What's happening to Bahasa Indonesia these days?

JAKARTA (JP): One of the things that makes me proud of being Indonesian is Bahasa Indonesia, the national language of this country. I'm proud of the fact that we had our own national language long before our Independence Day, something that even America, the land of high technology, cannot claim.

Another fact that should make the people of this country proud is that there are hundreds of local languages, spoken by numerous ethnic groups in the 13,677 islands scattered from Sabang to Merauke. Each dialect has its own unique characteristics.

However, similarities between one dialect and another are to be found. The Batak people in North Sumatera and the Buginese in South Sulawesi, for instance, speak languages which have many similar features.

These two ethnic groups, living more than 2,000 kms apart, rather surprisingly have a similar numeric system which is not possessed by any other ethnic group (as far as I am aware). Eleven, twelve, thirteen and so on are Sapuluh sada, sapuluh dua, sapuluh tolu (ten one, ten two, ten three) in the Batak language and sapuloh sekdi, sapuloh dua, and sapuloh tolu in Buginese. Manuk means chicken in both the Batak and Bugis languages while in Sundanese and Javanese, the same word means "bird".

Go further afield to South Kalimantan where the Banjar language is spoken. You'll feel like you are close to West Sumatera, which is actually about 2,000 kms away, because the languages have a lot of similarities.

Some words have the same meanings and are spelled and pronounced in exactly the same way. The prefix ber in Bahasa Indonesia is ba in both Banjar and Minang.

Notwithstanding the numerous local languages, the Indonesian people have vowed to speak only one national language, as manifested in our Youth Pledge 72 years ago. All agree that in formal forums, only Bahasa Indonesia should be spoken.

Now, why are some people reluctant to use it?

The maxim "You are what you speak" could possibly offer the answer.

In many cases, people, especially young professionals, are reluctant to use pure Bahasa Indonesia because it does not draw attention to their class or social standing. Speaking in Bahasa Indonesia and incorporating foreign words is deemed to be more becoming. Just take a wander around a seminar attended by young professionals and see how the participants are only brave enough to speak if they can incorporate "modern" terms taken from an international business dictionary.

The older generation of the Dutch colonial age prefer to speak Dutch just to show that they are no ordinary people.

And wait till you hear your children speak bahasa gaul (youth slang). "Ogut lagi pu yung hay, Bo! (I'm dizzy, man!)" is an expression that parents would never understand as its use is almost exclusively confined to trendy youngsters.

Your choice of words also plays an important role in showing what kind of person you are or what kind of person you are talking to. Those who ask "Could you help me?" and those who ask "Could you do me a favor?" are, in fact, displaying their respective degrees of proficiency in the English language. Among the Javanese community, the question "Jenengmu sopo (What's your name?)" would unnerve the heck out of a highly-respected person.

"Asmanipun sinten" is on a higher plane and is considered more polite (and humble) although the meaning is exactly the same.

"Your mouth is the tiger that could crush your head," advised my elementary-school teacher.

And how right she was! What exits from your mouth could land you in big trouble.

In this era of political upheaval, an unwise choice of words may result in danger. You would never imagine that a single phrase could cause so much of a brouhaha among those concerned.

Take, for example, the phrase biang kerok. This, roughly speaking, means "the source of trouble", and has emerged as the hottest phrase of the month as it was uttered by the most important person in the nation to warn his political competitors.

Not only did this lead to an uproar, but also to a plummeting in the value of the rupiah to its lowest level since the start of the new millennium. Some observers claim that the use of this phrase has also caused some investors to defer their investments in Indonesia, one of the world's most corrupt countries.

"Now you know how the choice of words can damage business, the stock exchange, investment, and the peace of the nation," I said with some concern to my youngest son.

"Sutralah, (Come on, let it be)" he replied in his bahasa gaul.

And this worried me even more. What is happening to our language these days?

-- Carl Chairul