Dust Off Those Dictionaries For Javanese-Only Saturdays

Yogyakarta - Provincial and district officials in Yogyakarta are now required to speak Javanese with colleagues every Saturday as part of a new initiative to preserve the language.

Heri Priyono, the head of the mass media, documentation, and public subdivision in the provincial administration, said his office introduced the program, which began on Saturday, in an effort to save the Javanese language from extinction.

“Communication between officials and in answering phone calls should all be done in Javanese,” Heri said.

He said the provincial government was alarmed that most officials used Indonesian or English for daily communication, rather than Javanese, even when talking to colleagues.

Heri said people in the province needed to be reminded that they have their own language, passed down by their ancestors.

“The initial implementation won’t be too rigid. Common Javanese, or a mix with Indonesian, will still be tolerated,” he said. “Eventually, we want to introduce the use of high Javanese [known as kromo inggil].”

Although the program does not include rewards for those who adhere to it or punishment for those who do not, Heri said the provincial government expected all officials in Yogyakarta to support the initiative.

On the official Web site of the provincial administration, the governor of Yogyakarta, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, said speaking Javanese on a daily basis was a form of appreciation for Javanese culture. “This move is an appreciation for the Javanese cultural values that were taught to us by our parents,” he said.

The Web site also encouraged all residents of Yogyakarta to speak Javanese whenever and wherever possible to keep the language alive.

In addition to encouraging officials to speak Javanese, Heri said the language could also be used in some work correspondence, such as staff memos.

Other cities in Java, including Surabaya, have introduced similar efforts.

Last year, Surabaya required all high school students to speak only Javanese while in class every Monday.

Ruddy Winarko, the head of high school supervision at the Surabaya Education Office, said that the program proved to be a success, thanks to a monitoring team and language seminars.

However, local critics said the language program was poorly implemented.

The country is home to hundreds of languages and dialects — a total of 746 local languages, according to the Ministry of National Education’s Language Center. Only 11 local language scripts are still in use today, including Javanese, Bataknese and Balinese.

The center has in past urged the central government to promote the use of local languages in schools to help save them from extinction. Anita Rachman

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.com
Photo: http://fadlifadli.wordpress.com

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