Bahasa Indonesia, which is rooted in the principles of unity and diversity, may become an official UN language

Bahasa Indonesia, the national language of Indonesia, may soon join the ranks of the official languages of the United Nations (UN), thanks to a proposal by UNESCO, the UN’s cultural and educational agency.

The proposal, which was made on May 25, 2023, aims to recognize the linguistic and cultural diversity of Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country and the largest Muslim-majority nation. It also acknowledges the role of Bahasa Indonesia as a language of unity and harmony among the more than 300 ethnic groups and 700 local languages in the archipelago.

If approved by the UN General Assembly in November 2023, Bahasa Indonesia will become the seventh official language of the UN, along with Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. This means that Bahasa Indonesia will be used in all official documents and meetings of the UN and its specialized agencies.

Halimi Hadibrata, the head of the East Kalimantan Language Agency, said that Bahasa Indonesia becoming an official UN language will strengthen the nation’s image.

“Our language will become an international language, and laws related to it and the principles of [our state ideology] Pancasila will be translated into international languages,” Hadibrata said yesterday.

He said that Bahasa Indonesia is ready to go global and that this breakthrough aligns with the goal set at the Bahasa Indonesia Congress five years ago to make Indonesian an international language by 2045.

Bahasa Indonesia is spoken by more than 300 million people globally, including in neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Timor Leste, and Papua New Guinea. It is also taught as a foreign language in some universities around the world (although increasingly less so in Australia).

Bahasa Indonesia is derived from Malay, which was used as a lingua franca in maritime Southeast Asia for centuries. It was adopted as the national language of Indonesia after the country’s independence from Dutch colonial rule in 1945. It has since evolved and been enriched by incorporating words from various local languages, such as Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, Minang, and more.

Bahasa Indonesia is known for its simplicity and flexibility. It has a relatively easy grammar and pronunciation system. 

For the love of God, just please don’t call it “Bahasa”.

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