The Listening Post
The Listening Post
* "Appealing, yet puzzling" might describe the Indonesian
paintings and drawings of Canadian artist, Ken Pattern, our guest
on this morning's rebroadcast of "The Listening Post" (Radio
Sonora FM 100.9, at 9:15). His precise, clean renderings of the
old Jakarta, fast disappearing as it becomes a global capital of
business, have been shown widely, here and abroad; local people
often ask him, "Why are you painting slums?" he remarks.
* The fact is that he finds "kampung" life visually appealing;
notice that there is a very important semantic difference between
the word "kampung," which usually has a neutral connotation
(expect in an expletive like "kampungan"), and "slum" which by
definition is a pejorative term. The fact is that while a
"kampung" may be a slum (those around Tanjung Priok are pretty
rough, and might qualify), it is not necessarily so. I live in a
"kampung Betawi," in old Condet, and do not at all consider the
area to be a slum. Rather, I think of myself as being rather
privileged to be able to live in a green belt of the big city.
* Since there's no precise English term for "kampung," we are
really forced to use the Indonesian one. That may be why the
persons who ask Ken why he is "painting pictures of slums" may
simply be at a loss; they think this is the closest term in
English. Well, it's not. You simply have to use the Indonesian
term, and if a Westerner doesn't understand what it means then
you explain it. It's like calling "gado-gado" "Indonesian salad,"
which, while not wrong, is certainly inaccurate. English grows
rapidly with new terms from foreign languages, especially for
things like foods ("tofu," "tom yam koong," and "nuc mam" are
recent additions to the culinary language of American English,
following the growth in popularity of Japanese, Thai and
Vietnamese food there).
* Ken Pattern is also the creator of a lovely 1995 calendar,
called "Indonesian Impressions" and featuring scenes from various
places in the archipelago where he has traveled and painted,
including Mount Bromo, Parangtritis, Maluku and Irian Jaya. This
full-color calendar has been sponsored jointly by the American
Women's Association and the Canadian Women's Association. You
should consider buying several, to give as gifts: all proceeds
from sales go to worthwhile Indonesian health-service charities.
* Ken came to Jakarta in late 1988 with his wife, an international
human resources development consultant. They had previously been
in Beijing, where he found many difficulties in pursuing an art
career: "To use the only lithography studio in the city, I would
have to bicycle for one-and-a-half hours to the University only
to find that the professor with the studio key was out. I was
greatly frustrated at the amount of time it took to complete one
project" is a quote from Vickie White Costello's review of Ken's
work, in "The Arts" section of the Sunday, October 9, Jakarta
Post. Check it out if you'd like to know more about Ken's art,
and see photos of several examples.
* Here are some more points of usage and grammar which you might
find helpful; they are taken from recent student compositions and
I mention them in the hope that they will help you avoid similar
errors in your own writing.
* Avoid the "due to" form, which, according to many English
experts, is poor usage. Instead, try "as a result of." Example:
"As a result of the trouble in Cambodia, and the potential danger
for tourists there, Ed and Tootsie decided to spend their annual
vacation in Rwanda.
* Do not use a semicolon between an independent and a dependent
clause. Here is a erroneous example (the asterisk is used in
linguistics to indicate an incorrect form): *"After the pie-
throwing date is negotiated between counter-parties; the red-hot-
chili-pepper-spray event will be discussed." Another such common
mistake is to do just the opposite, and place a comma (instead of
a semicolon) between two independent clauses: *"Payment in dried
jellyfish is due one to two days prior to prison sentencing, this
is a few days prior to nuclear submarine delivery of bogus
roller-coaster certificates." High-school students in the U.S.
frequently make these kinds of mistakes in their compositions, in
spite of being native speakers (it's one more reason why they
hate English class.)
-- Byron Black