English Speaking In NTT?

I salute you Mr. Governor for your new policy. English Day looks like an issue now, but then it will be an environment, and then, new culture. 

You do the right thing by issuing this policy without taking a long process of legislation and discussion. It seems like a surprise in 2019. Many citizens may get it unpredictable. I do stand by your side for this. At least for low risky policy, pro-cons talking only make more time wasted. We need no longer talk for doing right thing. The point is you try to challenge your people with something positive.

As for me, it is not about the importance or benefit of doing it. Since language is also about culture, the policy is eventually a "wake up call" for people to stop no learning. In fact, for more than half NTT population, English is considered as an academic language, school-score matters and far from chitty-chatty use. I used to believe that English is only useful to pass the exam when it is needed. Nothing more. I used to believe that after English class period in a school, it remains frozen for students. 

Not even our English teachers used it in their daily conversation with us. Even worse, as in the dormitory, I recall that the English Day program which had always been extravagantly advertised and better branded our school from others, never even once done as planned. Once you said something, only laughter or silence you got. Once you planned to start, at the same time your friends' smile would have slaughtered you.

As English did not bring any real advantage (at that time) for most of us, speaking English was pragmatically fruitless. We opted to find reasons to justify our unwillingness. Firstly, above all is the fact that English is not our native language. Without having it spoken, we could get others understood. 

So, what is the point? Better to use local language then if that so. Secondly, NTT has limited interaction with the international community sociologically and politically. It is quite rare to find an international hub, office, company or affair in this entire archipelagic province. Although Australia is just southward below the map and East Timor shares the same island with some NTT regencies, the real international impacts of these two neighbor countries to NTT is not as "close by" as map location. Things that might have connected NTT with international communities are mostly related to tourism, scholarships, international fund and aid, and domestic workers who find jobs abroad. 

Thirdly, lack of international atmosphere or international standard competence. Another factor about English-unreal-giving-benefits comes also from how an international atmosphere is built and at how strong English is being applied. It is rare to find English written hints or quotes in public areas, government offices, or private buildings except for nearby tourism objects. Even at school, English had been treated for many years merely as a subject which is important only to gain certificates. 

English is not a matter of thought or communication skills. Likewise schools, most employers also treated English only for recruitments purposes rather than making use of it at a conversational level. Once you pass the entry test, your English stops at the moment. Fourthly, the language barrier and its problems. We should admit that even until this time, most NTT people still find it hard to use proper Bahasa Indonesia as a formal language. If in towns, most people tend to use local dialects rather than Bahasa Indonesia; in rural areas, the use of Bahasa Indonesia is almost down to zero. If senior citizens or adults in the city like Kupang prefer to use local language, uptown young generations tend to neglect their native language and get crazy about slangs; neither formal Bahasa Indonesia nor English. In this case, we barely find in whom English can survive. 

Thus, when Mr. Governor issued a regulation which denotes Wednesday as English Day, many found it debatable. There were no signals nor preliminary programs about it before. After a long silent period of English in NTT, having English as "lingua franca" even a day in a week certainly hit the unprepared and raise objections. Certainly, for the majority who normally live without textbook-culture, it is considered a problem. A big deal.

Nevertheless, with this paradigm now shifted, we could use English in a practical way. For this time being, it mandates all government officers and tourism sector workers to communicate only in English. I believe that if our local government commits to apply this policy, soon it will create an English living environment. 

This environment looks real through citizen response. This is the third Wednesday of English Day, and I still have faith to see its' progress. I saw a video which showed local government employees tried to speak English within their community. I read lots of comments and anecdotes written in English partly or wholly. I saw a short interview video from reporters to Mr. Governor in the governor office. Not to mention expectations, suggestions or even critics about this policy. To my knowledge, it shows that the policy works.