Speak Indonesian

Speak Indonesian

The Miss Indonesia contest and the Abang (Mister) and None
(Miss) Jakarta contest held on Aug. 8 at the Jakarta Convention
Center caught my attention.

Although there is no doubt that the ability to speak a foreign
language is a plus point for a contestant, the competition was
held in Indonesia for Indonesians. Shouldn't a good command of
Bahasa Indonesia be the first priority? Wouldn't giving answers
in English be rather inappropriate considering the majority of
the audience speaks Bahasa Indonesia?

After all, this is not a Miss Universe pageant, where most of
the audience would be expected to understand English as an
international language. It is sad to see that more and more
Indonesians choose to treat expatriates better than their own
countrymen.

For Indonesia to exist in the international world we do have
to acquire certain skills, including foreign languages. However,
this does not mean that we should start speaking English (or
other foreign languages) among our own people and stop using
Bahasa Indonesia.

It is not called our mother tongue without reason. We should
speak it with pride. If we are willing to spend years studying
foreign languages, why shouldn't we spare at least the same
amount of time to study our own language?

EVY LUCIANA
Jakarta