On language equality<\/p>\n
I would like first of all to congratulate your newspaper for
\nthe excellent coverage of language issues. The report of March 14
\nin The Jakarta Post (ASEAN leaders advised to back campaigns for
\nMalay) shows once more how political leaders of the Association
\nof the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must be continually
\nprodded to take a more proactive stance toward Asian languages,
\nincluding Malay, a language spoken by approximately 250 million
\npeople in Asia.<\/p>\n
That the ASEAN does not yet treat Malay equally alongside
\nEnglish is a disgrace. It is also very indicative of how the
\ndominance of English is growing even many decades after
\ndecolonialization. The World Esperanto Association has for many
\nyears been concerned by the increasing effects of such linguistic
\ninequality on economic and social life in Asia.<\/p>\n
On the same day as your report appeared, on the Malay
\nLinguists call to ASEAN leaders, the Economist Intelligence Unit
\npublished their forecasts for foreign direct investment. Among
\nthe top nations are the United Kingdom and the United States. And
\namong the list of factors favoring the UK given by the Financial
\nTimes is the English language.<\/p>\n
Another effect of the almost exclusive use of a national
\nlanguage (English) for international communication is in the
\nfield of education. Asia has excellent universities. However,
\nresources and top students are continually being sucked away to
\nEnglish speaking countries. Last year 546,867 students studied in
\nthe U.S. alone. Asian students comprised over one half (55
\npercent) of all international enrollments (302,058, up 8
\npercent). Compared to the 59,939 Chinese, 54,664 Indian, 46,497
\nJapanese and 45,685 Korean students, Malay-speaking countries may
\nnot be the top money spinners for U.S. universities (at around
\n20,000 U.S. dollars per student).<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, the 11,625 Indonesians and 7,795 Malaysians
\nstudying at U.S. universities, not to mention Australia and the
\nUK, do represent a continued cultural and economic loss for
\neducation systems in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. Only an
\neffective and long-term policy of promoting true language
\nequally, not just a single national language, can help solve this
\nproblem. The experience of the World Esperanto Association,
\nsadly, indicates that politicians generally have little
\nunderstanding of the vital importance of language equality.<\/p>\n
RENATO CORSETTI<\/p>\n
President of the World<\/p>\n
Esperanto Association<\/p>\n
Italy<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/on-language-equality-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }