While many Haruku people feel inferior when using their own mother tongue, Monica Akihari, the mevrouw (mistress) of the Netherlands, has confidently presented the Haruku language on the world music stage.
By
Frans Pati Herin
·5 minutes read
While many Haruku people feel inferior when using their own mother tongue, Monica Akihari, the mevrouw (mistress) of the Netherlands, has confidently presented the Haruku language on the world music stage. She and her husband have produced 50 songs in the endangered language and sang them in many countries
Most of the audience does not understand the lyrics sung by Monica, a singer of the singing group Boi Akih from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, when she performed at the festival titled “From and to Infinity” on Sunday in Tuni village, Ambon city, Maluku.
Even so, the words are not difficult to pronounce as they are familiar with the tongue of the Melanesians, a term for races in eastern Indonesia. "What language is that?" said one of the audiences. Other spectators asked each other and none received definitive answers. Until the song ended, accompanied by a guitar played by composer Niels Brouwer, no one in the audience could catch the meaning of the song.
They were curious. At that moment, Monica gave an answer. She said the language used in the lyrics of the song was the Haruku with the Aboru dialect. Aboru is one of the villages on Haruku Island. Monica calls it the land language. Some of the vocabulary that Monica used has disappeared from local residents\' conversations. Understandably, many residents in Maluku now use the Indonesian language or Malay with the Ambonese dialect.
They gradually forget their own mother tongue. Monica, who is fluent in Dutch, Ambonese, English and German, learned the Haruku language autodidactically through a dictionary made by Margaret Florey in 2003 and a collection of poems written by Van Hoevell in September 1876.
Monica often brings the two books everywhere. In every spare time, she writes songs with lyrics taken from those words. If it is difficult, she asks her family in the Netherlands or in Maluku. Monica herself is a Dutch citizen of Haruku descent. Her grandfather, a former Dutch soldier who chose to move to the Netherlands.
She is the third generation. Her love for Maluku brought her to Ambon. "The roots of our katong culture are here. Katong seng [can\'t] forget," she said.
Since forming the singing group Boi Akih with Niels Brouwer, her husband, both of them have created more than 50 songs in the Haruku language. Monica made the lyrics and Niel composed them. They created their own genre as the result of the improvisation made by Niels who was a graduate of jazz music at the Conservatium van Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1992.
Since 1997, the songs have been sung in many international concerts in dozens of countries on all continents. "We went to Brazil, Canada, Egypt, India, China, Korea and European countries. Some people
thought the language is from the African continent. They asked me to write the lyrics of the song and translate it into English," she said.
Cross culture
Monica has a mission, which is to introduce the local language of Maluku to the world. She hopes that the younger generation will preserve their respective local languages because a language shows an identity.
Since he met Monica for the first time in 2005 in the Netherlands, until now they continue to communicate about music, poetry and local languages.
The Maluku culturalist, Josep Matheus Rudolf Fofid, who is more familiarly called Opa Rudi, admired Monica\'s efforts in popularizing regional languages. For him, Monica is a rare creature in terms of love of regional languages. Since he met Monica for the first time in 2005 in the Netherlands, until now they continue to communicate about music, poetry and local languages.
"Monica continues to use local languages despite being born and raised in the Netherlands. Monica is in the midst of a variety of cultures in Europe. If she joins the global trend, certainly she is not unique," said Rudi.
However, by digging deeper into the roots of one\'s own culture, namely Haruku language with its unique rhyme, the sound of the lyrics in the song is more sensational. Regional languages become strengths. It can make the audience “burn”.
Rudi saw Monica was struggling to bring village cultural roots to the world music industry. Monica managed to do so without hesitation and was very confident. Sadly, many locals feel inferior using their own local language. They consider their mother tongue to be a second-class language that is not important to learn.
Surprisingly, about 70 percent of the regional languages have suffered a setback are endangered, and some have even been declared extinct.
According to data compiled from the Maluku language office, as many as 61 regional languages in Maluku have been fully identified. Surprisingly, about 70 percent of the regional languages have suffered a setback are endangered, and some have even been declared extinct.
The languages used by residents near Ambon city, including Haruku Island, are most endangered. Many villages on Ambon Island and Haruku Island no longer use regional languages.
The story of Monica, who immediately became viral in the social media, drew the attention of Ernianti, a local language researcher in Maluku. Having conducted researches on regional languages for years, it is for the first time Enianti has found a figure,who introduced a native language through songs on the international scene.
According to research, the language Monica uses is rooted in the Hitu language on Ambon Island. The descendants are languages in the Lease Islands consisting of Haruku Island, Saparua, and Nusa laut.
More than that, Monica, the Dutch mevrouw, gave a hard slap to local people who left the local language to be considered modern. Monica, who was born and grew up in modern culture, looks for her identity through language. Monica, Ale matele (you\'re great)!