Do not use the term 'local fruit'

We believe the use of the term "local" for domestic fruit, as can often be read in newspapers, is wrong in terms of language and fact. Newspapers often refer to domestic fruit sold in Jakarta as "local fruit", to contrast them with imported fruit. In fact, we know these fruit do not come from Jakarta but from North Sumatra, Jambi, South Sumatra, Lampung, West Java, Central Java, East Java, South Sulawesi and so forth.

The word "local" means "belonging to a particular place or district", so it is wrong to say that fruit which comes from various places far away from Jakarta are "local". The word "local" also has an unfavorable connotation as it may be construed as being inferior. Remember: indigenous people, local people; inlander (in Dutch).

To promote the image and status of domestic products, particularly fruit and vegetables, we would like to call on everybody concerned: * Not to use the word "local" for domestic fruit. Just write down the names of the fruits, e.g. bananas, oranges, pineapples, melons, mangosteens. We know that certain oranges are Indonesian oranges even if the word "local" is not used. So "local" in this respect is superfluous. * To use the words "imported fruit" when the fruit is imported. * Mention the name of the region a particular fruit comes from. For example, Palembang pineapples, West Kalimantan oranges, Bengkulu mangosteens, Palembang lanseh fruit and so forth.

We believe that as respectable citizens of the Republic of Indonesia, editors and journalists have a strong desire to promote the image of Indonesian products and will never aspire to lower their dignity.

It is to be noted that many domestic fruits are of very high quality. Some of them are better than, if not as good as, imported fruit in terms of quality.

DR. SUMARNO

Director General

of Horticultural Products

Development

Ministry of Agriculture