Ban on Chinese letters leaves language void<\/p>\n
By Hyginus Hardoyo<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): University of Indonesia senior lecturer
\nGondomono believes there is an apt adage to describe the result
\nof the New Order government's systematic ban on the use of
\nChinese characters.<\/p>\n
\"The evil done to others comes back to the perpetrator,\" he
\nsaid during a recent symposium on the Role of Language and
\nCulture in Improving Indonesia-China Relations.<\/p>\n
He said the government now found itself without any qualified
\nexperts on Chinese language and culture, skills it desperately
\nneeded in diplomatic relations with Beijing.<\/p>\n
\"Because of the absence of Indonesians mastering the Han
\n(Mandarin) language, official meetings between Indonesia and
\nChina frequently use interpreters from China who are fluent in
\nBahasa Indonesia,\" he said during the symposium at Hotel Santika
\nin Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Gondomono acknowledged there were Indonesian interpreters for
\ntourism and travel purposes between several destinations in China
\nand Taiwan, but said their service was far from enough.<\/p>\n
\"We are badly in need of people who are fluent in the Han
\nlanguage for any necessity and field -- the economy, politics,
\nculture, tourism, education, etc.\"<\/p>\n
The other speakers at the symposium were Hermina Sutami, also
\nof the University of Indonesia, and Huang Chenfang and Liang Liji
\nof Peking University.<\/p>\n
The symposium was held in conjunction with the launching of
\nKamus Lengkap Indonesia-Tionghoa (A Comprehensive Dictionary of
\nIndonesian-Chinese) published by PT Elex Media Komputindo of the
\nGramedia Group.<\/p>\n
The launching coincided with the celebration of the 10th
\nanniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between
\nIndonesia and China.<\/p>\n
The ties were frozen in 1967, two years after an abortive
\ncommunist coup in which Indonesia charged China with involvement.
\nBeijing denied the accusation.<\/p>\n
In the aftermath of the coup, Indonesia closed Chinese schools
\nand banned the public exposure of Chinese arts and culture,
\nincluding use of Chinese languages.<\/p>\n
The only university officially allowed to provide study of the
\nHan language was the University of Indonesia. Privately run Darma
\nPersada University was permitted in 1986 to teach the language,
\nGondomono said.<\/p>\n
Gondomono disclosed the inadequacy of the language study
\nclasses. Han was taught by local lecturers for only between five
\nhours and 10 hours per week over three years to four years. No
\nnative speakers were involved.<\/p>\n
\"Moreover, most books and other publications available at the
\nlibrary were already out of date.\"<\/p>\n
The distribution of all Chinese-character publications, such
\nas books, magazines and newspapers, was not permitted, except the
\ngovernment-controlled newspaper Harian Indonesia. Today there are
\nseveral Chinese newspapers available in the city.<\/p>\n
Gondomono said some of the restrictions were so petty they
\nwould be laughable but for the seriousness of the discrimination.<\/p>\n
English-language magazines like Time, the Asian edition of
\nNewsweek (Asian edition), Far Eastern Economic Review and
\nAsiaWeek were withheld from distribution if they contained
\nadvertisements with Han language characters.<\/p>\n
The officials in charge of censoring the publications could
\nnot read the language and resorted to summarily blacking out the
\ntext. In fact, the advertisements were usually for medicines or
\nbeverages, and had nothing to do with communism.<\/p>\n
Despite the authorities' zeal, Gondomono said they sometimes
\nmissed use of the language right before their eyes. He said in
\none case a Japanese restaurant was allowed to open in Jakarta
\neven though it used Kanji characters on its door and name plate.
\nKanji means Han or Hanzi in Japanese pronunciation.<\/p>\n
Proficiency in the Han language will not only help in the
\ncorridors of power, the speaker said, but also in the halls of
\nscience and medicine.<\/p>\n
\"How can we ignore the culture of a neighbor which has a
\npopulation of over one billion? Like it or not, we have to
\nacknowledge that we can learn much from the Tiongkok (Chinese)
\nculture, which includes philosophy, history, literature,
\npharmacy, fine arts, martial arts and many other things,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Liang Liji, who is director of Indonesia-Malaysia studies at
\nPeking University, said language functioned as a cultural means
\napart from its role in communication. Mastering a language also
\nallows one to understand a culture; cultural exchange has to be
\ndone through language.<\/p>\n
\"The culture of a nation will not steadily grow without the
\nability to grasp beneficial and valued elements from the other
\nculture.\"<\/p>\n
He said not a single culture of a nation was 100 percent pure
\nor without the influence of beneficial elements from other
\ncultures, including their languages.<\/p>\n
\"Chinese culture is known as one of the oldest cultures in the
\nworld and has a tradition rooted over thousands of years.
\nHowever, is the Chinese culture pure? Of course not,\" said Liang,
\nwho was born in 1927 in Bandung, West Java.<\/p>\n
\"We as two big developing nations have many common interests
\nwhich force us to expand cooperation fields for the sake of
\nfaster achievements, for both the two nations themselves and the
\nAsia-Pacific region as a whole.\"<\/p>\n
Hembing Wijayakusuma, an expert on Chinese acupuncture and
\nherbal medicine who attended the symposium, said the Chinese
\nlanguage was the \"warehouse\" of sciences.<\/p>\n
He believed that much could be learned from the Chinese
\napproach to treating both common and unusual ailments.<\/p>\n
\"We Indonesians usually eat peanuts and throw away their
\nshells. The Chinese are different. They eat the peanuts, and
\nlater boil the shells and drink the water to reduce cholesterol.\"<\/p>\n
Dictionary<\/p>\n
Prepared by a joint team of experts from the University of
\nIndonesia and Peking University over six years, this 1,256-page
\ndictionary contains 40,497 entries and 26,932 subentries, which
\nare equipped with phrases, idioms and proverbs.<\/p>\n
The publication of the dictionary was the realization of a
\nmemorandum of understanding signed in 1992 by Peking University
\npresident Wu Shuqing and the then rector of the University of
\nIndonesia, Sujudi, on the importance of cooperation for the
\nformulation of bilingual dictionary programs between the two
\nuniversities.<\/p>\n
Gramedia Group president Jakob Utama believes the Chinese
\nlanguage has a great role in the world.<\/p>\n
\"English is used by about 1.5 billion people worldwide.
\nChinese is no less important, as in China alone the language is
\nused by 1.2 billion people,\" said Jakob, adding that this number
\ndid not include Chinese living outside of mainland China,
\nincluding Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and other nations.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ban-on-chinese-letters-leaves-language-void-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}