RI solved national language puzzle 20 years before indpendence

By V. Anjaiah

JAKARTA (JP): The respected language expert Dr. Harimurti Kridalaksana says in one of his books that the official language Bahasa Indonesia is the pride of the nation. Without it this country wouldn't have achieved either its independence nor national unity.

It is true that Bahasa, as it is popularly called, gave momentum to the embryonic concept of Indonesian nationalism and sounded a death-knell for 300 years of Dutch colonialism shortly after the turn of this century. The infant language united an enormous country that is extremely diverse, not only geographically and ethnically, but also religiously and culturally.

Moreover, Indonesia is perhaps the only developing country in modern times which chose its national language from a lengthy list of languages -- almost without controversy.

Linguistically, Indonesia and its more than 400 languages and dialects is ranked second in the world after India, which tops the list with 1,652 languages and dialects (1971 census).

Unlike many countries, Indonesia solved the puzzle of national language 20 years before its independence in 1945 and used it as a weapon to liberate itself from the colonial yoke.

At a time when countries, such as Canada, Belgium, India and the Philippines, are scratching their heads trying to find a solution to their language problems, one may wonder how things went so differently in a country like Indonesia. What was the secret behind this unique achievement?

The credit must go to Indonesia's young people of the time, who made the impossible task quite possible.

On Oct. 28, 1928, 750 of the archipelago's young men and women put aside their regional, cultural and ethnic differences. Youth organizations from all corners of Indonesia, such as Jong Java, Jong Sumatranen Bond, Pemuda Indonesia, Sekar Rukun, Jong Islamieten Bond, Jong Batak Bond, Jong Celebes, Pemuda Kaum Betawi, and Perhimpunan Pelajar-Pelajar Indonesia, not only united themselves, but also took the important Sumpah Pemuda (Youth Pledge). This oath, made at the end of Second Youth Congress held in Gedung Kramat Raya 126, Jakarta, changed the course of history for this nation.

The Sumpah Pemuda freed Indonesia from the many ills plaguing attempts at unity because it straightforwardly stated that henceforth there would be one only homeland and one nation -- Indonesia -- and one language --Bahasa Indonesia.

Though the language was mentioned last in the pledge, one should not think that it was not given priority.

"All three items listed in the Sumpah Pemuda are equally important and cannot be separated from one another. They are meant for building Indonesia Raya (Great Indonesia)," Syahrial, a lecturer who teaches Bahasa Indonesia to foreigners at the University of Indonesia, the country's premier educational institute, said recently.

Bahasa Indonesia is the soul of this nation and a symbol of Persatuan (national unity). During the colonial regime the word Persatuan came to "independence" because the Dutch colonial government prohibited the usage of words like "freedom" and "independence" in public meetings.

Many foreigners Indonesia may not know that the term "Indonesia" did not come into existence until 1850. It was first used by James Richardson, a Singapore-based British anthropologist, to refer the archipelago situated between the two continents of Asia and Australia. Indonesia's present national language was adopted from Bahasa Melayu, or the Malay language, a language spoken in a small area called Riau, Sumatra. It was renamed Bahasa Indonesia in 1928.

Unfortunately, there is no information as to who suggested the name Bahasa Indonesia at the Second Youth Congress. Several books on the history of the Indonesian language have suggested, though not conclusively, that it was Mohammad Yamin, an ambitious student leader from Sumatra and one of the architects of Sumpah Pemuda, who proposed in the congress that Bahasa Melayu be made the national language. The participants of the congress overwhelmingly supported Yamin's idea and adopted it as the Bahasa Persatuan to be called by a new name: Bahasa Indonesia.

Indonesia's adoption of Bahasa Melayu as a national language serves as an ideal example for many countries on how to solve the language problem.

The choice made is very interesting in light of the fact that Bahasa Melayu was, at the time, only spoken on a daily basis by around 10 percent of the population. Yet it received overwhelming support from all over Indonesia, including from the Javanese, who constituted over 40 percent of the population, and spoke a different language called Bahasa Jawa.

One might ask why the Malay language was selected as the national language instead of Javanese, when Bahasa Jawa had more native speakers than any of the languages in the whole of Southeast Asia.

The fact was that the Malay language was the lingua franca of the Indonesian archipelago and had been used as a language of trade since ancient times. It had come to be known primarily as Melayu Pasar (Malay Bazaar) language.

Apart from in the Indonesian archipelago, it is widely spoken by the people of southern Thailand, Mindanao island, the Philippines, Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia.

Explaining the selection of the Malay language, the late Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana, a great Indonesian literary and cultural figure and well-known educator, said, "It was the simplicity and structure of Malay that made it easy to learn. Moreover, there is no hierarchy in the Malay language unlike in Javanese, which has different levels such as Krama Inggil, Krama and Ngoko, making it difficult to learn."

The whole process, however, was not without obstacles. The Dutch colonialists tried to impose Dutch as the national language, but patriotic Indonesians outrightly rejected the language of their oppressors. And the Javanese also opposed a Dutch minority group, who loved the Javanese language and culture and who were pushing to have the Bahasa Jawa made the national language. But above all, what made the dream of Yamin and his friends into reality was the Javanese people's tolerance.

Bahasa Indonesia is unique in that it is a more democratic and flexible language than any other language in Southeast Asia. The Malay language had interacted with many languages, such as Sanskrit, Arabic, Chinese, Tamil, Telugu, Portuguese, Dutch and English, and as a result Yamin was right in propagating this language as symbol of national unity.

Since its birth, Bahasa Indonesia has never looked back.

Some people credit its rise to Japan's brief occupation of Indonesia during World War II, because the occupation forces mandated it as the official language. Though this might be partially true, it was the Indonesians' love for this language that has made it a perfect national language for almost seven decades.

After independence, the status of Bahasa was clearly stated in Article 36 of the 1945 Constitution: "the Indonesian state language will be Bahasa Indonesia".

Yet according to Pusat Bahasa (the Indonesian Language Institute), very few people (not more than eight percent) can speak a pure and standard form of the language. Many people mix Bahasa with either regional languages or local Malay dialects. Others have the misconception that the language is too young and cannot compete with other modern languages, therefore, or because they think it is very easy to learn, they don't take the time to learn it properly.

"Before Sumpah Pemuda, Bahasa Melayu was already a full- fledged language," says Harimurti, adding that Bahasa Indonesia is without a doubt as legitimate as any other modern language.

On the surface Bahasa might extremely look easy to learn, but one has to face several constraints in order to master it.

"Many foreigners and Indonesians themselves acknowledge that Bahasa Indonesia is easy. I wouldn't agree with this. For example I have been studying this language for more than three years and still find it difficult," said Min Choi, a Korean student who is studying Bahasa at the University of Indonesia.

Since Sumpah Pemuda has become a strong pillar of the Indonesian nation, Indonesia has proved to the world that humankind, despite a variety of differences, can live harmoniously by respecting each other and each other's languages. It has taught us important values like musyawarah (consensus), gotong-royong (cooperation), tolerance, peaceful-coexistence and unity in diversity.

In a modern world where geographical boundaries are narrowing fast, the message of Sumpah Pemuda_-- "one country, one nation, one language" -- reminds us of what Erik Paul Rolf, an American author, journalist, and authority on Indonesian matters, rightly said: "One Language, One Humanity, One Planet."

The writer is an Indian student studying the Indonesian language at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Indonesia, Jakarta.

Window A: Indonesia solved the puzzle of national language 20 years before its independence in 1945 and used it as a weapon to liberate itself from the colonial yoke.

Window B: Indonesia's adoption of Bahasa Melayu as a national language serves as an ideal example for many countries on how to solve the language problem.

Window C: Bahasa Indonesia is unique in that it is a more democratic and flexible language than any other language in Southeast Asia.