Soeharto 'corroded' Indonesian language<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Political oppression under Soeharto's New Order
\nregime destroyed the function of the Indonesian language -- which
\nwas to tell the truth -- and impoverished the people's systematic
\nand creative thinking, according to an expert.<\/p>\n
\"Throughout the New Order era, Indonesian was used by
\nbureaucrats to maintain power by 'eliminating' its function as an
\ninstrument of the truth,\" said Daulat P. Tampubolon of the state
\nTeachers Training Institute (IKIP) in Medan, North Sumatra, in a
\ntwo-day meeting of linguistic and cultural experts on Friday.<\/p>\n
The professor told the gathering, held by Atma Jaya
\nUniversity, that each political period had a certain language of
\npolitics and a language of power which were used to suppress
\npeople's aspirations.<\/p>\n
He said a language dies when it displays the following
\nsymptoms: repression of linguistics, monopoly of semantics and
\n\"masked language\".<\/p>\n
\"These have created fear and restraint in communication,
\ndistortion in language structure, language alienation and
\ncognitive deprivation among people,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He defined linguistics repression as pressure and restriction
\nof people's right to express their opinions about the regime.<\/p>\n
\"This is clearly shown in diction used by the authorities,
\nsuch as 'violence', 'control', 'security', 'suspicion' and
\n'criminal'.<\/p>\n
\"Many people accepted those words in concept but did not
\nreally understand their meaning,\" he said, adding that the
\nsituation then created \"blind obedience to the authorities\".<\/p>\n
He quoted an official's statement of: \"The intellectual
\nmastermind of the riot has been secured.\"<\/p>\n
\"The remark says that the person has been saved. But the word
\n'secure' here is inappropriate because it often means that the
\nperson could be facing torture during questioning or in prison,\"
\nhe noted.<\/p>\n
Another sign of semantics monopoly -- better known as marking
\nwords with a regime's political ideas -- are shown in a process
\nof labeling in the language.<\/p>\n
\"In the New Order regime's political readings, there are
\ncertain labels given to groups or people considered to be a
\nthreat to the nation.<\/p>\n
\"Those terms or labels must be accepted and obeyed by the
\npeople,\" Daulat said, citing terms such as \"communist\",
\n\"subversive\" or \"Marxist-Leninist\".<\/p>\n
The regime attached vicious connotations to the words so that
\nthey scared people and suppressed their participation in writing
\nand reading, he said.<\/p>\n
The \"masked language\", he argued, was different from
\neuphemism.<\/p>\n
Euphemism was used to soften the words without sacrificing the
\npresentation of the truth, he said. \"Masked language,\" however,
\nwas misleading, such as in cases where government officials used
\nthe terms \"adjustment\" for price hike or \"unethical\" for
\nactivities they wished to prohibit.<\/p>\n
\"We have to give Bahasa Indonesia back its function, which is
\nto tell the truth,\" Daulat said.<\/p>\n
The second-day of the meeting featured Multamia RMT Lauder of
\nthe University of Indonesia, Bambang Kasanti Purwo and Soenjono
\nDardjowidjojo of Atma Jaya University, and John Verhaar and Anton
\nM. Moeliono.<\/p>\n
President B.J. Habibie will open the Indonesian language
\ncongress on Monday. The five-day event at Hotel Indonesia here
\nwill feature noted figures such as Ignas Kleden, Yusril Ihza
\nMahendra and Syarwan Hamid. (edt)<\/p>",
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