{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1721670,
        "msgid": "the-greeting-kakanda-and-adinda-in-politics-mere-a-greeting-or-a-sign-of-power-relations-1778191032",
        "date": "2026-05-06 16:31:21",
        "title": "The Greeting \"Kakanda and Adinda\" in Politics: Mere a Greeting or a Sign of Power Relations?",
        "author": "Muhammad Isa Bustomi",
        "source": "KOMPAS",
        "tags": "",
        "topic": "Politics",
        "summary": "In recent years, Indonesian political discourse has increasingly featured traditional greetings like \"kakanda\" (elder sibling) and \"adinda\" (younger sibling), which political analyst Zaki Mubarak views as symbols of a feudalistic shift away from the egalitarian spirit of the nation's founding fathers, who used the more inclusive \"Bung.\" Communication expert Firman Kurniawan argues that these terms foster cohesion and politeness among political actors, building rapport within groups while potentially limiting access for outsiders. This phenomenon highlights evolving social relations in Indonesian politics, blending cultural familiarity with underlying power dynamics.",
        "content": "<p>JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com \u2013 In recent years, Indonesia\u2019s political public\nsphere has often been coloured by a style of communication that is no\nlonger merely formal or administrative. Greetings such as \u201ckakanda\u201d and\n\u201cadinda\u201d are increasingly heard, particularly in interactions among\npolitical elites and communications in front of the public. Political\nobserver from UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Zaki Mubarak, assesses\nthat the use of greetings like \u201ckakanda\u201d and \u201cadinda\u201d in the political\nsphere cannot be separated from the way Indonesian politics builds\nsocial relations. \u201cThe greeting \u2018kakanda and adinda\u2019 in the political\npublic sphere symbolises our increasingly feudalistic politics,\u201d said\nZaki. Politics then narrows to matters of one\u2019s own group. Outside that\ngroup, access to enter becomes limited. Zaki compares this to the early\nindependence era, when the nation\u2019s founders more frequently used the\ngreeting \u201cBung,\u201d which reflected an egalitarian spirit. \u201cCompare with\nour founding fathers who used the greeting \u2018Bung,\u2019 which reflects the\ncharacter of egalitarianism and the elimination of primordial barriers,\u201d\nhe stated. He also highlighted that in practice, such greetings often\nbecome part of the communication style of certain political figures who\nwish to appear friendly. Meanwhile, digital communication expert from\nUniversitas Indonesia, Firman Kurniawan, views this phenomenon from the\nperspective of political communication functions. According to him, the\nuse of greetings like \u201ckanda\u201d and \u201cdinda\u201d cannot be separated from the\nneed to build closeness and solidarity among political actors. \u201cIn the\nworld of politics, cohesion or solidarity is needed. With the greetings\nkanda and adinda, they indeed have their respective political goals but\nthey are united,\u201d said Firman. He explained that, simply put, \u201ckanda\u201d\nand \u201cdinda\u201d are substitutes for the terms elder brother and younger\nsibling in the Indonesian socio-cultural context, used to build a sense\nof closeness as well as politeness in communication relations.<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-greeting-kakanda-and-adinda-in-politics-mere-a-greeting-or-a-sign-of-power-relations-1778191032",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}