As a part of the International Academic and Business Visit agenda, students from Universiti Malaya and Universitas Airlangga visited Kampung Ketandan, one of the local tourism located in Central Surabaya (22/2). Upon arriving, students are greeted by local residents of RW 4 Kampung Ketandan. The event was held in a joglo located in the central of the neighborhood. Students are then welcomed with a speech from the head of the neighborhood, followed by a welcome dance of tari remo from one of the Karang Taruna. The event then continued with watching a video and explanation about the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) in Kampung Ketandan and the resident’s economic activity. After that, students went on quick trip to Mbah Buyut Tondo, before going on a walking tour session around the neighborhood.
On the first stop, students visit Diah Cookies, a local SME in Kampung Ketandan which produce and sell baked goods such as cookies. Students visit the production center and also the store which located not far from the production center. The group then continued the tour, visiting old buildings and houses which what makes Kampung Ketandan a famous tourist spot. After that, the students went back to the joglo to continue the community visit activity.
In the next activity, students are given a chance to try making batik and mug painting, one of the economic activity there. In the making batik activity, every students are given a piece of cloth and a pencil to draw the pattern for the batik. After finishing the pattern, they are guided by a local expert to start mencanting with thickening the pattern using a wax specific for batik. Then, the batik will be collected and then go to a process called penglodoran, which is a process where the batik are dipped to a colour bath and then boiled in a boiling water to remove the wax. Other than making batik, some students also tried mug painting. This is a new activity recently developed in Kampung Ketandan. In this activity, students are allowed to paint the mugs as creative as possible. Then, they can let it dry and the mugs are ready to use.
According to the locals, activity such as the International Academic and Business Visit are a great impact for Kampung Ketandan. “I hope there will be more activities like this in the future,” said Mrs. Erna, one of the local residents here. She also replied that these kind of activities gives more recognition to Kampung Ketandan. This activity helps the growth of the ESM around the area. Not only that, the students of Universiti Malaya also show interest with the activity as it engage them with the community. “Its good to experience directly about the community here,” said Chai, one of the students from Universiti Malaya. She also commented on how the activity engage her more to learn about local culture.
