After a three-year hiatus, the 2nd International Seminar & Roundtable Meeting of Confucius Institute was held again. Organized by Confucius Institute University Al-Azhar Indonesia, Chinese Department UAI and ICCS Fujian Normal University, this hybrid seminar was held in Jakarta, precisely at Arifin Panigoro Auditorium UAI, on November 24, 2022.
The seminar, which was attended by various parties from many universities not only from Indonesia, but also from several universities in ASEAN member countries, was opened by Indonesian Martial Arts Performance and Ratoh Jaroe Traditional Dance from Al-Azhar.
Continued by the opening speech by Drs. Murni Djamal, MA as Vice President of Confucius Institute Universitas Al-Azhar Indonesia, he stated that this collaboration between University Al-Azhar Indonesia and Fujian Normal University through the Confucius Institute is a concrete form of improving and developing the quality of professional teaching, especially Mandarin in Southeast Asia. Not only that, this collaboration is also a form of practicing one of the verses in the Quran, namely QS Al-Hujurat verse 13 about the importance of learning another language and other people’s culture in order to socialize and build communication.
As Prof. Jiang Xingshan, Dean of International College of Chinese Studies Fujian Normal University said in his speech, in such an era of intellectual innovation, language has become an interdisciplinary subject that should be studied by people to understand multicultural background. Based on this foundation, Prof. Dr. Fasli Jalal, Sp.GK., Ph.D., Rector of YARSI University added in his speech that it became the main foundation of the reform period to redevelop Mandarin Language both at the formal and non-formal levels in various groups.
Assisted by the State Secretariat, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia and volunteers, six Confucius Institutes were formed in Indonesia, also known as the “Pusat Kebudayaan Mandarin” in Jakarta. Currently, Confucius Institute has 10 teaching points, namely Universitas Al-Azhar Indonesia, Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, BINUS University, Tarumanegara Xinya College, Universitas Darma Persada, POLRI Language School, IBI-KKG University, Yakobus Junior High School and SMK Perguruan Cikini.
In this seminar, there will be 9 speakers with professional teaching backgrounds who will explain their research results and Chinese teaching procedures in various countries, such as Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, China, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Among the nine speakers at the seminar were from Indonesia: (1) Guan Nan, B.A., M.Pd., Ph.D, Director of Bunda Mulia University Research and Social Community Area, (2) Dr. Hermina Sutami, Professor at Universitas Indonesia, (3) Dr. Herman, B.Ed., MTCSOL., Dean of Universal University School of Language and Culture Education, (4) Elisa Christiana, B.A., M.A., M.Pd., Lecturer from Universitas Kristen Petra.
Malaysia: Dr. Yap Teng Teng, Lecturer of the School of Language and Linguistics, University of Malaya, Director of Student Internship and Employment, Doctoral Advisor.
Singapore: Dr. NEO Pengfu, Ph.D., Director of Confucius Institute at Nanyang Technological University.
Thailand: Prof. Dr. Kanokporn Numtong, Kasetsart University Vice President of the Faculty of Humanities Administration, Professor and Doctoral Advisor.
Philippines: Dr. Cavin F. Pamintuan, Director of Confucius Institute at Angles University Foundation Philippine, 2022 “China-Philippines Mutual Understanding Award” Major Contribution Awardee.
China: Dr. Li Baogui, Dean of LNNU College of International Education, Professor, Doctoral Advisor.
The event was also attended by Prof. Dr. Ir. Asep Saefuddin, M.Sc. as the Rector of University Al-Azhar Indonesia, Prof. Jiang Xingshan, Dean of International College of Chinese Studies Fujian Normal University and Prof. dr. Fasli Jalal, Sp.GK., Ph.D., Rector of YARSI University (FA).