From Debby's Lecture 2 - The Same Fate of Chinese and Spanish

Still from Dr. Deborah Cole’s lecture on Monday (02/06), I found something similar between the recent condition in some parts of America and somewhat past condition in Indonesia (actually, up till now, dude!). Yes, the effort to oppress the Spanish Speakers and the effort to oppress Chinese descendants in Indonesia.

Well, from what I’ve heard, the Spanish speakers are considered as a threat within the American society. The oppression started even from the simplest thing (banning those people from certain parks) to bigger, bigger thing (building a fence separating America-Mexico border). ‘The Government’ tried to pass the bills regarding this matter, from the Anthem in English to the so-called compromise bill which place the obligation on Spanish speakers’ shoulder to be able to speak English fluently (and in addition, with correct dialect. Wow!!!!!! Studying dialect?? I’ve been trying to add British accent in my English, and it doesn’t work well, even after 4 years!). In short, the Espagnol is considered as a threat, only the language!

This would later influence the young Spanish speakers. They no longer have pride towards their origin, towards their tradition, and even towards their own names. Yup, Debby told us that they would alter the pronunciation of their names. Those guys tend to pronounce their name in the Gringo way rather than Spanish pronunciation. The language is rarely used in a formal condition, since they are afraid to be considered as separatists. (Ouch, been there. But to myself, I kept saying, I did this to preserve my culture!)

This reminds me of the rule made by Indonesian government to ban Chinese language and tradition. I’ve been there, done that. Because of the rule, not many people spoke Chinese openly. The language learning process was mostly done within the family, with no official places to learn. Me? I was quite fortunate to learn under the surveillance of an expert. Yup, Zhang Lao Zu. This was somewhat undercover course, with only Chinese people knew the whereabouts. But to completely practice my Chinese, I didn’t have enough space (and it went away with the death of my grandparents!).

Furthermore, the banning of the language even touched the most private aspect of a man. NAME! Yep, Chinese names were not allowed by the government, thus those with Zhong Guo name should change theirs into Indonesian. Lie Beng Yun (my granddad) was changed into Agus Buntoro Junaedi, Lie You Pin (my granduncle) was changed into Pinardi (yep, quite ridiculous eh?). Lucky me to be given Indonesian name first before my Chinese name. Siddha – Li Xi Da. Not much differences, eh? There was a wave of name altering phenomenon, from the personal name to the business name. Hahaha, I still remember my own confusion when Tiong San restaurant was changed into Mahkota.

It was unfair to think that we are not chinese-born Indonesian, thus we only tried to maintain our pride and culture. We are only the offspring, born in Indonesia. (Okay, it may not be my place to talk about this, since many people don’t believe that I am chinese, but at least lemme talk!)

For me as a language student (Correct me if I’m wrong!! Please, your feedback is most appreciated!), the effort to eliminate the language is the first step of eliminating the culture and influence. Why? Since language is like the frontline of the whole culture and civilization.