I was lucky enough to spend time in Sumatra recently, and, as on previous trips to Indonesia, I took a number of internal flights with only a few Caucasian passengers. Then, after a wonderful holiday we found ourselves back at Jakarta Airport ready to board our flight home. As we prepared for take off, the crew started the familiar safety demonstration in conjunction with video instructions, after which we were wished a pleasant flight, and the crew members took their seats.

At this point my partner and I looked at each other and then at the passengers surrounding us – at least three quarters appeared to be Indonesian. And yet not one word of Indonesian had been spoken by the inflight crew, recorded or otherwise, since we had boarded the flight. This included the safety announcement. Cross-cultural communication had been ignored! We could not help but make the comparisons with all the internal flights we had made across the Indonesian archipelago where the safely announcement had always been repeated in English. I can even recall this being the case when I was the only westerner on the plane.

I have to say, that initially I was quite shocked. Time and further reflection has prompted questions that I currently have no answer to. Was our flight an exception? Do most Qantas flights endeavor to make announcements in the language of origin and destination? What is the policy of other international carriers throughout the world?

Certainly my recollection of international travel is that airlines sometimes give announcements in the language of the country they are leaving as well as the language of the country they are arriving in and they will also sometimes include further languages if deemed appropriate.

If this is not an exception and Qantas Sydney /Jakarta flights only ever use English for announcements, has the assumption been made that those Indonesians flying to Sydney can speak English so making the announcement in Indonesian is unnecessary? Even if that is the case, wouldn’t it be a warm and friendly gesture to at least play a recording of welcome for Indonesian guests in their own language? Not forgetting for a single moment the importance of safety information? I welcome your own thoughts on this subject.

The decline in Indonesian language studies

In recent years there has been a notable decline in the numbers of Australians studying Indonesian.
Professor Hill from Monash University has spoken publicly of this – he suggests around 40%. ¹ And while, admittedly, some readers may not see this as an issue, it is worth bearing in mind that Indonesia is one of Australia’s growing trading partners and one of our most favoured tourism destinations.

It is also worth remembering the predictions made by the IMF a few years ago that Indonesia will experience some of the world’s fastest growth over the next 5 years.

If Australians want to take advantage of this upsurge in growth then perhaps it’s worthwhile learning the Indonesian language, instead of turning our back on it (in droves) as we appear to be doing.

But it’s not just the language. It’s also about having respect and understanding for the cultural differences between us and our neighbours. It’s about getting to know each other and doing away with stereotypes, generalisations, misunderstandings and downright incorrect perceptions such as the fact that most Australians think Indonesia is a military dictatorship when in fact it is one of the world’s largest democracies!

Tolerance begins with accepting our differences and our diversity. It doesn’t mean we have to agree with another countries customs, polices and politics, we just need to acknowledge the differences. And this is the basis of all successful relationships, not just economic relationships.

Language, takes acceptance one step further by enabling communication. Australians might argue that if the Indonesians want to do business with Australians they should learn English (you’ll notice many Indonesians already speak this reasonably well) as well as learn about Australian culture. This certainly makes it easier for Australians in the short term. But such an arrogant strategy in this day and age is both out-dated and short-sighted. By not stepping up to the plate and making an effort to bridge the cross-cultural communication divide we leave ourselves widely exposed at the negotiation table, with little or no knowledge of Indonesian trading tactics. The result is that we will be left vulnerable to being overlooked or undervalued.

The other – preferred – option is to enter the playing field armed with language and culture skills that will ensure far higher levels of international success with both Indonesia and our other Asian trading partners.

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References

Why have Australians stopped learning Indonesian? 2012, Radio, Distributed by ABC, Sydney, 29/2/2012
Norrie, J 2012, $98 million needed to lift study of Indonesian over next decade, The Conversation Media Group, Australia, viewed 27 February 2012.