On March 27^th a charming gathering of bright-eyed students took place on the square in front of the General Education Building to celebrate the annual Indonesian Cultural Festival at NPUST. As the university’s vice-president, Dr. Chung-Ruey Yen, and Indonesian Economic and Trade Office to Taipei (IETO) senior assistant, Mrs Mulyansari kicked off the event, they thanked the Indonesian students for making NPUST into the type of multicultural environment that it is.

Vice-President Yen also expressed his gratitude to the IETO and Indonesian Student Association for their efforts and shared his anticipation that the festival would be a great opportunity for Indonesian students to interact with local ones and make new friends.

The organizers did a fine job of bringing Indonesian culture to life on campus, with traditional Indonesian performances, music, games, a fashion show and authentic cuisine. Among these included a song and dance tradition local to Sumatera Utara called the “Tari Tor-Tor”. Dressed in full costume, students danced to music in a performance which represents the convening and transmigration of souls.

Participants also enjoyed “Tahu Tek”, a tasty dish made of rice noodles, bean curd, bean sprouts and a traditional Indonesian sauce. They also cooled off with some “Cendol”, a beverage made of coconut milk, sugar water and bean starch vermicelli. 

Students and teachers had a great time interacting with one another as they enjoyed the festivities. And in order to help facilitate communication between the participants of different backgrounds, the activity organizers coordinated with the NPUST Language Center to design a special language learning handout.

Over the years, the internationalization of NPUST has been very successful. Currently, the university is home to 780 international students; 36 of which are of Indonesian nationality. Indonesia is itself a multicultural environment, with art, religions, languages and customs unique to its various islands. Thus, in addition to bringing students and teachers together for an enjoyable experience, the festival was designed to provide participants with a great opportunity learn something new about the archipelago nation south of Taiwan which is known as the “Emerald of the Equator”.