Our Language on Our Own Land

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

Celebrating Indonesia Raya -- Senior musician Purwacaraka leads and sings the national anthem “Indonesia Raya” in a concert organized in commemoration of Youth Pledge Day titled Celebrating Indonesia Raya, 88 Years of the National Anthem at Graha Bhakti Budaya, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta, Sunday (30/10/2016). The activity was sponsored by the Education and Culture Ministry through the Culture Directorate General.

October is national language month. This is linked to the commemoration of Youth Pledge Day on Oct. 28. Among the three ideals proclaimed in the pledge concern the recognition of the Indonesian language as a language of unity.

For four consecutive days, since Saturday (13/10/2018), Kompas has published articles on the use of the Indonesian language. Regulations related to the mainstreaming of the language in the public space have not been fully upheld. On the other hand, foreign languages – especially in terms of vocabulary – invade our daily lives. Technology, increasingly inseparable from our social lives, often force us to absorb foreign words into our everyday language.

Meanwhile, the use of local and national languages, especially among our youths, is declining. The government, especially national language agency Badan Bahasa, has strived to maintain the Indonesian language as the country’s official language and lingua franca, including through the involvement of regional governments and populaces. Nine years ago, the government approved Law No. 24/2009 on National Flag, Language, Symbol and Anthem.

The law’s article 25 points (2) and (3) stipulate that the Indonesian language, declared in the 1945 Constitution as the official language, serves as a national identity, source of pride, unifier and medium of interregional and intercultural communications. As an official language, the Indonesian language serves as the language of state affairs, education, national communication, national culture development, transactions and documentations, scientific development and usage, technology, arts and mass media.

However, facts clearly show that the law’s article 32, which rules that the Indonesian language must be used in national and international forums in Indonesia, has never been entirely upheld. Furthermore, the requirement that the Indonesian language is exclusively used in naming buildings, streets, properties and businesses owned by Indonesian citizens or legal entities, is not fully enforced. In the past, the New Order regime upheld this exclusive use of the Indonesian language, complete with operations to enforce the rule. On the contrary, Law No. 24/2009 does not include any sanction for those violating the language rule.

In a reader’s letter published in this daily (Kompas, 30/10/2017), retired teacher Pandu Syaiful urged us all to care for the Indonesian language before it was too late. He urged all government agencies to hire Indonesian language experts. Here lies another one of our linguistic problems: the lack of recognition of a standardized system of Indonesian language expertise. Compare this to the far clearer and more globally recognized of standardized expertise in the English language.

Senior poet Joko Pinurbo, through his poem Kamar Kecil (Small Room), paints his longing for a huge room for the Indonesian language in this archipelago. Surely we must not pin our hopes on the government, the Badan Bahasa, teachers or other government agencies, to provide this huge room. We must start with ourselves by using a proper and communicative Indonesian language.