Say it with good bahasa Indonesia

Say it with good bahasa Indonesia

JAKARTA (JP): Spare about 10 minutes of your time in front of
a television during a talk show. If you have more time, attend a
seminar. Within 10 minutes, you'll hear "foreign" terms coming
out of the talk show host or seminar participants.

At ANteve's Debat Terbuka (Public Debate) talk show on Tuesday
night, the host, Fahmi Idris, asked the show's guests about the
"check-and-balance" system in direct presidential election before
asking them to be "to the point" in expressing their views.

One of the show's guest speakers, a member of the House of
Representatives, Happy B. Zulkarnain, responded to a question
about people's readiness for direct election by saying: "People
always analyze the President's 'statements'... so there's no need
to 'underestimate' people."

"Check-and-balance", "to the point", "statements" and
"underestimate" are all English words, but in the talk show, they
were spoken within Indonesian sentences.

Fahmi Idris said he only used common English terms that the
audience is familiar with, such as "to the point", or
"accountability".

However, in some cases, he said he had to use certain English
terms which have no Indonesian translation.

"There are some terms, like 'check-and-balance', which do not
have the right Indonesian translation yet," Fahmi told The
Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He added that he did not do it to show off. "Sometimes, I
prefer using foreign terms because when I explain it in
Indonesian, it will be very long," said Fahmi, whose talk show
has entered its fifth year.

So far, he has received no complaints from his audience.

"I think it's likely that those living in big cities will have
no problem understanding (the foreign term) because they also
watch television or read newspapers.... But I'm not sure about
those living in small cities, maybe they do maybe they don't,"
Fahmi said.

It turns out that the mixed-use of Indonesian and foreign
terms, mostly English, has become common practice among public
figures.

At another talk show, Indonesia Baru (New Indonesia), chairman
of the Land Reform Consortium Noer Fauzi lamented about weak "law
enforcement" and urged for more "affirmative action".

In a seminar to mark Kompas daily's 35th anniversary on
Tuesday, noted economist Sri Mulyani Indrawati who mixed her
Indonesian with bits and pieces of her fluent English while
responding on the affect of Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency
(BPPN)'s "disclaimer" status.

"As a public institution, of course it (the status) will
(affect the agency). It's a very important statement meaning that
there are some things that should be fixed at BPPN. But if you
ask me whether BPPN will 'collapse', of course not," she was
quoted by Kompas.

Even President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid himself follows the
trend. He used the English term "approach" even though it has an
equivalent Indonesian word, pendekatan.

"I did ask him to be moved to Jakarta. But it's not true I
made the 'approach' to replace certain people...," Gus Dur was
recently quoted by Suara Pembaruan daily about a shakeup within
the Armed Forces involving now chief of the Army Strategic
Reserves Command (Kostrad) Lt. Gen. Agus Wirahadikusumah.

Any public figure's comments, including the foreign terms they
use, will get people's attention as it soon becomes headlines in
print media across the country.

Since English is now taught in elementary schools and even in
some kindergartens in big cities -- and it is also one of the
widely used foreign languages, thanks to the countless numbers of
English courses here -- it might be true that the mixed-use of
Indonesian and English will be understood by many.

Dilemma

English lecturer Grace T. Wiradisastra of the University of
Indonesia's School of Letters found the trend to mix Indonesian
and English as a dilemma.

"On one side, we want many people to be able talk good English
in the face of globalization... but on the other side, it means
we don't practice good Indonesian," Grace told the Post.

"But I think people should be sensitive and look around them
while speaking. Do their listeners understand what they're saying
or not? But the present trend shows that some people mix
Indonesian and English for various reasons, either to show off or
to reveal their educational backgrounds or occupations."

She has noticed that some public figures who were educated
abroad use English properly, in the right place and with the
right pronunciation. "But there's some who make the wrong
pronunciation, too...."

Indonesian language lecturer Felicia N. Utorodewo of the same
university blamed three factors: habit, education and speaking
partners, as among the factors responsible for the trend.

"Do we have to worry about this (mixing of Indonesian and
English) trend? I think we don't have to act like the police in
monitoring our language activities...," Felicia told the Post.

But she criticized those who were mixing Indonesian and
English simply to show off, or want to impressive people.

However, she admitted there were new terms currently being
used due to the absence of equivalent Indonesian terms, such as
"reform" and "status quo", for example.

She urged improvements in school curriculum to emphasize
active language activities, such as speaking good Indonesian or
expressing ideas in writing to prevent spread of the trend.
"Don't be afraid of foreign language. If we're afraid, it means
that we don't know the strength of our own language."

Luxury

Education is still a luxury to many Indonesians. Although
television can be found in most parts of the country, some
people, mostly those living in remote places, are still poorly
educated. Those who are badly hit by economic crisis can no
longer afford any education.

The Central Bureau of Statistics' 1995 data showed that 12.3
percent of the people did not attend school and 30.5 percent did
not graduate from elementary school. In that year, only 1.08
percent of people passed academy or diploma programs and 1.09
percent from university.

As many people are poorly educated, language researcher Yayah
B. Lumintaintang, who did research on the use of Indonesian
language in media and by public figures two years ago, insists
public figures set good examples by practicing good Indonesian in
public. Her research found out that some public figures were
influenced by informal languages.

"Public figures should realize that they're in the spotlight.
Anything they say will be either printed by the press or aired by
television," said Yayah, former head of Indonesian and local
languages at the Language Development Center.

Public figures, she said, should remember that Indonesian
language is understood by people across the country.

"But I realize that Indonesian language is not considered
important compared to, say, politics. People will say: 'it's a
waste of time to talk about language'. But language is our self-
identity that we should be proud of even when we enter the free
trade era.

"And now, when our country is facing a threat of
disintegration, we should remember that years ago, on Oct. 28,
1928, language was one of three things that allowed us to beat
colonialism." (ste)