NEW CALEDONIA – Ustaz Luqman Hakim is one of the Dai Ambassador Dompet Dhuafa 2023 who served in Noumea, New Caledonia. The country may still be unfamiliar to the general public. Yes, this was chosen because Dompet Dhuafa targets Dai to spread da’wah to countries with Islamic communities, including small countries.
New Caledonia is located in the northeast of Australia and north of New Zealand. This country is included in the territory of France with a special status, namely sui generis. Like Suriname, New Caledonia is also inhabited by some Javanese. In New Caledonia, Javanese people continue to use Javanese as a daily language. But now, young New Caledonians can no longer speak Javanese, they can only speak French.
Regionally, New Caledonia is divided into three governor-level regions: the south with the capital Noumea, the north with the capital Kane, and the archipelago with the capital Tafu.
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On the first day of his arrival in New Caledonia, Thursday (23/3/2023), Ustaz Luqman Hakim visited the Municipal Market in Noumea to get to know the region. The Municipal Market is located close to the beach. Ustaz Luqman Hakim met an Indonesian citizen working as a vegetable and fruit seller there. He is Sukardi, a man from Pekalongan, Central Java.
At that time, Ustaz Luqman Hakim had the opportunity to chat with Sukardi. Sukardi has lived in New Caledonia for 42 years. Sukardi maintained and fought for his life in New Caledonia by selling vegetables and fruits. He said that the turnover obtained every month for selling was 200,000 cfp francs (New Caledonia’s currency) or approximately Rp27 million.
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According to Ustaz Luqman’s observation, Sukardi was an istiqamah in selling. Vegetables sold by Sukardi include carrots, cabbage, and so on. Sukardi obtained these materials from Australia. Sukardi’s customers are not only Indonesians living in New Caledonia but also native New Caledonians and foreigners.
“It turns out that there is a customer who buys, he is not an Indonesian citizen. This means that there are also foreigners for buyers,” concluded Ustaz Luqman in a note to Dompet Dhuafa.
Previously, Dompet Dhuafa officially dispatched 24 Dai Ambassadors in 2023 to 14 assignment countries on Monday (20/3/2023). These countries include Malaysia, Timor Leste, Australia, Hong Kong, Suriname, France to Noumea, New Caledonia. (Dompet Dhuafa/Ustaz Luqman Hakim/Ronna)