The Greeting "Kakanda and Adinda" in Politics: Mere a Greeting or a Sign of Power Relations?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – In recent years, Indonesia’s political public sphere has often been coloured by a style of communication that is no longer merely formal or administrative. Greetings such as “kakanda” and “adinda” are increasingly heard, particularly in interactions among political elites and communications in front of the public. Political observer from UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Zaki Mubarak, assesses that the use of greetings like “kakanda” and “adinda” in the political sphere cannot be separated from the way Indonesian politics builds social relations. “The greeting ‘kakanda and adinda’ in the political public sphere symbolises our increasingly feudalistic politics,” said Zaki. Politics then narrows to matters of one’s own group. Outside that group, access to enter becomes limited. Zaki compares this to the early independence era, when the nation’s founders more frequently used the greeting “Bung,” which reflected an egalitarian spirit. “Compare with our founding fathers who used the greeting ‘Bung,’ which reflects the character of egalitarianism and the elimination of primordial barriers,” he stated. He also highlighted that in practice, such greetings often become part of the communication style of certain political figures who wish to appear friendly. Meanwhile, digital communication expert from Universitas Indonesia, Firman Kurniawan, views this phenomenon from the perspective of political communication functions. According to him, the use of greetings like “kanda” and “dinda” cannot be separated from the need to build closeness and solidarity among political actors. “In the world of politics, cohesion or solidarity is needed. With the greetings kanda and adinda, they indeed have their respective political goals but they are united,” said Firman. He explained that, simply put, “kanda” and “dinda” are substitutes for the terms elder brother and younger sibling in the Indonesian socio-cultural context, used to build a sense of closeness as well as politeness in communication relations.