What's happening to Bahasa Indonesia these days?

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