Indonesian Students Enriching Australian Tour

Ashabul Kahfi Islamic Center (AKIC) Sydney welcomed a group of 120 students from the Integrated Islamic High School (SMAIT) Insantama Bogor Indonesia who visited the centre on Thursday 7 November 2022 at Wiley Park.

This visit is part of the school study tour program in preparing its last grade students to immerse in international leadership and management training. The program ran from the 13 to the 21 November in multiple places in New South Wales, Australia.

According to the program supervisor Mr Muhammad Karebet (Kar) Widjajakusuma, the program aims to enrich the knowledge and Islamic personality of Insantama students in nurturing their leadership and management skills in the Australian context.

Mr Kar added that some destinations of the program are to visit Australian institutions and businesses, especially those in the fields of science, education, and popular culture. And as part of the training to become future Muslim leaders, the students have to handle by themselves all sorts of necessities required to make this program successful including preparing the trip proposal, conducting fundraising, and outlining their activities during the trip to Australia.

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On this occasion, the founder of Ashabul Kahfi Islamic Centre Sheikh Dr Chalidin Yacob delivered a speech to the students on the updated situation of Australian social culture, education, religion, and human resources.

Sheikh Chalidin went into detail on the history of how Muslims first came to Australia, the current educational system, and how the Muslim community has managed to prosper and live here in the Land Down Under.

One of the most important messages given by Sheikh Chalidin with regard to becoming a great Muslim leader in the future is to keep on practicing the correct aqeedah and continue displaying the beautiful Muslim akhlaq (good character) in our daily life. All Muslim leaders should possess both of these qualities.

The Insantama students also showcased some of their proficiency in other languages and traditional artistic displays from Indonesia throughout the tour. Several of the performances they have shown are like delivering a speech in three languages (Arabic, English, and Indonesian language), playing the traditional art of Angklung, demonstrating the traditional martial art of Silat, and performing the traditional non-musical culture dance of Saman Aceh.

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The study tour activities include visits to mosques, museums, and Sydney special landmarks as well as meetings with members of Islamic community organisations, local universities, Islamic schools in Sydney, and the Indonesian government representative in Sydney.

Australian Museum, Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay, Observatory Hill, Blue Mountain are just to name some of the popular places being toured by these students.

To introduce the students to the Muslim community in Sydney, various mosques like Auburn Mosque, Lakemba Mosque, and Sydney CBD Mosque have been visited. Also, visits to some local community organizations like Ashabul Kahfi Islamic Centre, UNSW Indonesian Muslim Students Association (KPII), and The Surau.

Considering most of the study tour participants are from the last grade at their school, meetings with some local universities have taken place at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and the University of Newcastle (UON). These visits are to expose the students to Australian higher learning institutions.

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The Islamic High School (SMAIT) Insantama Bogor is a school with the Islamic Boarding School concept, in which students receive comprehensive coaching in both academic, personality, and leadership aspects. Various student coaching programs are implemented to prepare strong and reliable future leaders of the Ummah. The school has all levels of education for primary, junior, and senior high students.

Meanwhile, the Ashabul Kahfi Islamic Centre is a centre that started from a small school with only 6 students who wish to learn to read Quran in the Wiley Park area. Through its branch of the organization, Ashabul Kahfi Language School has now served more than 500 students to study Al Quran, Islamic studies, Arabic, and culture classes in the surrounding areas of Wiley Park, Lakemba, Punchbowl, and Bankstown area. (R/RE1)

Source: https://www.amust.com.au/2022/11/indonesian-students-enriching-australian-tour/

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)