Say it with good bahasa Indonesia<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Spare about 10 minutes of your time in front of
\na television during a talk show. If you have more time, attend a
\nseminar. Within 10 minutes, you'll hear "foreign" terms coming
\nout of the talk show host or seminar participants.<\/p>\n
At ANteve's Debat Terbuka (Public Debate) talk show on Tuesday
\nnight, the host, Fahmi Idris, asked the show's guests about the
\n"check-and-balance" system in direct presidential election before
\nasking them to be "to the point" in expressing their views.<\/p>\n
One of the show's guest speakers, a member of the House of
\nRepresentatives, Happy B. Zulkarnain, responded to a question
\nabout people's readiness for direct election by saying: "People
\nalways analyze the President's 'statements'... so there's no need
\nto 'underestimate' people."<\/p>\n
"Check-and-balance", "to the point", "statements" and
\n"underestimate" are all English words, but in the talk show, they
\nwere spoken within Indonesian sentences.<\/p>\n
Fahmi Idris said he only used common English terms that the
\naudience is familiar with, such as "to the point", or
\n"accountability".<\/p>\n
However, in some cases, he said he had to use certain English
\nterms which have no Indonesian translation.<\/p>\n
"There are some terms, like 'check-and-balance', which do not
\nhave the right Indonesian translation yet," Fahmi told The
\nJakarta Post on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He added that he did not do it to show off. "Sometimes, I
\nprefer using foreign terms because when I explain it in
\nIndonesian, it will be very long," said Fahmi, whose talk show
\nhas entered its fifth year.<\/p>\n
So far, he has received no complaints from his audience.<\/p>\n
"I think it's likely that those living in big cities will have
\nno problem understanding (the foreign term) because they also
\nwatch television or read newspapers.... But I'm not sure about
\nthose living in small cities, maybe they do maybe they don't,"
\nFahmi said.<\/p>\n
It turns out that the mixed-use of Indonesian and foreign
\nterms, mostly English, has become common practice among public
\nfigures.<\/p>\n
At another talk show, Indonesia Baru (New Indonesia), chairman
\nof the Land Reform Consortium Noer Fauzi lamented about weak "law
\nenforcement" and urged for more "affirmative action".<\/p>\n
In a seminar to mark Kompas daily's 35th anniversary on
\nTuesday, noted economist Sri Mulyani Indrawati who mixed her
\nIndonesian with bits and pieces of her fluent English while
\nresponding on the affect of Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency
\n(BPPN)'s "disclaimer" status.<\/p>\n
"As a public institution, of course it (the status) will
\n(affect the agency). It's a very important statement meaning that
\nthere are some things that should be fixed at BPPN. But if you
\nask me whether BPPN will 'collapse', of course not," she was
\nquoted by Kompas.<\/p>\n
Even President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid himself follows the
\ntrend. He used the English term "approach" even though it has an
\nequivalent Indonesian word, pendekatan.<\/p>\n
"I did ask him to be moved to Jakarta. But it's not true I
\nmade the 'approach' to replace certain people...," Gus Dur was
\nrecently quoted by Suara Pembaruan daily about a shakeup within
\nthe Armed Forces involving now chief of the Army Strategic
\nReserves Command (Kostrad) Lt. Gen. Agus Wirahadikusumah.<\/p>\n
Any public figure's comments, including the foreign terms they
\nuse, will get people's attention as it soon becomes headlines in
\nprint media across the country.<\/p>\n
Since English is now taught in elementary schools and even in
\nsome kindergartens in big cities -- and it is also one of the
\nwidely used foreign languages, thanks to the countless numbers of
\nEnglish courses here -- it might be true that the mixed-use of
\nIndonesian and English will be understood by many.<\/p>\n
Dilemma<\/p>\n
English lecturer Grace T. Wiradisastra of the University of
\nIndonesia's School of Letters found the trend to mix Indonesian
\nand English as a dilemma.<\/p>\n
"On one side, we want many people to be able talk good English
\nin the face of globalization... but on the other side, it means
\nwe don't practice good Indonesian," Grace told the Post.<\/p>\n
"But I think people should be sensitive and look around them
\nwhile speaking. Do their listeners understand what they're saying
\nor not? But the present trend shows that some people mix
\nIndonesian and English for various reasons, either to show off or
\nto reveal their educational backgrounds or occupations."<\/p>\n
She has noticed that some public figures who were educated
\nabroad use English properly, in the right place and with the
\nright pronunciation. "But there's some who make the wrong
\npronunciation, too...."<\/p>\n
Indonesian language lecturer Felicia N. Utorodewo of the same
\nuniversity blamed three factors: habit, education and speaking
\npartners, as among the factors responsible for the trend.<\/p>\n
"Do we have to worry about this (mixing of Indonesian and
\nEnglish) trend? I think we don't have to act like the police in
\nmonitoring our language activities...," Felicia told the Post.<\/p>\n
But she criticized those who were mixing Indonesian and
\nEnglish simply to show off, or want to impressive people.<\/p>\n
However, she admitted there were new terms currently being
\nused due to the absence of equivalent Indonesian terms, such as
\n"reform" and "status quo", for example.<\/p>\n
She urged improvements in school curriculum to emphasize
\nactive language activities, such as speaking good Indonesian or
\nexpressing ideas in writing to prevent spread of the trend.
\n"Don't be afraid of foreign language. If we're afraid, it means
\nthat we don't know the strength of our own language."<\/p>\n
Luxury<\/p>\n
Education is still a luxury to many Indonesians. Although
\ntelevision can be found in most parts of the country, some
\npeople, mostly those living in remote places, are still poorly
\neducated. Those who are badly hit by economic crisis can no
\nlonger afford any education.<\/p>\n
The Central Bureau of Statistics' 1995 data showed that 12.3
\npercent of the people did not attend school and 30.5 percent did
\nnot graduate from elementary school. In that year, only 1.08
\npercent of people passed academy or diploma programs and 1.09
\npercent from university.<\/p>\n
As many people are poorly educated, language researcher Yayah
\nB. Lumintaintang, who did research on the use of Indonesian
\nlanguage in media and by public figures two years ago, insists
\npublic figures set good examples by practicing good Indonesian in
\npublic. Her research found out that some public figures were
\ninfluenced by informal languages.<\/p>\n
"Public figures should realize that they're in the spotlight.
\nAnything they say will be either printed by the press or aired by
\ntelevision," said Yayah, former head of Indonesian and local
\nlanguages at the Language Development Center.<\/p>\n
Public figures, she said, should remember that Indonesian
\nlanguage is understood by people across the country.<\/p>\n
"But I realize that Indonesian language is not considered
\nimportant compared to, say, politics. People will say: 'it's a
\nwaste of time to talk about language'. But language is our self-
\nidentity that we should be proud of even when we enter the free
\ntrade era.<\/p>\n
"And now, when our country is facing a threat of
\ndisintegration, we should remember that years ago, on Oct. 28,
\n1928, language was one of three things that allowed us to beat
\ncolonialism." (ste)<\/p>",
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