A four-day
Javanese Language Congress being held in Surabaya, East Java, since last Sunday
has turned into a formal Javanese forum as all of the participants, regardless
of their places of origin, have been required to speak the high form of the
language at the event.
Unlike in
previous years, the five-yearly congress, which concludes Wednesday, has this
year named Javanese as its official language. As such, everyone at the congress
is required to speak formal Javanese, despite that some members of the younger
Javanese generations find the dialect difficult to follow.
“As a host,
East Java Governor Soekarwo wants the congress to be different from in previous
years. That’s why he has requested that Javanese be used as the official
language of the congress,” the committee’s secretary Hizbul Wathon said on
Tuesday.
Some 600
participants have joined the congress, which is the fifth to be held so far.
Among them are 11 foreigners: an Australian, seven Surinamese and three
American students currently studying in Indonesian universities.
The
Indonesian participants come from 12 provinces. Some were seen wearing Javanese
attire while attending the congress. “This is the first time that I have
entered a star-rated hotel in a Javanese costume and I am proud of doing so,”
said elementary school teacher Jumiyo Siswapangarso, a participant from
Yogyakarta.
Similar
pride was also conveyed by Surinamese Social Affairs Minister Paul Sumoharjo,
who is of Javanese descent.
“We are
happy that [we] can speak Javanese. It’s because we are preserving [the
culture] of the 100,000 Javanese people in Suriname,” Paul told the forum in
plain Javanese during the opening ceremony on Sunday.
Also
attending the opening ceremony were Education and Culture Deputy Minister Windu
Nuryanti, East Java Governor Soekarwo and Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengku
Buwono X.
Among the
speakers were George Quinn, an adjunct professor and visiting fellow of the
Australian National University’s School of Culture, History and Language, who
wrote and presented his presentation in formal Javanese.
His paper
was titled “Unggah-Ungguh Lan Bahasa Indonesia: Masalah Rong Werno Sing
Ngruweti Pamulanging Basa Jawa Marang Siswa Manca” (Manners and Indonesian Language:
Two problems that make it difficult to teach Javanese to foreign students).
“I am
touched that I see a spirit to preserve Javanese here. I see this as a shared
consciousness to block the impact of globalization that has caused many
regional languages to become extinct,” said Quinn, commenting on the use of
Javanese as the official language at the congress on Tuesday.
Quinn
indeed was not a stranger among preservers of the Javanese language at the
congress. He has never missed a single congress since it was first held in
Semarang, Central Java, in 1991. He is also known for his perseverance in
promoting Javanese in Australia.
“Australia’s
younger generations prefer to learn English rather than any other foreign
languages, including Javanese. At present only ANU offers a Javanese language
program,” said Quinn, who insisted on using Javanese during the interview with
The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
He blamed
the globalization of English for the situation in Australia, saying that
Australian students felt that there was no use in learning Javanese because
many Indonesians spoke English fluently.
1 comment:
Culture of different countries or of different places are different. This is the beauty of this world. When we are moving from one place to another we are getting different culture and that makes our life beautiful. We should not forget our culture, tradition and also we should always respect others culture. This world is the beautiful creation of God. And through us god has gifted us different colour like culture. Fine Arts Reviews
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