Govt policy on Bahasa Indonesia draws mixed reactions

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Expatriates working in Indonesia have expressed mixed reactions to the government's planned policy requiring them to speak in Bahasa Indonesia, a national language in Indonesia with some supporting the move and many others calling it unwise.

An Indian, R. Chandrasekaran, a senior official at publicly listed company PT Indorama Synthetics supported the minister's plan, saying it was quite important for foreigners to speak Bahasa in their social interaction with locals.

"We have anticipated the policy by implementing it in our company. So we have no problem with the plan," he told the Jakarta Post.

Candrasekaran said all foreigners in his firm understood quite clearly those who speak with them in Bahasa Indonesia, but they might only be able to speak a little Bahasa Indonesia.

Mazen Hamadallah, a French national and the President and Country' Senior Officer of telecommunication firm Alcatel Indonesia agreed with Candrasekaran.

He said he did not mind if foreigners working in Indonesia were obliged to speak Bahasa.

"It's a nice language... I like it," he told the Post.

However, Hamadallah said he only spoke a little Bahasa Indonesia due to limited time to learn the language.

Besides, he said, many Indonesian workers in his Jakarta office could speak English well, thus he did not need to speak Bahasa.

"When I have more leisure time, I'll learn Bahasa Indonesia," Hamadallah said. "It's just a matter of time for me."

But an American, Oisin Lane of water treatment company PT Dyna Air criticized the government's policy, saying it could discourage new foreign investors from investing in Indonesia.

Companies would think it would be better to invest in other countries supporting foreign investors that don't require them to speak local languages, he added.

According to him, foreigners would learn Bahasa Indonesia up to a certain level to better understand the country as well as the people.

"Many large foreign firms here have classes for foreigners to communicate in Bahasa Indonesia to a certain level, but it's not wise to force them to speak Bahasa," he said.

Lane also said that as more and more Indonesians were able to speak English due to their higher education, the proposed policy to oblige foreigners working here to communicate in Bahasa Indonesia seemed redundant.

Minister Jacob said on Sunday that all foreigners working in Indonesia would soon have to understand and be able to communicate in Bahasa Indonesia.

He asserted that foreigners' ability to understand Bahasa Indonesia was important for communication.

The regulation will be discussed at the Cabinet level soon.