Derogatory English word

On Saturday evening, Nov. 8, I tuned in to one of the most popular radio stations in Jakarta, Prambors, while I was in heavy traffic.

A couple of disc jockeys (DJs) named Nadia and Rizal were on the air, holding a conversation about a person they know in Paris.

Nadia said this person in Paris had gotten mugged by two men. But it was not the story that caught my attention. It was how she described the race of the two muggers, casually calling them a derogatory English word sometimes referred to African- Americans.

I was flabbergasted.

Here is a large and established youth radio station -- supposedly heard by over 100,000 Jakartans, according to one source -- and here is an educated DJ saying an uncalled-for name that could make an English-speaking person blush.

It bothered me that Nadia repeatedly said the word throughout her story, despite a warning from her partner cautioning her to use another term when referring to the muggers.

I picked up my mobile phone and immediately called the station, where a young man answered the call. I told the young man that I thought Nadia's choice of words was inappropriate, and that it made me -- and I'm sure many people who understood it -- uncomfortable to hear.

I finally hung up after leaving a strong message for Nadia: "If she can't speak English properly, she shouldn't speak it."

Some ten minutes later, after a series of commercials and several long songs, they came back on the air. I was waiting fervently to hear their reaction.

What I found out greatly angered me.

Not only did Nadia fail to acknowledge what she did wrong, she and her partner also managed to mock me. They sent sarcastic innuendoes directly aimed at me, as if to show they were invincible and that what I had said had no effect on them.

But what was even worse was that she failed to get the point of my phone call.

While it is possible that Nadia had never realized that the word nigger is a universal derogatory word to refer to people with black skin, I also know that she must have found out that it was, at least from her DJ partner during the long break when they were off the air and received my phone message.

My regret is that she assumed that everyone who was listening to her at the time were not aware and did not care that she had chosen the wrong word to convey her message. By doing this she has jeopardized the credibility of her institution.

Prambors has coined many slang words through its DJs, which have become widely used among the youth of Jakarta.

Unfortunately, this word isn't one of them. Simply by saying it, I am afraid that some teenagers out there would think that it is a new or an acceptable term.

During my teenage years in Jakarta, Prambors was my choice of radio stations. Over ten years later, I still had picked up the station when I was driving once in a while.

Unfortunately, Nadia has turned me off.

DEVI M. ASMARANI

Jakarta