Upstream-Downstream Caring for Language

KOMPAS/HERLAMBANG JALUARDI

The Titah Tuanku Art Studio participates in the Gurindam XII Visualization Contest in Tanjungpinang city, Riau Islands, on Thursday (17/10/2019). All participants translated the Gurindam Dua Belas manuscript written by Raja Ali Haji, who also studied Malay, which would later become Indonesian, into the form of theater.

In Tanjung Pinang, Riau Islands, young people are keen to interpret classical Malay poetry, which is the backbone of the Indonesian language. Far in the east on Alor Island, people practice Indonesian precisely. Those in the upstream and downstream areas equally care about the language.

On Thursday (17/10/2019), the Gemala Festival, sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Culture in collaboration with the local administration, was being held in the compound of the Riau governor\'s official residence. People listened to pantun (rhyme poetry) reading and watched a zapin dance involving 500 students. A visualization contest for the Gurindam Dua Belas manuscript by Raja Ali Haji in 1847 was also held.

Raja Ali Haji was a literary and language reviewer. One of his books, Kitab Pengetahuan Bahasa (Book of Linguistic Knowledge, 1857), set the standard for the Malay language, which would later become the root basis of the Indonesian language. The book was written on Penyengat Island, his birthplace, which can be reached by boat from Tanjung Pinang in no more than 15 minutes.

If you want to know a noble person/look at his behavior/If you want know people who are knowledgeable/keep asking and learning).

That night, 16 groups aimed to translate the philosophical teachings of Gurindam Dua Belas into a theater performance. The Titah Tuanku art group, consisting of 10 young people in their 20s, interpreted Article V. Here is one of the quotes, "Jika hendak mengenal orang yang mulia/lihatlah pada kelakuan dia/Jika hendak mengenal orang yang berilmu/bertanya dan belajar tiadalah jemu/....” (If you want to know a noble person/look at his behavior/If you want know people who are knowledgeable/keep asking and learning).

The article containing 12 lines was transformed into a 10-minute theater performance. The art group\'s performance was comprehensive. Dance, acting and declamation were accompanied by music played on violin and tambourine.

"Traditional art is represented by music and declamation. While the dance choreography is contemporary in style. For example, the black cloth-pulling scene illustrates the darkness during the author\'s era of Raja Ali Haji. Meanwhile, the lanterns symbolize the light that erodes the gloom,” said Handry Fahmizar, 42, director and founder of the studio.

KOMPAS/HERLAMBANG JALUARDI

The Titah Tuanku Art Studio participates in the Gurindam XII Visualization Contest in Tanjungpinang city, Riau Islands, on Thursday (17/10/2019). All participants translated the Gurindam Dua Belas manuscript written by Raja Ali Haji, who also studied Malay, which would later become Indonesian, into the form of theater.

The theatrical troupe in Tanjung Pinang, Handry said, often performed traditional arts. He said it was intended to encourage the preservation of Malay culture, including Malay literary works. Therefore, classic texts such as Gurindam Dua Belas can still be popular among young people who also like modern things.

One example is Haryadi, a student of the Raja Haji College of Social and Political Sciences, Tanjung Pinang. The 21-year-old student has long been a fan of Malay classical literature and traditional dance. When asked why he was interested in classical Malay literature, he recited a saying by Hang Tuah: “Supaya takkan Melayu hilang di bumi, bumi bertuah negeri beradat” (By making sure the Malay language does not disappear from Earth, Earth will remain civilized). He continued, “Who will be ready to promote the Malay arts if not us, the young people?”

Thus, the people of Riau Islands care for and live the Indonesian language, which derived from the Malay language.

Who will be ready to promote the Malay arts if not us, the young people?

Beautiful language

Far from Tanjung Pinang, a resident of Alor Island, East Nusa Tenggara, speaks Indonesian beautifully. Alor Island is 2,400 kilometers from Tanjung Pinang as the crow flies.

People young and old on the small island neighboring Timor Leste are very disciplined in using Indonesian at schools, restaurants, on the street and at the markets. In Alor, the word beta (I) or katong (we) are not used. People use saya (I) when referring to themselves. Alor residents use the word "they" instead of dong, which is often used by the people of Soe (South Timor Tengah) and Kefamenanu (North Timor Tengah). Syllables like su (already), sa (me) and pi (go), commonly used by the people of Flores, are never used in Alor.

"We use precise Indonesian. It\'s always maintained here," said Agustina Susan Sina, an Indonesian language teacher at SMA Negeri 2 state high school in Kalabahi, the capital of Alor regency. During the 40 minutes of conversation with him, he never once used the word enggak (no), but the more formal tidak.

We don\'t know each other\'s languages so the only way to communicate is in Indonesian.

Standard Indonesian is not only heard in the regency capital, but also in remote villages. In Hamlet B, North Probur village, Southwest Alor district, a two-hour drive from Kalabahi plus a two-kilometer walk, Imanuel Kolimalay, 61, talked with his family in standard Indonesian on Wednesday (16/10).

What prompts the people of Alor to glorify the Indonesian language, which is not their native tongue? "We don\'t know each other\'s languages so the only way to communicate is in Indonesian," said Anis Atamai, 31, a resident of Kalabahi.

In Alor, 30 different local languages are spoken by several tribes. In one village more than one language could be spoken.

Read more : Indonesian Language, a Bridge over Differences

Yunus Adifa, secretary of the Alor Culture Office, said local people often freeze out or do not communicate with residents who refuse to speak Indonesian. "We reprimand them, which results in people refusing to speak to them until they are shamed [into speaking Indonesian]," Yunus said.

That is the way of the Alor people, who have faithfully used standard Indonesian from generation to generation.