Sound advice

Sound advice

Regarding the recent debate about dubbing television programs,
there are several points to consider. The first is esthetics. It
is rather absurd watching a group of westerners speaking perfect
Indonesian, or Chinese speaking perfect English, or Japanese
speaking Chinese, or whatever.

The second point is educational value, which most television
programs lack. At least when programs are in their original
language the audience can learn something (one reason
Scandinavians, for example, speak such good English is because
they don't dub their television programs). In addition, children
can practice their reading skills if subtitles are used.

From reading the letters in The Jakarta Post, one might think
that all foreign programs on Indonesian television are from
English speaking countries. In fact, I have seen programs whose
original languages were Cantonese, Mandarin, Chinese and Spanish.
In any case, it is not logical to complain about English or other
foreign languages breaking into Indonesian homes. First of all,
no one forces people to watch these programs. Secondly, if
Indonesians think there are too many foreign programs on their
television, they should make more programs themselves. Until
then, watch foreign programs in their original language (whatever
it may be) or, better still, turn off the television and read a
book.

ERIC SCHEIHAGEN

Taipei, Taiwan