SBY Pays Working Visit to Bali

Jakarta, Indonesia (News Today) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono left for Bali on Monday morning for a one-day working visit during which he will attend a national student arts creative contest at the Tampaksiring presidential palace. The President and entourage, including Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Darwin Z Saleh, Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik, Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam and presidential spokesman Julian A Pasha left Halim Perdanakusuma military airport here at around 7 am.

Earlier, Minister Jero Wacik said the annual contest held prior to the commemoration of the country’s independence day on August 17 was a follow up to President Yudhoyono’s initiative disclosed at the commemoration of the National Child Day at the Cipanas flower park in West Java on July 23, 2006. At that time the President underscored the need to hold a national arts creative contest for elementary and junior high school students as a means to build the nation’s character.

Yudhoyono said it was easier to instill the national character in children during their childhood than adulthood. The contest was an appropriate means for elementary and junior high school students to display their arts creativity so that they would feel encouraged to develop their logic, etiquette and aesthetics in a balanced manner, Jero Wacik said.

A select group of elementary and junior high school students from all over the country are taking part in the contest for the President Cup. They advance to the contest after undergoing a selection process from sub-district to provincial level. Each of the country’s 33 provinces sends three elementary school students for painting, poem, and song contests and four junior high school students for painting, poem, song, and batik motif design contests.

The national student arts creative contest was for the first time held at the Cipanas flower park in West Java. On Tuesday morning, the President is scheduled to continue his trip to neighboring West Nusa Tenggara province where he will launch a free alternate power blackout program.

Source : kompas

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