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Artistes perform folk dances from Bali, Indonesia. Right: Indonesians watch the performance. PICTURES: T K Nasar |
A community gathering of Indonesians in Qatar was held at their embassy yesterday.
The end of the year gathering was a cultural and social event facilitated by the embassy and organised by the community members. It featured traditional Indonesian dances and songs as well as food and sweets. There was also a fashion show for kids.
The celebration was lively at the community gathering. Children played around happily with music in the background while enjoying national dishes and sweets, and the community members got a good opportunity to socialise and to celebrate their culture.
Mohamed Alaula, the third secretary at the embassy, said that it is for the second time that the celebration was being held this year and added that it helps expatriate Indonesians to get together and enjoy their culture. Also as the event, coincided with the National Day of Qatar, the community thus honoured and expressed their gratitude to the country.
Alaula said that there are nearly 30,000 expatriate Indonesians in Qatar, including around 3,000 families, working in various sectors such as oil and gas industry, construction, banking, services and tourism. Around 10,000 Indonesians expatriates currently are domestic workers. He also pointed out that “Indonesians view Qatar as a very good place to work, as it gives them an opportunity to realise their dreams and develop their potentialities.”
“The local community in Qatar has been very generous to us. For example, every Saturday, Fanar hosts our community children for free lessons. The teachers are volunteers from Indonesian community,” said Alaula.
Citing another example, he said Qatar Charity hosted a community gathering at its building for free when an Indonesian expert came to give a lecture on family and health issues last month.
“Bilateral relations between Qatar and Indonesia are very good in all fields including economic and political relations, and we are looking forward to enhance the ties,” he said.
Alaula also said that there is great co-operation between the embassy and the Search and Follow-up department of the Ministry of Interior regarding cases of maids running away from their sponsors. He said, “We work together to resolve the issue. Not all cases involve ill-treatment, some maids simply get homesick and want to go back home and we help them accordingly.”
