GLIDES 29th Edition

TABLE OF CONTENTS

01

Unity in Diversity, Disunity in Adversity

by Clarisa Rebecca

04

The Underrated Gems of Indonesia Culture by Anggita Khansa Paramitha

God Loves You Too: Diversity in Indonesia's Religious LGBT Groups

Editor In Chief Handiko Wijaya

by Sofia Dewi by Nadia Salsabila

Silenced Voice Behind the Indonesia Independence

07 Bahas Bahasa: Discussing Language Policy and Preservation in Digital Era Indonesia an interview by Jawad Yuwono

Provinces Names in Indonesia: A Way to Promote Generalization, yet Suffer from Self Identity by Handiko Wijaya

Writers

Anggita Paramitha Nadia Salsabila

Advisor Paramita Ayuningtyas, S Hum, M Hum

Editors

Vera Benita Ahmad Fikri Adzhani

Clarisa Rebecca Sofia Dewi Jawad Yuwono

Designers

Cherrylita Ollyvia Adisty Fachrani

Editor'sNote

GLIDES #29 September 2022

Hi everyone,

The 29th Edition of GLIDES is intended to be personal from the hearts of writers. To support the special month of independence in August, GLIDES will explore Indonesia through its diversity, culture, and its 77th year of being free from oppression.

But what really is being free mean? We often hear the chant of “merdeka” throughout August, but are we really merdeka from oppression? What does merdeka even mean in our 77th anniversary as a nation? 77th is still a young age for a country, and it wasn’t that long ago before we bowed down to the East, or visited Buitenzorg In this edition, our talented writers will also highlight cultures that perhaps you never heard of before

Although it’s not August anymore, it doesn’t mean we can’t explore and still celebrate Indonesia's Independence Day. The 29th Edition of GLIDES is an escapism from the glorious celebrated August, to the reality of Indonesia that needed to be faced in September.

Happy Independence Month back in August, everyone. Han

Handiko Wijaya

Editor in Chief

E D I T E D B Y V E R A B E N

Unity in Diversity, Disunity in Adversity

T

77 years have passed since our first president, Soekarno, declared Indonesia as an independent state The long fight against colonialism managed to unite diverse groups of people from all over the archipelago under one land, one nation, and one language That spirit of unity is embedded in our country’s motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, or “Unity in Diversity”, which sounds wholesome in theory It makes you think that no matter where you ’ re from, what you believe in, or what you identify as, you ’ re accepted here However, the reality isn’t always as wonderful as expectations, and this is shown by how acceptance in Indonesia has its “special terms and conditions”. In this article, we are going to take a look at cases of discrimination within our society that are often overlooked, or even worse, normalized.

Politics and Prejudice

It wasn’t long ago when we heard the news about police forces and mass organizations raiding dormitories where Papuan students lived in Surabaya. The raids were done based on claims of an Indonesian flag being found

in a ditch near those dormitories Police forces broke the dormitory gates, barged themselves in, and threw tear gas at the students, all while yelling out racist slurs against them A total of 43 students were arrested and persecuted by the national guard, but they were released after failing to find any evidence that they threw the flag Nobody took the time to investigate those claims and automatically assumed the Papuan students did it.

This act of prejudice could’ve stemmed from the political tensions in West Papua, where separatist groups like OPM, KKB, and more have been fighting for their independence from Indonesia However, the political tensions were no valid excuse to justify the violence done against the Papuan students This led Papuans across the country to protest the unjust arrests and racial violence Yet the protesters were met with clashes by the authorities and they weren’t hesitant to use classic police brutalities to repress the protesters Instead of letting Papuans express their reactions to this issue, the central government cut off internet access in Papua for 21 days to further repress them

As demonstrations ceased, more Papuan students stepped forward to shed light on their experiences of racism Tasya Marian from Wamena, a town in Papua, revealed how she had a hard time finding a place to stay in Jakarta due to racism She had also experienced hostile and racist comments from some shopkeepers. People around her pinched their noses as they walked past her, perpetuating the stereotype about how Papuans smell bad as well as making unpleasant comments and refusing to engage with her Priska Mulait, another student from Wamena, added that she had difficulties making friends with non Papuans because of racial prejudice These discriminative treatments pushed Papuan students to stick together, as they have no one else They wished to share the message that Papuans want to be treated and appreciated like any other Indonesians.

No home for indigenous beliefs

Our country officially recognizes six religions in the constitution, which include Islam, Christianity (Protestantism and Catholicism), Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism Despite how different these religions are from one another, they all share one similarity they all originated from outside of the Nusantara archipelago Before any of these religions entered our motherland, our ancestors had their own religious and spiritual beliefs. Some of those beliefs are still alive and well

today, such as and many more.

Throughout time, various forms of discrimination against followers of indigenous beliefs have taken place within our society They face difficulties in building their own temples or traditional graves, as seen in the case of police forces sealing a Sunda Wiwitan grave Locals complained about the grave ’ s presence because they suspected the grave to be a worship temple, which they weren’t comfortable being around. Those who are in love face barriers in getting married as they don’t have their own religious court to accommodate them. Students don’t have a choice but to attend religious education classes they don’t believe in, as schools lack resources to provide classes on indigenous beliefs

Those who practice these indigenous beliefs are often met with discrimination, both from society and the government’s bureaucracy For decades, they had their rights and opportunities limited due to the lack of government recognition, as well as being ignorantly accused of being a communist The Second President Soeharto’s decision to mandate a section for religion on national documents has played a huge role in encouraging discrimination and erasure of the beliefs. This policy pushed believers of indigenous beliefs to either adopt a recognized religion they don’t believe in on their IDs or to leave them blank Only in 2019 that the government allowed them to have their own section on national documents, which states their belief in God almighty. For a country that likes to emphasize religious freedom and tolerance, this ordeal shows the double standards which are applied.

Sunda Wiwitan, Kejawen, Kaharingan, Malim, Marapu,

Society’s severe rainbow allergy

When the topic of LGBTQ+ rights comes up, Indonesia prefers to “play safe” by remaining “neutral” in the situation At the moment of writing, there are neither laws that criminalize LGBTQ+ identities (omitting Aceh Province) nor laws that offer protection for those in the community Despite the lack of laws against LGBTQ+ identities, homophobia and transphobia are incredibly rampant in society Discrimination against those who identify as part of the community is heavily normalized, even encouraged in some communities

Eliminating the "special terms and conditions”

Now that we ’ ve taken a look at various groups who are often discriminated against in our society, what can we do to help reduce it? One thing that some people still do wrong in attempting to reduce discrimination is that they ignore differences, instead of acknowledging them. We should acknowledge the differences with an open mind, learnfrom people who have experienced discrimination, and avoid hoaxes We can also push for more representation as a way to acknowledge the diversity that’s present in our society A good representation can educate others to accept differences and eliminate prejudice The more people open their minds and hearts, the bigger the impacts are to reduce discrimination

What most homophobic and transphobic Indonesians don’t realize is that LGBTQ+ identities have always been a part of our society One example can be found in the people of the Bugis tribe from South Sulawesi, who recognize 5 gender identities throughout the spectrum Orawane is masculine male gender, Makkunrai is feminine female gender, Calabai is feminine male gender, Calalai is masculine female gender, and Bissu is a mix of everything The lack of knowledge on gender diversity opens doors for violence against those who defy heteronormativity This is seen in how a Hassanudin University student was kicked out of their university orientation program after introducing themself as non binary, a term for those who identify as neither male nor female The incident then sparked more anti LGBT rhetoric among Indonesian netizens

Conclusion

More than seven decades have come and gone since our nation’s declaration of independence. With the spirit of unity in mind, our ancestors were determined to unite and integrate the existing diversity under one state. Yet that spirit faded over time, as groups of people are discriminated against based on where they’re from, what they believe, and what they identify as Both our government’s policies and society have had their roles in perpetuating discrimination against those groups Fortunately, there is hope to help increase our society’s acceptance of the existing diversity But in order for that to happen, we all have to acknowledge the problem and do our part in educating ourselves

The Underrated Gems of Indonesia Culture

countries consisting of over 17 000 thousand islands, where they all have various traditions that are born and preserved into cultures The traditions drive the country to be full of different uniqueness With those traditions being preserved from time to time, it makes Indonesia have various identities, rather than having just a single characteristic that can picturize the country as a whole hence, diverse By introducing Indonesia globally, it can then attract more tourists to come As a result, this will support the tourism sector, which then can be used to boost Indonesia economy.

The traditions of Indonesia, if managed, invested, and protected well enough, can be a great treasure and investment for the country both for now and in the future Indonesia’s tradition can not only be a media showcasing the nation’s cultures to the eyes of the public, but also to give Indonesia a renowned identity

wouldn't it be a waste to not show off ours?

Gundala-gundala from North Sumatra

In Indonesia, only two seasons are running each year: rainy and dry season However, the global warming issue that has currently been a hot topic is making it even harder to predict the weather Sometimes it can rain during summer, and sometimes summer can last longer than its normal period This issue can disserve many aspects, especially in the agriculture sector. To prevent this from happening, in many regions of Indonesia, there is a tradition of a community (a particular person) to wield the ability in “controlling” the weather, specifically the rain, better known as pawang hujan. The most famous one pawang hujan’ (rain handler) that has already gained recognition from the global eyes, is Mbak Rara from the 2022 MotoGP event in Mandalika,

Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. However regions, there is also a similar tradition that fascinating

The opposite of pawang hujan, in North there is a tradition being done by their loc called Gundala gundala, which is to send th so rain can soon come during lasting dry p performing this tradition, the local people cloak like outfits and masks made from w they will dance around, while sending the hoping that God will finally give their region tradition is quite common as well in differen Indonesia, only that the form of the activ changed into something more diverse

Batombe from West Sumatra

Every part of the world has its own way pieces of literary art One example is p Indonesia, pantun is a verse similar to po consists of four lines for each of its work, bu the rhyme of a b a b Yet different from p first two lines of the verse are called samp that do not mean anything nor have any con the intent of the poem, only used to produc sounds for the third and fourth lines. The las are the actual context and message of the ve

Uniquely, there is a tradition from West Sumatra that has its particular way of keeping pantun well existing ‘till this modern day, even more, to be continuously known by the next generation or even other people from outside of their community It’s called Batombe It is a tradition from West Sumatra where a group of females and males will hold their conversation by reciprocating Pantun, rather than talking normally, and usually is done in an event whilst accompanied by traditional music being played in the background The pantuns are usually covering the topics of light daily conversations

The tradition of Batombe is mostly associated by the community with the activity of building houses. This is due to the philosophical meaning of the word tombe, which comes from Abai language, which means “stand, togetherness, orunity” The tradition also seems to come from people in the late period of time who usually used to converse using pantun to relieve stress, while finding woods to build houses or other buildings

One of the unique traditions that West Nusa Tenggara has is Jara Pacoa. This activity comes from one of their regions, Bima The activity is often done as a medium of entertainment, similar to horse riding races The meaning of its name comes from the Bimanese language, jara, which means “horse”, and pacoa which translated to “contesting” Differs from normal horse riding races, the players of this race are children They are non professionals but have already been trained from a young age What’s more, during the race they even rode their horses with hardly any safety gears The only kind of safe part is that the chosen horses are rather small ones

For some people, this tradition may seem dangerous for the children who participated, however, it is actually a positive activity that can give many good benefits to the participants and audiences. The participants can gain more knowledge in horse riding, and to build their skill in strength, meanwhile the audience can enjoy a medium of entertainment

Pasola from East Nusa Tenggara

When hearing the name Sumba from East Nusa Tenggara, what comes first in our minds most likely is the beautiful nature scenes they offer, which have been known and considered as one of the must go places in Indonesia But do you know other than the stunning scenery, Sumba also has unique traditions that have not yet been widely acknowledged, one of them is called Pasola

Pasola is an annual tradition in Lamboya and Wanokaka, sub districts of Sumba. The locals believed that Pasola can give good prosperity to their crops if done before the harvest season. To perform this tradition, there will be a group of people riding horses while bringing pieces of wood, and using those wood to fight each other This ceremony is meant to represent war Later on, the fallen blood from the players are believed by the locals to be able to flourish and enrich their land and crops This belief comes from the philosophy of blood's role in human existence and its fertility blood gives a living to most creatures, especially animals and humans Therefore, blood is believed by the locals to also be able to make their crops grow healthier Interestingly, Pasola is inspired by a love themed folklore story. It all happened when three siblings went away from their land to find a living, leaving their family and wifes.

However, as time passed, there seemed to be no sight of their lives, so one of their wives decided to remarry another man When the three siblings finally came back, one of them heard that his wife has remarried Moreover, because of his wife’s shame, she refused to get back to him. With this, he accepted his wife’s choice and only hopes for them to be able to marry officially. There are a few requirements that need to be fulfilled to achieve the agreement, which became the foundation of Pasola . They need to create a symbolization of peace between the two man With that, they use two people to represent a battle while riding horses, until the players drop their blood while performing The blood from the battle is later believed to contribute to fertilizing the earth The tradition is being continued up till today because of that philosophical belief about "blood" and "fertility"

Aside from those traditions mentioned above, Indonesia is a very rich country in almost all aspects, especially in traditions. Indonesia has a variety of different uniqueness, with the potential to make the country develop, yet sadly, it’s still being silenced by its own society The traditions that the country owns have always been treated as practices, while some eventually vanished after generations This is a rather sad fact because instead of letting the unique cultures be erased completely, we as Indonesians should have protected our heritage For instance, Wayang Plays, or Tari Saman They have been recognized globally and create great profits With the help of the government and educational field, it is possible that Indonesia can be more recognized at the international level It's better to be mindful of other uniqueness that our country holds, so they can be treated better and sustainably.

Jara Pacoa from West Nusa Tenggara

God Loves You Too:

DIVERSITY IN INDONESIA'S RELIGIOUS LGBT GROUPS

In a country as heterogeneous as Indonesia, it’s hard to find a single thing that everyone can agree on. With the myriad of ethnicities, languages and cultures present here, along with the sharp geographical divides that come with being an archipelago nation, finding an aggregate Indonesian opinion on any topic is like hunting for unicorns Just as Indonesia is a chain of islands, every Indonesian is an island The endless combinations of demographic groups and experiences possible may occur here resulting in extremely unique points of views And we haven’t even considered international influence yet

However, there is one thing that brings virtually every Indonesian together: faith. Across all religions, both state recognized and not, Indonesians are some of the most religious people in the world. According to a Pew Research Centre survey, 98% of Indonesians view religion as very important in their lives. This puts them in league with fellow Southeast Asian nation the Philippines (92% view religion as very important), almost all African countries (93%, 92%, 91%, and 86% of Nigerians, Kenyans, Tunisians, and South Africans respectively view religion as very important), and Brazil (84% view religion as very important) Along with Nigeria and Tunisia, Indonesia is one of the only surveyed countries where nobody claimed that religion is not too or at all important in their lives, as the remaining 2% view religion as somewhat important in their lives.

This almost uniform level of religiosity results in an equally uniform consensus, on perhaps the only thing most Indonesians shares one opinion on: hot button moral issues.

Take, for example, the LGBT community According to another survey by the Saiful Mujani Research Centre, 87% of Indonesians think of the LGBT community as a “threat to private or public life” These same respondents, who are of various religions, also believe that homosexuality is against their beliefs Besides making advances in LGBT rights nearly impossible, these views also obscure the possibility of those two things coexisting, let alone intersecting, with each other

Traditional interpretations of Islam and Christianity, the largest and second largest religions in Indonesia respectively, consider same sex attraction and gender transitioning as sins Proponents of this view use certain verses and stories from their sacred texts, such as the story of Lot/Luth and some verses from the 18th chapter of Leviticus, a book in the Bible’s Old Testament, to justify their perspectives

In fact, even religions that don’t have strong anti LGBT traditions acquire this paradigm when they are practiced in Indonesia. A good example would be Buddhism. In some countries and territories where Buddhism is the majority religion, same sex marriage is either already or almost legal, and homosexuality isn't classified as a disease anymore. Yet, when Twitter user @RodriChen, who is a Buddhist, cited Buddhism as a religion that has no issues with LGBT people, his replies and QRTs were swamped by outraged netizens Many of them weren’t even Buddhist.

But religious views on the LGBT community, including in Christianity and Islam, are beginning to shift Many churches today allow same sex marriage, the Pope has expressed support for same sex civil unions and LGBT affirming mosques have been established in some countries Although these reforms aren’t always universally accepted, even in the so called “progressive” West (the issue of same sex marriage is currently dividing the Anglican Church), they are still a significant step for the LGBT believers and their allies

Indonesia is no exception Although you’d be hard pressed to find an officially LGBT friendly mosque or a church that would bless same sex partnerships, there are religious institutions by LGBT people for LGBT people, like Pondok Pesantren Waria Al Fatah and Gereja Persekutuan Hati Damai dan Kudus

decent living for themselves in the midst of a transphobic society

On the Christian side, Gereja Persekutuan Hati Damai dan Kudus (PHDK; Church of the Communion of the Peaceful and Sacred Heart in English) is a Surabaya church established by Handayani, a transgender woman. Her starting of this church was prompted by the discrimination LGBT worshippers faced in churches. As a transgender woman who desired baptism in the 1990s, Handayani was turned away by a pastor, who disapproved of her identity

In spite of how unpleasant it was, that experience would come to bear fruit in its own time In 2016, the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (Persekutuan Gereja Gereja di Indonesia or PGI) released a statement declaring LGBT identity to not be sinful and that LGBT people must be treated with the same dignity as their cisgender and heterosexual counterparts This includes equal access to baptism

Pondok Pesantren Waria Al Fatah is an Islamic boarding school in Yogyakarta It was originally founded in 2006 as part of an effort by transgender women to pray for those who died in the Yogyakarta earthquake that year After the death of its first founder, Maryani, in 2014, the school stopped operating It was only after Shinta Ratri, the second founder, moved Pesantren Al Fatah’s location to her home that it was revived again.

That temporary closure wasn’t the only obstacle the school would encounter, however In 2016, local authorities, under pressure from fundamentalist groups, shut down Pesantren Al Fatah on accusations of “disturbing the peace ” and operating without permission Yet thanks to local support and determination, the boarding school is now open again Besides providing trans women with a safe space to express their beliefs, pray in gender affirming clothes, and learn more about Islam, Pesantren Al Fatah also provides vocational courses so that transgender women, who are often pushed into sex work because of employer discrimination, can make a

Guided by Reverend Yoni, the only pastor who is willing to accompany them in worship, the transgender churchgoers pray and gather together in this simple church, which is in Handayani’s house, without having to face judgment or homo/transphobia In addition to taking care of the LGBT faithful’s spiritual needs, PHDK also pays attention to their material state: Handayani offers courses in hairdressing, cooking, and sewing so that transgender women have career options besides the sex industry The church also runs a nursing home for elderly transgender women who have been shunned by family and have nobody else to take care of them

Despite what popular Indonesian opinion decrees, the existence of LGBT people is nothing new The LGBT community existed long before the advent of all the major religions recognized in Indonesia, and the two have interacted and even intersected with each other from the very start. Therefore, saying that the two are “mutually exclusive” is probably not the best description. Religious people can be LGBT and LGBT people can be religious, as the founders and attendees of Pesantren Al Fatah and PHDK have shown.

All in all, sexual and gender diversity are simply other forms of diversity that we must respect, both as a nation whose motto is Unity in Diversity and as religious people who are commanded by God to love others As St Paul said in Galatians 3: 28 (NIV): “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus

SilentVoices Behind TheIndonesiansIndependence

This year, we ’ re celebrating the 77th Indonesian independence day, a year of having long liberty from terrible colonizers. Come to think of it, it’s already 77 years since the Founding Father, Soekarno, declared the nation’s independence on August, 17th 1945, a day that will always be remembered by the Indonesians. Indonesians finally have freedom without suffering enough from slavery and torture by the colonizers.

Independence means a country gets the freedom to be independent; without a need to be lead by another nation. Liberty glimmered during the independence because people thought they finally had the privilege to do or express anything they wanted, and were also protected by the high officials. That makes people feel safe because they assume the government have their backs.

However, until the 77th of Indonesian Independence, the bright light is still covered with darkness until now or maybe, forever; hopefully not so. Why do awful incidents like the unsolved murder cases or the disappearance of activists always occur? No need to tell it ‘ cause y ’all must already know the answer behind this chaotic scene that makes Indonesia feel like a boiling flame It turns out that some people behind the government and police department are not protecting people from danger; instead, they are the source of catastrophes for Indonesia's future

The most complicated things are caused by both sides of Undang undang Informasi dan Transaksi Elektronik (UU ITE) and many unsolved cases that make us lose trust in the government Let’s not forget that UU ITE is truly problematic; that makes innocent people who expressed their opinion could be jailed because of this article

Let me explain if any of you still don’t know what UU ITE is UU ITE is a law governing electronic information and transactions The electronic information here is one or a collection of electronic data Still, it is not only limited to writing; cyberbullying in a form of video is also part of UU ITE For example, UU ITE's function is to support information technology development through legal infrastructure and regulation The use of information technology is carried out safely to prevent moral violations by considering the Indonesian people's religious and socio cultural values.

The presence of UU ITE is needed in social life, especially with the rapid development of technology However, with all functions and objectives of the enactment of UU ITE, there are still problems with its contents Since the passage of the UU ITE, criminal cases of insults involving internet users have started to increase, especially in Indonesia

One of the electronic information parts is social media, where people frequently pour opinions or rant their hearts or minds outs. The things that can be violated due to the UU ITE effect are slander on social media, sharing hoaxes and moral violations like hate speech and discrimination

Ironically, most people use UU ITE for their own gain and benefit. Based on Tempo News, people usually use UU ITE to report are businessmen, government officials, and the police Government officials took the first rank for the most reporting cases using UU ITE. The reason is that people tend to criticize their work performance and program on social media, and they can’t accept the critics When some high officials hear people’s critics it sounds like blasphemy to them, they think the critics would definitely ruin their good image

Meanwhile, businessmen rank second among the parties who use UU ITE the most for their favor. Because businessmen have financial strength, it is easier to take advantage of reporting innocent people who criticize them with UU ITE and multiple interpretations in the regulation. Let’s take a flashback to Prita Mulyasari's famous case in 2008 Omni hospital reported her to the police using UU ITE because she shared her dissatisfaction with their lousy service on her social media.

Moeldoko

One of the famous cases of government officials reporting someone to the police with UU ITE is the case of Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and Moeldoko. Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs of Indonesia, extended the list of officials who used UU ITE to civilians who criticized him. Moeldoko reported two researchers from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), Egi Primayoga and Miftah, to the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police. ICW found Moeldoko collaborating with the Vice President of PT Harsen, Sofia Koswara, through her son, Joanina Rachman

Egi said there was an alleged attempt to make a profit from Moeldoko and PT Harsen during the pandemic crisis through political relations. Hearing ICW’s statement, Moeldoko denied the allegations and reported two ICW employees to the police.

In contrast, Luhut reported activists Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti to Polda Metro Jaya. The cause behind the cases is that both criticize Luhut through Haris Azhar’s YouTube video entitled Ada Lord Luhut di Balik Relasi Ekonomi OPS Militer Intan Jaya!! Jenderal BIN Juga Ada!! NgeHAMtam They said Luhut was playing with the mining business in Intan Jaya Papua Two mining businesses in Papua PT Freeport Indonesia and PT Madinah Qurrata’ain are gold mining concessions connected to the military or police, including Luhut

PritaMulyasari

LuhutBinsar Pandjaitan

On another complicated thing, we have the mysterious unsolved cases that put our anxiety at its peak Do y ’all remember the missing activists during the New Order? They have still not been found until now, and the government has not shown any kind of effort to find them. This new era is an anti critics regime; whoever insults the government will be kidnapped because they are the ’perpetrators’ of the nation

Furthermore, the mysterious assassination cases of Marsinah and Munir, another activist, still have not shown the bright truth. As it's still hidden beneath the never ending dark hole Government still does not tell us the validity of the cases; the actual murderer and mastermind In the meantime, their family still fought hard until now to solve the truth Although for Munir case, the government already spoke about the results of their investigation Based on police investigation, the government said that Munir’s murderer was Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, Garuda Indonesia’s senior pilot whose plane was boarded by Munir in 2004.

However, people are not buying them They think that the government is still trying to hide the real agenda behind it People are still dissatisfied as they know there was a mastermind behind all of this, but the government covers up the truth.

In the end, even though Indonesia is already an independent nation, it feels that we ’ re still constrained due to higher up acts There isn’t freedom to speak the truth and criticize the higher up for a better future. Instead, all we can see is the government trying to close its eyes and ears to critics. I still don’t understand why Indonesia is supposed to already have 77 years of independence and yet, is still limiting the liberty of its people We must fight to unlock the truth to gain the true expression of freedom

Indonesia’s ProvincesNames:

Generalization on Paper, No Self Identity in Reality

Everything has a meaning, and so does a name And when it comes to names, Indonesia provinces' names are somewhat easier to be remembered compared to our neighbors, for example, Malaysia’s states' names, like Sarawak, Perlis, or Selangor While Indonesia also has distinctive provinces names, most of its names are based on geographical location, like West Papua, Central Kalimantan, or North Maluku On paper, this can be seen as a way to unite many tribes under one provincial name, but in reality, this naming process eliminated the identity of the provinces

Pempek, the Ampera Bridge, and the Srivijaya Empire are the traits that people often associate with the South Sumatra provinces Not only the historical background, famous food, and landmark, but the province that’s located near Bangka Island also has many tribes, like the Banyuasin, Sekayu, Semendo, and many more Yet the province name doesn’t deliver the identity information that could promote a province's pride and identity

While it’s true that Indonesia is not a federal country, this renders the 37 existing provinces as the subdivisions of the central government But nowadays, the provinces of Indonesia started to act more independently compared to the years before This could be seen recently, when Danny Pomanto, the Mayor of Makassar just rejected the South Sulawesi Railway due to a different vision between him and the central government It’s important to see this, not as a problem in Indonesia's unity, but as a development for Indonesia's regional autonomy (otonomi daerah in Indonesian) that puts the 37 provinces somewhat like states in a federal system, still, puts the central government as their head

While South Sumatra's name doesn’t give any good cultural background information on its name, its neighbor, the Province of Bangka Belitung Islands is distinctive, although still based on the name of the islands, Bangka and Belitung. But on the other hand, Bangka actually means “tin” in Sanskrit (derived from wangka), and tin mines are the factor that drives the economy on the island Bangka is also the biggest source of tin in Indonesia that is used to make metal.

Unlike Bangka Belitung Islands, some provinces' names in Indonesia (that are not based on their geographical location) are established by their historical background Like the Riau Lingga Sultanate which is now the present day Province of the Riau Islands, or the Yogyakarta Sultanate which is now part of the Special Region of Yogyakarta But nonetheless, the majority provinces’ names in Indonesia are compromised with this format, geographical location + name of the island So, if a province is located in the Southwest of Papua Island, then it’ll be named Southwest Papua

The recent case of naming provinces with that format is the three new provinces in Papua Island, the Province of Central Papua, South Papua, and Highland Papua Although Highland Papua breaks away from the format mentioned above, it still suffers from the lack of cultural or historical representation of its name

Having a province identity is important to bring a sense of collectivism, thus inspiring its people to build the province better, instead of leaving it to find a better place, but it doesn’t mean that a province identity is more crucial than the sense of nationalism Provinces' identity in Indonesia is actually already here, which could be seen during the recently held on Papua, National Sports Week (Pekan Olaharaga Nasional in Indonesian), where each province needed to send delegates to fight for a championship, and the flags of the provinces will be hoist Talking about provincial flags, most of the flags of Indonesia’s provinces are only compromised of their logos and colors. Even though the constitution (Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 77 Tahun 2007) already stated that provinces could have their own flags to represent themselves, so far, the only place in Indonesia with a unique flag is the City of Bandung

Most of the provinces in Indonesia feel more like a place to live inside of Indonesia, rather than a home for their residents, an identity, a pride, and one community inside the nation But in some provinces, like Aceh, the situation is different Aceh has a particularly different case from most of the provinces Its identity is alive, and the province also has its own flag (the Free Aceh Movement flag is soon to be adopted as the official flag of Aceh), it has the local law that its people support Although Aceh is a special province because of the use of sharia law, it’s still a good sight to see something that could distinguish itself from the rest of the provinces in Indonesia

What really stands out the most in Indonesia is not the provinces, but the cities, tribes, and cultures that reside inside the provinces For example, Surakarta (Solo) which is located in Central Java, and known as Surakarta Sultanate, the Badui people that are scattered around Banten, but can’t represent the whole Banten as a sole culture, the Bataknese in North Sumatera, and so on

When discussing the provinces in Indonesia, sometimes the discussion would end with the argument that Indonesia is not a federal country Not being a federal country leaves the provinces just a mere subdivision, and all Indonesians should be united in one great Indonesia’s vision and mission But the regional autonomy is getting stronger each year, with more economical benefits starting to be seen after the implementation of the system Provinces in Indonesia should try to approach a more identified identity, although changing a province's name would be too drastic, and would cause problem bureaucracy, perhaps adapting a flag, and promoting the culture more regularly would bring a sense of collectivism in the province

BahasBahasa:

Discussing Language Policy and Preservation in Digital-Era Indonesia

Indonesia has long been recognized as a hotspot for linguistic diversity With more than 700 languages, it is in fact one of the most linguistically diverse countries on Earth, second only after the neighboring Papua New Guinea That being said, there are few legal protections for indigenous and heritage languages in Indonesia, with many of them being on the brink of extinction. There are also concerns that technological changes will exacerbate the decline of local languages. But is the decline inevitable?

What policies should be implemented in order to reverse the trend? How can we make these languages survive the digital era? These are some of the issues that I will discuss in this interview with Nabil Berri and Ilham Nurwansah, fellow Wikipedians and language activists focusing on Acehnese and Sundanese, respectively.

NB: I was first introduced to Wikipedia in 2006 With several colleagues, I pioneered the development of Acehnese Wikipedia, which was officially released in 2009 Together with the community, I was also involved in the Mozilla localization project by providing Acehnese translations for its browsers, as well as contributing to Mozilla Common Voice (a database for multilingual text to speech recognition) We also created websites such as bahasaaceh.org and bahasaaceh com to promote the usage of Acehnese I also support the revitalization of Jawoë, an Arabic based alphabet once commonly used to write Acehnese, although there are colleagues who are more concerned with this issue One of them is currently advocating to reproduce and make a corpus of Acehnese Jawoë manuscripts, especially those that have been digitized by the British Library through the Endangered Archives Programme

IN: As for myself, I’m working to digitize Indonesian manuscripts those considered to be state assets with a team at DREAMSEA, the Digital Repository of Endangered and Affected Manuscripts in Southeast Asia, a manuscript preservation program carried out by UIN Jakarta’s PPIM (Pusat Pengkajian Islam dan Masyarakat, Center for the Study of Islam and Society), in collaboration with Universität Hamburg’s CSMC (Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures) Other than that, since 2010, I have been actively contributing to Wikipedia, occasionally becoming part of organizing committees in writing contests for the Sundanese edition In 2019 I attended Wikimania (Wikimedia movement’s annual global conference) at Stockholm, Sweden, where I introduced Sundanese Wikipedia and Sundanese language activism within the Wikimedia movement to a wider audience Right now, I’m also volunteering to make a Sundanese localization for Ubuntu Linux operating system It’s a very time consuming project [laughing], since there are hundreds of thousands of strings to be taken care of.

Can you tell me about your background and work as language activists?

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IN: Statistically, Sundanese is the 2nd most spoken language in Indonesia after Javanese with around 40 million native speakers. But not all of them are active speakers Especially in diverse urban areas such as Bandung or Bogor, many of the speakers are passive They code mix the language with Indonesian, and completely switch to Indonesian as a neutral alternative when speaking with non Sundanese speakers In terms of official governmental administration, especially in the province of West Java, there is a law sanctioning the preservation of local languages including Sundanese However, the usage of Sundanese in official administration is not obliged by the law, only encouraged

For example, there is this program called Rebo Nyunda (Sundanese Wednesday), where people in the province are encouraged to wear Sundanese clothing and speak the language for a whole day every week. It’s a nice move, but also brings out the question on whether it counts as a support or a restriction in the sense that the usage of Sundanese is encouraged only on that single day This kind of program may be nice for the purpose of cultural promotion, but ideally, Sundanese usage among the native speakers should be encouraged everyday, in all aspects of daily lives, through policy implementations

Policy is important, because there are children who have been taught Sundanese since birth and use it in daily lives, but are met with Indonesian only educational instruction when they enter schools Sundanese is only given a few short hours as part of the Local Content subject, sometimes with materials that aren’t particularly great I’ve even heard that in some institutions, especially those labeling themselves “international schools”, the usage of indigenous languages is discouraged or straight up banned in favor of English

NB: If I may add, one crucial factor is that Indonesia, as a unitary state, has a language policy prioritizing the Indonesian language over any other languages, whether in education, administration, and other sectors, as an official language Many parents opt to teach their children Indonesian instead of their own native languages, because they are afraid that their children will not be able to study effectively by the time their children enter schools, which use Indonesian as the language of instruction.

This sole official language policy can be contrasted with countries oftentimes federal in form that adopt multilingualism such as India and Russia In those countries, indigenous languages are acknowledged as co official languages in regions where they are spoken, and can be used accordingly as the language of educational instruction as well as the language of governmental administration This kind of policy makes indigenous languages stand on a stronger ground, even if they don’t have that many speakers An example is the Chechen language, which is spoken by around one million people in Chechnya, Russia fewer than the speakers of major indigenous languages in Indonesia, but is firmly used as the region’s administrative language

As for Acehnese specifically, despite being among the top ten languages with the most speakers in Indonesia, it falls far behind the others in terms of preservation efforts There are Sundanese Literature and Balinese Literature college majors offered by several universities in regions where their speakers are in significant numbers, but there is no dedicated Acehnese Literature major in Aceh. Nor is there a specific local law stipulating the preservation of local languages This is despite the fact that the provincial government of Aceh, with its special autonomy, has more than enough power to strengthen the usage of local languages

There is a widespread perception that Indonesia’s indigenous and heritage languages are getting abandoned, especially by the younger generation. In your opinion, what are the factors contributing to this trend?

You both implied that the status of Indonesian as the sole language of educational instruction and official administration contributes to the decline of local languages. In regards to this, to what extent do you think Indonesian should play its role as the “language of unity” as stated in the Youth Pledge? Which domains necessitate the usage of Indonesian, as opposed to local languages?

NB: Bilingualism should be the norm Indigenous languages can be made co official in their respective regions, with its use in education and governmental administration sanctioned by laws Indonesian can still retain its role as the language of unity a lingua franca to bridge the communication between people from different provincial or ethnic backgrounds. At the same time, local languages should not be abandoned, because they are part of our own national identity the loss of linguistic diversity is also the loss of cultural diversity that our country is so proud about

IN: Indonesian does deserve to be our language of unity, but its usage should not hinder the development of local languages We should acknowledge that Indonesia is a very diverse country Multilingualism is simply inevitable We couldn’t just care for the national language for all its merits while ignoring the languages natively spoken by the people Local languages deserve the same attention, if not rights, as the national language

Indonesia is formed by the diversity of its peoples. There wouldn’t be Indonesia without the Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese and all other ethnic groups uniting under the same flag Similarly, there wouldn’t be a national “Indonesian language” without the complementary local languages

Balancing the roles of national and local languages is important, because the feeling of inferiority among speakers of local languages can only be mitigated by elevating the languages’ prestige. This includes not only implementing policies in education and administrative domains, but also making sure that they can withstand technological advancement.

IN: Let me talk about the negatives first The local nature of indigenous languages means that inappropriate content can escape public scrutiny more easily. For example, there are some Sundanese language content with pornographic elements or hate speech against other groups circulating almost exclusively among its speakers Existing internet censoring may not be effective to counter this kind of content because it may only filter negative content in Indonesian or English Racial slurs and other inappropriate words in local languages can easily bypass censoring

That said, the positives outweigh the negatives With the proliferation of internet access, digital contents in local languages can reach more people than ever before. Such contents benefit not only their native speakers, but also non speakers who are interested in those languages The widespread use of social media also presents opportunities for content creators

It turns out that contents in local languages can and do rake up engagements, whether in the form of YouTube videos, podcasts, or even written articles such as those in Wikipedia Wikipedia is especially helpful to promote local language contents because the site is prioritized by Google Search’s indexation system. When a Sundanese speaker is looking for a certain topic in their language, the Sundanese Wikipedia page for that topic may appear first among the list of results

Speaking of it, to what extent advancement in digital technology impacts the preservation of local languages, both negatively and positively?

NB: There are surely more positive impacts Acehnese language digital activism, specifically, can be traced back to the founding of Acehnese Wikipedia in 2009 People at that time might have just begun to realize that local languages can exist on the internet, too just like those national and international languages. The presence of Acehnese on the internet is further cemented with localization projects making major apps available in the language In effect, increasing the digital presence of local languages elevates the prestige of those languages.

IN: In my opinion as an observer, the government is moving in the right direction in terms of language preservation In West Java specifically, there is already a legal framework for the preservation of local languages and literature While the use of Indonesian in official conducts is mandated by the national law, there is no reason not to promote the daily usage of local languages

Local languages need to be brought back into public spaces Public service announcements, farmers’ workshops (penyuluhan pertanian), and other government programs should be available in local languages, especially to accommodate the elders who may not be able to speak Indonesian fluently Books, newspapers, and magazines in local languages should also be given governmental support Broadcast platforms such as TV and radio channels should give more airtime to content in local languages Currently, Indonesia’s law on broadcasting requires a certain percentage of a channel’s content to be locally made, but not necessarily in local languages.

NB: In terms of education, local language lessons should be available in schools at all levels. Based on my experience in Aceh, local language lessons are present in elementary to junior high levels but only in state schools under the Ministry of Education. Ideally, local languages should also be taught even in religious schools under the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Regional governments should be more proactive in preserving local languages within their territories. Especially Aceh with its special autonomy the government there has more authority compared to most other Indonesian provincial governments There have been talks about the creation of a language qanun (Aceh’s regional law) in order to elevate the status of Acehnese as a co official language of the special province, but it seems that it won’t be realized in the near future

NB: The future of our indigenous languages depends on the youths today Don’t be ashamed to speak your own language, because it is a part of your identity brought down by generations before you. If not us being proud of our own culture and ancestors, who else will?

IN: In the same vein, I urge the younger generation to actively participate in preparing the tools and infrastructure to support the future of our indigenous languages Bring these languages into the digital world, whether through content creation or localization of softwares and operating systems. Without support from the current generation, there might not be a future for these languages.

What steps should be taken by the government and the society in general in order to preserve local languages better?

Lastly, what are your hopes for the younger generation regarding the preservation of local languages?