Feature: Mandarin learning catches on in Indonesia’s largest mosque

by Dames Alexander Sinaga
JAKARTA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) — “It’s such a great program! Incredible!” said Muhammad Kurtubi, a 25-year-old Indonesian national who was looking forward to learning Mandarin at a newly launched Chinese cultural space here in the Istiqlal Mosque, the country’s largest mosque.
The cultural space was launched two weeks ago by the Chinese embassy in Indonesia in collaboration with the mosque, with more than 50 people from the Indonesian government, universities, and media attending the ceremony.
Named China Space at Istiqlal, the project offers bilateral cultural and educational exchanges and cooperation between China and Indonesia. The classroom not only displays the charm of traditional Chinese culture, such as silk paintings, porcelain and panda dolls, but also a number of Chinese technological achievements, represented by satellites and ship models, and miniature Jakarta-Bandung high-speed trains.
Kurtubi, a resident of Jakarta who frequently visits the mosque, has a plan to pursue a master’s degree at a university in China next year. The presence of the project at the mosque was a satisfaction for him. He has harbored a long-standing dream of learning Chinese since his employment at a Chinese firm downtown two years ago.
“I chose Mandarin because it’s one of the most widely spoken languages across the world. At the same time, pursuing a career in Chinese offers more opportunities,” he told Xinhua recently. “Now, I can learn it before or after conducting my prayers at the mosque,” he said.
Some of his friends were also going to take part in the language learning, Kurtubi said. “From now on it will be much more convenient for us to learn Mandarin and Chinese culture.”
The project also impressed the mosque’s Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar, who said the China Space at Istiqlal Mosque was the only one among mosques around the world.
“We are very excited with the progress achieved in China Space, and we hope that many more collaborative agendas will be carried out in Istiqlal,” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy’s Charge d’ Affaires Zhou Kan said during the launching ceremony that the embassy was ready to take the opportunity to cooperate with the mosque and other Indonesian communities to build the China Space into an inclusive, shared and open space, making greater contributions to bilateral cultural, religious, and educational exchanges and cooperation.
He also highlighted that next year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Indonesia. ■