Indonesian or English best for Timor Lorosae

Christina Schott, Contributor, Jakarta

The new Timorese Lorosae government, formerly known as East Timor, has chosen Portuguese and Tetun as the official national languages. English and Indonesian shall only be used as "working languages" in the future. Although the constitution is already laid down, discussion about the state's language is still going on.

The Jakarta Post asked well-known Indonesian poet and journalist Goenawan Mohammad his opinion.

Question: Do you think that Bahasa Indonesia will still play an important role in Timor Lorosae in the future?

Answer: It is hard for me to say, because I am not a Timor Lorosae's people. But if you look at it geographically and historically: I think, it would be more practical for the Timor Lorosae people to be able to communicate in Indonesian, as Indonesia is still their closest neighbor.

Q: But only three percent of Timor Lorosae's people voted last year in a survey by the Asia Foundation for Indonesian as the official language -- even though 63 percent are fluent in Bahasa Indonesia...

A: Of course, I understand their resentment against Indonesia. But you can adopt the language without calling it Indonesian -- you could call it Malaysian. Like Melayu Timor for example; just to get rid of the language's stigma. This language is also used in the southern part of Thailand, in Malaysia and in some parts of the Philippines. But Portuguese -- who speaks Portuguese in this region?

Q: Do you think, that Bahasa Indonesia still has a chance to be used in Timor Lorosae despite the constitution which names Portuguese and Tetun as the official languages?

A: It depends how fast the colleges start teaching the Timor Lorosae's people Portuguese. As they have already started sending teachers from Portugal, they will probably forget the Indonesian language soon, which is actually a pity. At the same time, by being annexed by Indonesia for so many years, the people have already become accustomed to the language and its tradition. The young generation in particular, after more than 20 years under Soeharto's rule, have all been educated in Bahasa Indonesia.

Q: Why, in your opinion, did the new government favor Portuguese, which is the language of a former colonizer, as is Indonesian?

A: Maybe they feel that Portugal was a better colonial master than Indonesia. Or maybe, because Portuguese is an older tradition, it would be part of the key to progress. But as I said, it is not practical in this region: If they adopted English, it would be much more sensible.

Q: Some Timor Lorosae's people, however, that English would also be a kind of colonization...

A: No, look at Singapore for example. And Malaysia uses English as well.

Q: Is Singapore really a good comparison -- this very rich country in contrast to Timor Lorosae, which is one of the poorest in the world?

A: That is exactly why you should look at the use of the English language -- the economic and intercultural impact, not at the colonial or non-colonial issue.

Q: Is the decision to adopt the Portuguese language motivated by emotion on the part of the Timor Lorosae's leaders?

A: I don't want to say that. But Indonesia did not adopt Dutch, just because we had a relation with the Dutch people. We adopted English as the first foreign language. And this was a very wise decision, because Dutch is spoken by very few people in the world.

Q: What consequences will the choice of language have on Timor Lorosae's cultural life?

A: Maybe it will be more exciting. Because of the Portuguese language Europe will become closer culturally. They might have interesting challenges in the future. But for the common people today -- at least for the next couple of years -- the use of the Indonesian and English language would still be very important to keep pace.

Not only in culture: What about the legal system for example? They have to train all the judges and lawyers. And imagine how difficult it is already in your own language to speak in court! How long will it take? How old are those people who are to be trained again in a new language? And then you still have to translate their speeches to the defendant, as he might not be educated.

Q: How important will Tetun be in future Timor Lorosae?

A: Tetun is like Javanese -- the language spoken by the majority. And I think, it should be used like Javanese in Indonesia: Spoken by the local people, but not nationwide. Indonesia is the only country in the world, which did not choose the language of the majority of its people as the official language, because this would have offended a lot of minorities. It was the best decision for the freedom and unity of this country.