The dying art of stenography

By I. Christianto

JAKARTA (JP): Stenography, the art of writing in shorthand, allows people to write as fast as they think. Today, however, few people know how to do this shorthand writing method.

Stenography, a compulsory subject at secretary colleges, used to be identified with secretaries. But many secretaries are apparently reluctant to keep practicing this art.

Ratna, a secretary with a private firm who graduated just last year from the Tarakanita Secretary College, said, "I practiced a lot when I was a student. I watched the news in Indonesian and English on the television and wrote it down in shorthand. But now I rarely use it. Longhand still works for me."

"I don't think that stenography is still necessary. Many of my friends now rarely use shorthand," she said.

She said in some cases she used a shorthand of her own creation. "That's much more convenient, it's only me who understands the note."

Stenography, more commonly called shorthand, is a system of writing using symbols or abbreviations replacing the alphabet, terms or sentences. Some dub this system as the art of rapid writing.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the earliest record of an organized system of shorthand dates back to 63 BC, when Marcus Tullius Tiro invented a kind of rapid writing. Historian Xenophon (500-400 BC) used an ancient form of Greek shorthand. Modern shorthand was introduced by Britain in 1588.

Every country now had its own system of shorthand. Indonesia has two systems, the Karundeng and the Paat.

Hamdan Mansoer, assistant director and curriculum planner for ASMI secretary academy said that Indonesian stenography was created by Eliezer Karundeng between 1910 and 1925.

He said that Karundeng was dubbed as the father of stenography of Indonesia by former president Sukarno. The Karundeng system was further developed by Alexander Benjamin Johanis Tengker, who pioneered management education in Indonesia in 1962. The college is now known as ASMI Secretary and Management Academy.

"Unlike other stenography systems which are based on words or phrases, the Karundeng system also knows a syllabic or tone of voice basis. Once, Tengker was able to take notes of a speech in Russian even though he did not speak the language. Others can do this if the intonation is spoken clearly," he said.

During Japanese occupation, Saibirin attempted to apply the Dutch Groote system in Indonesia, but it did not develop. The Groote system itself remained popular only among Dutch companies until about 1956, according to Mansoer.

J. Paat later introduced the Paat system, which was based on the Groote.

Iman Sayoga, who has taught stenography for over 30 years, said that the Paat system is now the standard for shorthand teaching at most academy and training centers.

Sayoga believed that there are many people who are interested in learning shorthand. "They are, however, discouraged when they realize that they have to memorize lots of codes."

To learn stenography, people must have a strong will and know that they must always practice. "It's no use without practice," said the senior lecturer at Tarakanita college.

She said that in order to take notes fast with proficiency, people needed to acquire a skill of listening and converting verbal information into written words. "This skill grows by practicing listening and writing."

Another shorthand instructor, Nurdin, said he needed to encourage his students first before starting an initial lecture.

"Students need to know the benefits of mastering shorthand. One benefits I always share is being able to write personal notes not readable by others," he said.

Helmy, who has worked as an executive secretary for over 20 years, is among the few people who find stenography useful and fun.

"It's interesting to master shorthand. I think it's still important to study stenography. This is knowledge as well as an art," said Helmy, who graduated from Tarakanita in 1976.

Stenography is historically close to journalists, who also deal a lot with handwriting. But it is difficult to find journalists who have mastered shorthand. They prefer to use buzzwords, special characters, or common abbreviations to make their note-taking easier. For example, they write yg for yang (which), skrg for sekarang (now), dll for dan lain-lain (etc.).

A reporter working for a foreign medium, Andayani, said that she sometimes used shorthand since she is a secretary academy graduate. "I used to be good at shorthand, but now I can use a tape recorder and just make points during an interview or media conference," she said.

Sayoga admitted that stenography has become less important.

"Many companies are now recruiting secretaries without any shorthand ability. It's much more important that the secretary is able to take dictation notes on time," she said.

She said that Tarakanita once planned to abolish the shorthand subject from its curriculum since it was no longer considered relevant to modern living, where tape recorders and stenotype machines can be easily operated.

"The government, however, opposed the plan. I think it's wise, If shorthand is not taught anymore at secretary school, the art will die. Because it's only taught there," she said.