IO, Jakarta – AMAROOSSA ONE DECADE! It is with such pride and joy that the Amaroossa family hears and declares this. Here is a milestone of years of hard work in the hotel business: it has been ten long years since Amalia Roosseno, the distinguished lawyer, expanded her expertise by opening the first of her hotel chain. The Amaroossa Group now has six Amaroossa hotels, in five cities: Bandung, Nusa Dua (Bali), Bogor, Bekasi, and Jakarta.
The European ring to the “Amaroossa” name makes a lot of people think that the brand is a foreign franchise. However, it is actually an abbreviation of the founder’s name, Ms. “Amalia Roosseno”. She created the hotel chain in her image – one of femininity and toughness, strength and class. It is not surprising that the tenth anniversary of the chain was on 30 October 2019 – the same date as Amalia Roosseno’s 79th birthday.
A celebration of togetherness
To celebrate its tenth anniversary and as an expression of its
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Amaroossa Hotels Indonesia held a thanksgiving
celebration doubled with charitable contribution for local orphans. The
Amaroossa staff and stakeholders seek to express their joy and gratitude to
Almighty God that the hotel survived all trials for a whole decade, and that
Ms. Amalia Roosseno S.H. as the founder survived for the 79th year by holding
the “AMAROOSSA ONE DECADE” event throughout all Amaroossa Hotels.
The festivities that evening were meant to celebrate togetherness and the wealth of diversity – both in terms of the concepts held by each Amaroossa Hotel and the theme of the celebration in each site. All different – yet all bear the touch of traditional elegance inherited from our archipelago’s diverse culture. The experience of the celebratory atmosphere in each Amaroossa hotels is as unique as the general ambience of everyday who stays in these hotels.
“Stay in Love”
This year, founder Amalia Roosseno chose to celebrate her
birthday – and the anniversary of the corporation – at Amaroossa Cosmo Hotel
at Jalan Pangeran Antasari. She is a dynamic figure who gets busier as she gets
older: she dedicates all of her time to nurture, maintain, and develop
Amaroossa Hotels. The founder’s constant, gentle touch maintains the warm and
homey atmosphere that differentiates Amaroossa Hotels from their fierce competitors
in Indonesia.
The celebration here that night was enlivened by the passionate and tender classic love story taken from the ancient Wayang tales: that between Gatotkaca and Dewi Pergiwo. There was a touching moment when the two faced the hero’s grandmother, Dewi Kunti, to ask her to bless their love and marriage. Kunti is an exemplary lady who has raised her five birth sons and stepsons into tough, honest, and intelligent knights and gentlemen – the illustrious Pandavas.
It is the same with the case of the Amaroossa Hotels: its motto, “Stay in Love”, refers to the love bestowed by the Lady Grandmother, Ms. Amalia herself, to the hotels and their staff, and to their beloved guests. They are her children and grandchildren. As time goes on, let us hope that Amaroossa will remain a role model in Indonesia’s hotel business. Happy birthday, Amaroossa! The British Embassy, together with UNESCO, Journalists Safety Committee and Atmajaya University held a national seminar to celebrate a “National Day of Anti-impunity against Violence against Journalists” at Atmajaya University on Saturday, November 2, 2019. A “Journalist Safety Committee” was formed by several press agencies and non-government organizations, such as AJI Indonesia, LBH Press, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), the Indonesian Cyber Media Association, and the Indonesian Television Journalism Association (IJTI) to handle cases of violence against journalists.
In his remarks, the British Ambassador to Indonesia-Asean-Timor Leste, HE Owen Jenkins, said that one of the main programs of the British Embassy is to continue the struggle to end impunity in cases of violence against journalists. “Last year only, in a global context, 99 journalists were killed, and this number is double more than ten years before, and 348 others were imprisoned by the government. Meanwhile the Journalist Safety Committee noted there are around 40 to 50 cases of violence against journalists in Indonesia. From January 2019 to August 2019 there were 26 cases of violence” HE Owen Jenkins said.
Furthermore Mr. Jenkins said the background to the growing number of violent acts, intimidation and harassment of journalists was because journalists are the seekers of truth and objectivity of the news they report. “Media freedom is an absolute requirement for the establishment of democracy in a country. The British Government is committed to eliminating this impunity and intends to provide training for the upholding of freedom of the press and protection of journalists” His Excellency declared.
LBH Pers’s executive Director, Ade Wahyudin, revealed “Many cases that occurred in Indonesia were due to deliberate factors. Journalists continue to experience violence from law enforcement officials even though they have shown their Press card. The forms of violence consist of erasing recordings, mistreatment, forced withdrawal or detention in paddy wagons and so on. While the culprit only temporarily accepts ethical punishment, the legal prosecution related to the violence they have committed until now is still stalled. “
Meanwhile Agung Dharmajaya, a member of the Press Council and Chair of the Law and Legislative Commission for the Press Council for the 2019-2022 period, mentioned the MOU signed between the Press Council and the Police and Attorney General, so that every problem is supposed to be resolved internally, before going to court.