengunjung yang datang.

Samaners Dublin -yang awalnya di perkenalkan oleh Mutie, salah seorang student dari London- akan beraksi kembali  pada pementasan pada malam kulture Indonesia untuk para korban gempa bumi di Indonesia. Serta beberapa kulture Indonesia lainnya akan turut berpartisipasi mendukung acara tersebut.

Untuk informasi selengkapnya, silahkan kontak: indoirish@indonesianirish.com (JS).

Come And Join Us In The Indonesian Support Cultural Night!

Indonesian Support Cultural Night for the Earthquake victims 2009

Date : 13 November 2009

Venue: Break For The Border

Time : 7pm till late

Ticket : €15/person with Entertainment and Finger Food will be provided

There will be raffle on the night as well.

The money will be donated to the victims of the Earthquake in Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia through Indonesian Red Cross (PMI)

Please come and support us!

For further information please contact: info@indonesianirish.com