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)