Group protests govt plan to ban dubbing<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A group of dubbers staged a protest at the House
\nof Representatives yesterday over the government's plan to ban
\ndubbing in imported films screened on television.<\/p>\n
The spokesman of the group claiming to represent 1,000
\nprofessional dubbers across the city, Dadang Ridman, said the
\ngovernment could instead seek improvement of dubbing methods or
\napply the ban selectively.<\/p>\n
\"We've been making our living from this profession and we have
\ntried to improve ourselves. We don't know where to go if the
\ngovernment enacts the ban,\" he told Tjokong Tarigan and Zumarnis
\nZein of the Armed Forces faction who received the group.<\/p>\n
Dadang said the ban, if passed, would cost the jobs of many
\npeople whose professions were related to dubbing, including
\ntranslators.<\/p>\n
He said a dubber for a main character earned between Rp
\n250,000 and Rp 300,000 (between US$88 and $105) per film and Rp
\n55,000 per episode of a series.<\/p>\n
Some 50 people joined the rally, the second after one was held
\nearlier this month. They did not yell or beat drums but
\npeacefully unfurled banners carrying the message of their
\ncomplaints on the House foyer.<\/p>\n
The demonstration was staged just four days before the second
\ndeliberation of the broadcasting bill kicks off next Monday.<\/p>\n
The House endorsed the bill last December after nine months of
\ndeliberation, but President Soeharto refused to enact it due to
\nsome problematic articles.<\/p>\n
Minister of Information R. Hartono has said the House and the
\ngovernment were expected to amend articles on television's span
\nof coverage, on dubbing and on the term of license for private TV
\nstations.<\/p>\n
Hartono said the dubbing of non-English speaking films into
\nIndonesian would be banned on grounds that they did not comply
\nwith national culture. He said the government would instead
\nrequire dubbing in English or subtitles in Indonesian.<\/p>\n
Following Hartono's statement last month, dubbers stopped
\nworking in fear that their films would not be screened, according
\nto Dadang.<\/p>\n
Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro
\nannounced in 1996 that all imported films shown on TV should be
\ndubbed into Indonesian.<\/p>\n
Dadang insisted that dubbing did not harm national culture,
\nbecause editing had to be done first before dubbed films are
\naired.<\/p>\n
\"(Rather than harming national culture) we help the government
\nfilter out any side effects of foreign culture. Our job is to
\ntransform films into Indonesia --like ones which use Indonesian
\nidioms so that they are easily understood,\" Dadang said.<\/p>\n
He criticized the government plan to allow only English for
\nfilm dubbing, saying that it would take dubbers many years to get
\nused to the new medium.<\/p>\n
Another dubber, Irene Nasution, who provides the voice for
\nClara in a famous Latin-American soap opera, Si Cantik Clara
\n(Beautiful Clara), said if the ban was enacted, the government
\nwould violate the 1945 Constitution which says all citizens have
\nthe right to be employed.<\/p>\n
The House has formed a 21-member team to deliberate the bill's
\namendments and is expected to pass the modified bill on Sept. 12.
\n(amd)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/group-protests-govt-plan-to-ban-dubbing-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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