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.