Mandarin radio popular for songs and light discussion

Agnes Winarti ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 05/15/2008 12:19 PM  |  City

Today thousands of Jakartans tune in to local radio stations to have the simple pleasure of listening to their favorite Mandarin songs. This was not the case a decade ago.

During the Soeharto era, the public display of Chinese culture was not allowed. After the 'reformation', however, following administrations changed few policies that affected the lives of millions of Chinese-Indonesians.

In 2000, the then president, Abdurrahman *Gus Dur' Wahid, overturned a 1967 presidential instruction on Chinese religion, beliefs and traditions, which effectively banned Chinese literature and culture in Indonesia, including the prohibition of displaying Chinese characters.

The annulment by former president Gus Dur was then supported by his successor, president Megawati Soekarnoputri, who issued a decree in 2002 declaring Chinese Lunar New Year a national holiday.

"Over the past few years, there has been growing interest in learning Mandarin, not only among Chinese-Indonesians, but also non-Chinese Indonesians," said Budi S. Tanuwibowo, the Chinese-Indonesian Association's secretary-general.

He said there were also more Chinese dictionaries and books available in stores nowadays.

"In the past three years, we've had more university students majoring in Chinese literature visiting our station. They say they listen to our programs to practice their Mandarin," said Haryono, the head of general affairs at Cakrawala radio station.

Cakrawala is now the only Mandarin radio station that broadcasts to Greater Jakarta. Haryono said the radio, which had around 70,000 listeners, began using Mandarin in 2000, right after former president Gus Dur's presidential decree.

The station, established in 1971, airs about 80 percent of its 24-hour broadcast in Mandarin.

A 23-year-old English literature graduate, Setiyawati, said she listened to Cakrawala almost everyday.

"My friend often makes on-air song requests to the radio station. She always rehearses what she's going to say before making the request call. What an effort, right? " she said. "It's interesting to observe how people are becoming eager to learn Mandarin."

"For me, the language itself sounds special. Imagine how a different intonation of the same syllable can have a totally different meaning. It is so unique," she said.

Haryono said there had not been any changes in its listener profile since the station switched to using Mandarin.

"Most of our listeners are families -- from children to grandparents."

"Many of them are not necessarily fluent in Mandarin. We found that out when they came to the office to get some souvenirs. Some of them make song requests in Indonesian, even though the program is in Mandarin."

"They tune in to our station because they like Mandarin songs and music. So our focus is entertainment; we try not to burden them with heavy or complicated issues," Haryono said.

One listener, Chen Li Lian, 25, said she stayed tuned in to the radio station when she heard a song she liked.

Haryono said it was hard to find local radio hosts who could speak standard Mandarin fluently. However, recently things have been better, he said.

"There were 30 to 40 applicants for our last job vacancy. In previous years, we only had three to four applicants."

Budi said the population of people with Chinese heritage in Indonesia had become the largest compared to those in other countries outside China.

"I am sure there are more than 7 million people of Chinese descent here. I don't know the exact figures, but statistics say Chinese-Indonesians comprise up to 3 percent of the country's total population."

Box: 1996
President Soeharto issues a decree to annul the Indonesian Citizenship Legal Proof Letter (SBKRI) requirement. Chinese-Indonesians can use their ID cards, birth certificates and family cards to register at institutions, like schools.

1998
President B.J. Habibie issues a decree ordering government officials to treat all Indonesians equally.

1999
President B.J. Habibie issues a decree against discriminatory practices based on ethnicity or race.

2000
President Abdurrahman Wahid overturns a 1967 presidential decree on Chinese religion, beliefs and traditions, which had effectively banned all Chinese literature and culture in Indonesia, including the prohibition of Chinese characters.

2002
President Megawati Soekarnoputri issues a decree declaring Chinese Lunar New Year a national holiday.

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