Japan Foundation spreads career advice, culture

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

More than 100 students from several vocational schools in Greater Jakarta listened attentively when Arzanela, a senior employee with the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel, spoke about the hotel, its management and how to be a good employee. The students burst into laughter when, once in a while, Arzanela cracked jokes.

Arzanela, who has been working at the same hotel for the past 20 years, gave students tips on working at a hotel.

"Hotel is a business of service. So we have to give a good impression to guests. As a hotel employee, you have to appear neat and attractive, and to smell good," Arzanela said on Feb. 21 during a discussion organized by The Japan Foundation in Jakarta.

The annual discussion, held since 2003, is designed to provide high school students with a forum to exchange ideas, to share information and to transfer knowledge.

This year, the event was held on two days. The first day, on Feb. 19, was dedicated to students of senior high schools while the second day, Feb. 21, was allocated to students from vocational schools.

Each school sent four students and a teacher to the event, making a total of around 200 participants.

On the first day, participants learned about Japanese culture and art, including manga (comics) and taiko (traditional drum). They also had a chance to obtain information about institutions and schools in Jakarta that run Japanese language classes.

For vocational school students, the event had a different focus.

Unlike high school students, who will most likely go on to advanced studies, vocational school students will likely apply for a job as soon as they graduate.

Given this consideration, vocational school students were introduced to businesses, employment opportunities in Japan and the work culture in Japan.

They also learned how to prepare Japanese foods.

Several students and teachers expressed their satisfaction and appreciation of this event.

Sari, a student at Paramitha Tourism high school (SMIP) in East Jakarta, said the discussion broadened her knowledge, especially regarding the tourism industry.

"Now I know the work environment at hotels and how I should prepare for it," she said.

Titik, a teacher at Santa Maria vocational school in Central Jakarta, said the event helped students to obtain information and to interact with students from other schools.

"I have to remind my students that they have to share the information to their peers at school," she said.

Program officer Ita Tundjung of The Japan Foundation said the schools invited to the event were those that had Japanese language classes.

"The students already have basic information about Japan. We have organized this event to stimulate students to be more curious about Japan and its culture," Ita told The Jakarta Post.

According to her, at least 800 elementary and high schools in Indonesia have Japanese language classes for their students, with a total of about 1,300 Japanese language teachers.

"We didn't invite them all to this event because our space is limited. So we focused on schools in Jakarta," she added.

Apart from the discussion, The Japan Foundation also organizes a Cinema Caravan, in which the foundation visits schools and screens documentaries on Japan for students.

"Basically, we want to introduce the Japanese culture to students in Indonesia," she said.