Efforts to preserve Sundanese culture remain vocal

Efforts to preserve Sundanese culture remain vocal

By Yuli Tri Suwarni

BANDUNG (JP): The First International Conference on Sundanese
Culture produced some recommendations which it is hoped will be
able to help preserve the Sudanese culture, although the main
point of preserving the language received a more skeptical
reaction from teachers.

The conference, which concluded on Saturday in Merdeka Hall,
Bandung, concluded that Sundanese roles in many sectors in life
has been slimmed down. A special task force set up for evaluation
and recommendation purposes and chaired by Ajip Rosidi, recorded
the opinions of seven keynote speakers and 68 presenters.

The first recommendation of the task force was to change the
national education system so as to create a more independent and
creative younger generation. Ajip said the first priority was to
set up a Sundanese Studies Center to accommodate Sundanese
intellectual discourse.

"The study center is very important for widening people's
intellectual discourse and producing academic publications," he
said.

The task force will specifically encouraged schools across the
province of West Java to set up libraries and enrich their
collections with Sundanese-language books. The team also urged
the government to pay more attention on Sundanese-language
teachers' salaries. Annual awards to teachers were also proposed
to boost their interest in teaching Sundanese culture.

The second recommendation was to simplify undak-usuk (low,
middle and high levels of language) in Sundanese for the younger
generation to help reduce the communications barrier between them
and older people.

But the two recommendations were criticized by Ahmad Hadi, a
Sundanese language teacher at SMP 3 Lembang, who said that they
were pointless.

"All schools already have their own libraries. The problem is
how to get more Sundanese books as recommended if the publishers
won't print new books," he said, adding that the recommendations
were only a repetition of what had been decided at a previous
congress held in Cipayung in 1993.

"The previous congress recommended that Sundanese language
lessons be included in the high school curriculum throughout West
Java. But eight years later on, the recommendation has still not
yet been put into effect."

Ahmad admitted that he had not expected much from the
conference.

"The recommendations are just wishful thinking and won't be
implemented in real life."

Despite issuing recommendations on preserving the Sundanese
language, the task force also recommended that the government
preserve old Sundanese manuscripts and archaeological artifacts.
So far, most Sundanese documents are being saved abroad and
cannot be studied due to limited manpower and funds.

Work ethic

The fourth recommendation was to ask the government to help
urge all Sundanese to improve their work ethic. It is common
knowledge that the West Java economy is becoming dominated by
migrants instead of the native Sundanese.

Herman Suwardi, a professor in Padjadjaran University,
emphasized in his keynote speech that the Sundanese people's work
ethic was very weak. Research showed that the Sundanese give up
very easily.

"They'll stop trying if they fail twice. The usual reason
given is teu idin Gusti (God's doesn't want it). Therefore, they
usually fall behind the competition," he said.

The task force also emphasized that economic strength has
opened access to and increased the political participation of the
Sundanese, who are the second largest ethnic group.

Progressive recommendations were also issued in the areas of
architecture, food and clothing, religion, beliefs, philosophy
and the arts.

The team urged local administrations to build arts centers in
Bandung and the province's other 24 cities so as to introduce
Sundanese traditional culture to children and the public at
large.

"We don't have to depend on the government to implement all
the recommendations. We only have to focus on those related to
the preservation of Sundanese culture, including schools and the
Sundanese people themselves," said Ajip after the closing
ceremony, which featured a wooden puppet show titled Arimbi
diistrenan (Arimbi gets married) by noted Sundanese puppeteer
Asep Sunandar Sunarya.

After the closing, all 634 participants visited Sri Baduga
Museum where they watched a Sundanese letter writing exhibition,
Pantun Buhun (stanzas accompanied by the kecapi or Sundanese
harp) and Beluk (Sundanese songs and jokes) to remind them of the
endangered status of the culture.

Ajip promised that the task force would formulate measures to
bring to fruition all the recommendations on the preservation and
development of Sundanese culture in all its aspects. But no
deadline was set for the measures to be implemented.

"The team will start work soon after the congress finishes,"
Ajip promised.

In the meantime, Pantun Buhun and Beluk artists will have to
struggle by themselves to survive.