Cabinet Secretary Teddy Meets Raffi Ahmad: Indonesian Language Must Go Global Like "Saranghae"

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Cabinet Secretary (Seskab) Teddy Indra Wijaya spent the afternoon in ngabuburit with the President’s Special Envoy for Music, Youth, and Performing Arts, namely Raffi Ahmad and Yovie Widianto, at the Cabinet Secretariat Office, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday (18/3/2026).

In the meeting that lasted around two hours, Teddy stated that the discussion with Raffi and Yovie was productive, where they emphasised strengthening cross-sector coordination.

“One of the main points discussed was the proposal to position the Indonesian language not only as a communication tool, but also as creative capital and a strength of national identity that can drive the growth of the creative economy,” Teddy said on the Cabinet Secretariat’s IG account on Wednesday.

“Through arts, film, and music, the Indonesian language must go global. For example, South Korea continuously introduces several words in the Korean language in arts, such as ‘saranghae’ (I love you). In Mandarin, for example, ‘ni hao’ (hello), ‘xièxie’ (thank you),” he explained.

“From hundreds of thousands of Indonesian vocabulary words, there must be one or two words that go global. Through music, film, and arts, we spread the influence of Indonesian culture and language to the international world,” Teddy added.