Euphemism in Bahasa Indonesia

Bulan Bahasa (Indonesian Language Month) has just ended so I would like to point out the use of euphemisms in Bahasa Indonesia which lead to hypocrisy.

I think the degree of euphemism in Bahasa Indonesia is unhealthy because the meaning of a word or definition is altered so that its meaning becomes biased. Therefore, many terms are confused and we are often ensnared in the definition traps.

Although defining words is intangible, this is still an important issue. The more precise the definition the easier it is to tackle a problem. Today, many problems are diagnosed wrong because they are defined wrong.

When I studied taxonomy, my lecturer continually stressed the importance of definition because they influence the way we manage problems. Once the definitions are wrong then everything following can also be wrong.

So, I was surprised when a TVRI announcer called rakyat miskin (poor people) rakyat pra-sejahtera (pre-well-off people) during the evening news. As a matter of fact, both terms have considerably different definitions. Pra-sejahtera is a better condition than miskin (poor) and it is therefore a biased form of miskin. A weird sentence was also aired when a minister said that persediaan beras kita aman (our food stock is safe). Couldn't he just say cukup (sufficient) instead of aman (safe).

There are some phrases whose definitions are now really biased. Lapar (hungry) becomes kurang pangan (lack of food) and pelacur (prostitute) becomes wanita tuna susila (unethical woman). Men can be prostitutes. It is a relief that we no longer use disesuaikan (readjusted) when we want to say that the price has increased.

I remember the phrase Bahasa menunjukkan bangsa which means you can tell a nation by its language. If we adopt euphemisms for I am afraid we will teach hypocrisy to our beloved Indonesian people.

WAHYUNI RIZKIANA KAMAH

Jakarta