Last Friday was Hari Sumpah Pemuda (Youth Pledge Day), commemorating the Youth Pledge made on October 28, 1928, by Young Indonesian nationalists at the Second Youth Congress proclaiming their three ideals for their country’s future: one motherland, one nation and one language.
It was an important moment in Indonesian history, and we like to think that the proud members of that Youth Congress would be totally embarrassed by this banner that was raised in Tanjungbalai, North Sumatra, for Hari Sumpah Pemuda. It was posted on Thursday by Facebook user Wichi Mosi and quickly went viral.
The sign reads:
WARNING !!! IT IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED TO SPEAK A FOREIGN LANGUAGE …. !!!
IF YOU STILL USE A FOREIGN LANGUAGE, PLEASE REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA.
CELEBRATING THE 88TH YOUTH PLEDGE DAY
ONE LANGUAGE, ONE LAND AND ONE NATION OF INDONESIA
Yes, the sign starts with the word “warning”. No, “warning” is definitely not an Indonesian word. In fact, one might even say it comes from language that is foreign to Indonesia.
Either the irony of this was completely lost on whoever made the banner, or they are just incredibly brilliant trolls (we’re guessing it was the former).
Police in Tanjungbalai confirmed that the banner was real and had been placed in at least two locations within the city.
“Yes, that banner was there. In fact that banner was placed in two locations in Tanjungbalai,” Tanjungbalai Police Public Relations Head Sinulingga told Detik on Saturday. He did not say who had put up the signs, but mentioned they had been placed on Jalan Sudirman and Jalan Cokro.
Tanjungbalai, as you might remember, is city in which angry mobs attacked several Buddhist temples in early August after news about a local woman of Chinese descendent complaining about a mosque’s loudspeaker went viral on social media. Some people also blamed the mob attacks on a statue Buddha located on top of a temple in the city, which many Muslim groups had previously protested against. As a consequence, the statue was recently removed.
