Politap Holds Virtual Halal Bihalal

The 1441 H Halal Bihalal event, coinciding with the year 2020 AD, within Politeknik Negeri Ketapang (Ketapang State Polytechnic) was held virtually on 29 May 2020. This was certainly the first experience at Politap of Halal Bihalal being conducted virtually during this COVID-19 era. The event was attended by staff members of Politap and several representatives from the BEM/student organizations and Student Activity Units.

The event opened with a recitation of the holy Quran by Iis Yulianti, a student of the DIII Agroindustry Study Program who represented Politap in the West Kalimantan Student-Level Musabaqah Tilawatil Quran (MTQ). Politap Director Endang Kusmana, in his opening remarks, apologized on behalf of himself and Politap management to all staff and students for any mistakes and shortcomings in carrying out the mandate to provide services to the Politap academic community. In this regard, Endang touched upon the meaning of this year's Halal Bihalal held virtually as a new era in maintaining ties of kinship, while also urging the Politap community to prepare themselves for the New Normal. The Director stated that current conditions do not diminish the spirit of working and striving to achieve predetermined performance targets, certainly with the support of all parties, he said.

The spiritual lecture for this Halal Bihalal event was delivered by Dr. Didik M. Nur Haris, Chairman of the Indonesian Dai Association of West Kalimantan, who is also a lecturer at Politeknik Negeri Pontianak. In his sermon, Ustad Didik conveyed that the life values gained during the holy month of Ramadan—namely honesty, sincerity, patience, and performance—should be continued and bring benefits to social life, as it is social ties that help open the gates of heaven. Ustad Didi added that all work should be intended for the sake of Allah. Do it and forget it! Because with that principle, everything is done for the sake of Allah and will later become a blessing. The Halal Bihalal event concluded with a prayer led by Khairul Muttaqin, a Religion lecturer at Politeknik Negeri Ketapang.