The dress of thoughts

At its most simplest, the function of language is to communicate information. Hence the origins of modern Bahasa Indonesia, a language that evolved from bazaar Malay, a pidgin developed for cross-regional trading many centuries ago.

The longings of the human spirit require language to assume a role as more than just a medium of communication. If it were mere facts, language would not have evolved any further than smoke signals.

English writer Rudyard Kipling said that words are the most powerful drug used by mankind. Consequently, like other great languages, Bahasa Indonesia over generations became a canvas to convey emotion. How fortunate that our forefathers -- from Sutan Takdir Alisyahbana, Chairil Anwar to Pramoedya Ananta Toer -- left a legacy that has distinguished Bahasa Indonesia as a thing of beauty.

In its evolution, Bahasa Indonesia in the last century has also become a political-cultural phenomenon.

The first logos of Indonesian nationhood was embodied in 1928 by the adoption of Bahasa Indonesia as the unifying trait of a peoples beset by Dutch colonialism. It is a symbol that sustains us to this very day.

Bahasa Indonesia is perhaps the greatest commonality peoples of this archipelago claim with each other. A shared instrument that allows dissimilar individuals across forests and oceans, ethnic and cultural divides, to play the lucid chords of nationhood. It is a language that resonates about who we are, beyond mere flesh.

During the darkest days of colonial repression, Bahasa Indonesia articulated the vision of statedom. In the war of independence, it personified rebellion. During the New Order era it became a tool of dogma. Since 1998, Bahasa Indonesia has come full circle to become once again the dress of free thoughts -- reborn as a palette of progressive thinking and new literature.

The month of October -- commemorated annually as Bahasa Indonesia month -- is a poignant reminder that this political concoction we call the Republic of Indonesia would cease to exist without Bahasa Indonesia.

As a cultural entity, our national language continues to evolve. The incorporation of foreign words and local dialects a common occurrence for a young language. Many times foreign terminology is adopted simply because no previous reference exists in Bahasa Indonesia. In that sense changes to the structure and style are understandable. The way Bahasa Indonesia is being spoken now will be somewhat different to that of our grandchildren, the same way it was very distinct to what the founders of independence spoke in 1945.

We are, however, somewhat concerned at the growing lack of proper use -- verbal molestation if you will -- of the language.

It is beyond a simple case of syntax. Spurred by fashion, an increasing number opt to sprinkle our daily Bahasa Indonesia with foreign words and expressions. The use of foreign references is not prompted by technical necessity where such phrases -- especially English -- are required, given the lack of a Bahasa Indonesian equivalent, or due to a lack of specialized scientific terminology. It is simply a fad to make one sound chic or educated.

It is completely unnecessary given that many of the foreign phrases used have perfectly compatible Indonesian equivalents (the use of "sophisticated" as opposed to the Bahasa Indonesia equivalent of canggih, for example). The fact that many easily supplement Bahasa Indonesia with foreign words is all the more pathetic since most of them cannot speak or write Bahasa Indonesia with grammatical correctness in the first place. It is one thing to speak wholly in a foreign language, after having mastered one's own, but the reality here is that many Indonesian eventually end up speaking neither proper Bahasa Indonesia nor English.

The application and adoption of bastardized English -- which stems from a limited comprehension of the English language in the first place -- only cheapens with the status of Bahasa Indonesia. It is quite bewildering for those of us who understand to read "Gran Pinal" on the television when referring to "Grand Final".

In many ways the media is to blame for the dissemination of improper Bahasa Indonesia. Fashionable phrases and, as mentioned earlier, the shallowness of understanding of Bahasa Indonesia itself, have all contributed to this situation.

It is time for us place proper use of Bahasa Indonesia in its rightful context, without being adverse to adopting new words when appropriate. Neglecting the discipline of language can eventually lead to a diminishing of the quality of Indonesian thought of which Bahasa Indonesia is its primary vehicle.