PALEMBANG -- Hundreds of participants in the 2024 Homecoming Fun with BUMN facilitated by PT Timah from Yogyakarta filled the waiting room at the Bom Baru Harbor terminal, Palembang, Thursday (4/4/2024).
Even though they were tired from the long road trip, the students enjoyed the atmosphere of the trip. Not without reason, the nuance of familiarity between them makes the trip feel enjoyable.
"Thank God, we enjoyed the trip, because we didn't get stuck in traffic jams and there weren't long queues when we got on the ship like last year. "Last year we waited a long time to board the ship at Merak Harbor heading to Bakahueninya," said one of the participants, Ragi Dwi Cahyadi.
Ragi said that during the trip they did many activities ranging from singing, chatting, and discussing with other participants from different campuses.
According to him, by going home with BUMN which was facilitated by PT Timah allowed them to increase their relationships, because the participants came from various regions such as Java, Palembang, and Padang.
"Our group this time consisted of ISBA Malang, ISBA Solo, and also ISBA Semarang. "The departure point this time is in Yogyakarta, and of course, this is an investment in relationships for me and other friends," said the Yogyakarta State Student.
Ragi hopes that PT Timah can increase the number of participant quotas in the future because students are looking forward to this program. With a limited quota, he said he could not accommodate hundreds of people who also intended to go home for free.
"Friends are really looking forward to this program because, before yesterday's fast, many friends asked whether there was a free homecoming program from PT Timah this year. "But this year's quota is limited compared to last year, so many people cannot go home," he said.
"Hopefully in the future, PT Timah can increase the quota for this free homecoming program so that friends who are having problems going home can be facilitated by PT Timah," said Ragi.
Likewise, Rati (20) said that she enjoyed the atmosphere during the trip and felt excited because she could gather with many colleagues from various districts on Bangka Island.
"We were able to exchange stories, we were able to share experiences in overseas areas during the trip. There were even lots of funny stories, especially as the friends on the bus were almost all comedians. I was really happy to be taking part in this free homecoming," said Rati.
This is Rati's second experience participating in the free homecoming program from PT Timah. She also shared her experience during the two years of participating in homecoming. For him, this year is much better than the previous year.
"This year is better than last year because everything went according to schedule, whereas last year there was a delay in arriving at Bom Baru Harbor. "But this year, Alhamdulillah, it is much better and more timely," he said.
In the future, Rati hopes that PT Timah can continue to carry out this free homecoming activity and can increase the quota so that more students can take part. (*)
