Dewi Sekar Arum

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No More Roman Alphabet for Indonesia

I do not think using the Latin alphabet or the Roman alphabet is necessary for

Indonesia. Instead, use our own alphabet, other countries do so, why can't we? We have lots

of reasons to make it happen, and yet, we don't. Indonesia has so much potential in the

literary world and one of them is the ability to use our own alphabet. Have you ever heard or

known about the Javanese alphabet called Hanacaraka? This alphabet should be the national

alphabet for Indonesia. The Javanese alphabet should be our national lettering because

Javanese ethnicity is one of the most powerful ethnicities, has existed for many centuries, and

it could lead us to become an independent nation.

There are three reasons why we have to use the Javanese alphabet and why it has to

be Javanese. The first reason, the Javanese ethnicity is one of the most powerful ethnicities in

Indonesia. This is not a piece of new information. Javanese is one of the largest and most

influential ethnic groups in Indonesia. They could bring a big impact not only on their own

ethnic group but also on the whole nation. The native Javanese are the largest ethnic group in

Indonesia were about 95.2 million citizens, which is 40 percent of the total population in

Indonesia (Yuniarni, 2016). Furthermore, the Javanese alphabet is not only known by the

Javanese tribe but several other ethnicities such as Madurese, Sundanese, Sasak, also

Balinese (Setiawan, 2015). This is why using the Javanese alphabet as our national alphabet

is possible and reasonable.

The second reason, the Javanese alphabet's existence has developed for many

centuries. Sasongko (2020) states that in the 4th century, people in Indonesia use the Pallava

script and speak Sanskrit, where Pallawa is the forerunner of the Javanese alphabet or what
we called Hanacaraka now. The Javanese alphabet has existed since the 4th and then

developed in the 8th century. As part of the cultural heritage, the Javanese alphabet must

continue to be preserved so that it does not become extinct. This can be one of the ways to

preserve culture, people will continue to use it over and over, and as time goes by, it will stay

and will never go extinct.

Last but not least, the third reason why the Javanese alphabet must become our

national alphabet is that the use of Javanese alphabets can lead our nation to become an

independent nation, especially in the field of the literary world. This is the most interesting

possibility which I myself think is very impressive to be true. Over the years, Indonesia has

been colonized not only by its natural wealth but also in the literary sector, such as the use of

the Roman alphabet or Latin alphabet, where we In Indonesia itself has our own alphabet that

has existed for many centuries, Hanacaraka. So, why are we as an independent and free

country today still using the colonizer's product when we have our own great product that

was much cooler and better than theirs? By using our own language product such as the

Javanese alphabet, think about the possibility where one-day the Indonesian alphabet will be

easily recognized by people around the world, afterward, our country sooner or later will be

known as one of the nations that use their own alphabets just like Thailand, India, Korea,

China, Japan, Russia alphabet, Javanese alphabet will also be known worldwide.

However, there are also some obstacles to making it happen. The obstacles of it are

the outcome of some negative effects of the use of the Javanese alphabet as our national

alphabet. As we know, Indonesia is a diverse country, we cannot let one ethnicity rules the

whole nation. It is like uprooting the other ethnics uniqueness and replacing it with other

ethnicities (no more diversity). Nevertheless, to make a big change, we also had to make a

big movement and a brave decision where none of this is easy, especially to change such a

thing as alphabets or lettering used. On the other hand, the Javanese alphabet is not the only
alphabet that exists in Indonesia, other ethnicities also have their own alphabet. Other

ethnicities such as Bugis, Mandailing, Sundanese, and Sumbawa have their own alphabet

(Setiawan, 2015). But anyway, back in the 7th Century, ‘Bahasa Melayu Kuno’ the

forerunner of ‘Bahasa Melayu Modern’ or what we know as the Indonesian Language was

written in Pallava (Firdausi, 2020), where Pallawa is the forerunner of the Javanese alphabet

what so-called Hanacaraka (Sasongko, 2020). So, basically, the Indonesian Language back

then was written in Pallava or what we called Hanacaraka now. With all of that fact, why

can’t we write the Indonesian Language in Hanacaraka when the Indonesian Language itself

back then was actually written in Hanacaraka?

By using the Javanese alphabet as our national lettering, we begin to declare our

power in our homeland. Indonesia is a big country that could bring a big change, so, when we

become independent using our language products, it could affect not only our country but

probably the whole world. A big change came from a big decision. What kind of change do

we expect if we still keep standing in our comfort zone?

References:

Arman, D. (2014, June 8). Perkembangan Bahasa Melayu.

Kebudayaan.kemendikbud.go.id.
https://kebudayaan.kemdikbud.go.id/bpnbkepri/perkembangan-bahasa-melayu/
Bachtiar, I. (2020, September 8). Mengungkap keberadaan jenis 4 Aksara di Indonesia.
Mnews.id. https://www.minews.id/news/mengungkap-keberadaan-4-jenis-aksara-di-
indonesia
Firdausi, F.A. (2020, March 5). Sejarah Bahasa Melayu sebagai Lingua Franca di Asia
Tenggara. Tirto.id. https://tirto.id/sejarah-bahasa-melayu-sebagai-lingua-franca-di-asia-
tenggara-eBCU
Sasongko, W.G. (2020, Augustus 10). Perjalanan Huruf Palawa menjadi Aksara Jawa.
Indoneisa.go.id. https://indonesia.go.id/ragam/budaya/ekonomi/perjalanan-huruf-palawa-
menjadi-aksara-jawa
Setiawan, A. (2015). Hanacaraka: Akasara Jawa dalam karakter font dan aplikasinya
sebagai brand image. Ornamen Jurnal Kriya Seni ISI Surakarta, 12(1).
Yuniarni, S. (2016, July 16). Unity in Diversity: Indonesia's Six Largest Ethnic Groups.
Jakartaglobe.id.
https://jakartaglobe.id/culture/unitydiversityindonesiassixlargestethnicgroups/
#:~:text=These%20are%20the%20six%20largest,of%20the%20country's%20total
%20population.&text=Javanese%20people%2C%20native%20to%20the,percent%20of
%20the%20total%20population.