Hangeul takes flight: Indonesian gov’t authorizes its adoption
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Indonesia has officially authorized the adoption of the Korean alphabet Hangeul by its Cia-Cia tribe in Bau-Bau City in Buton, southwestern Sulawesi Island. The approval came a year after the city of Bau-Bau began teaching Hangeul characters in its local elementary schools on Jul. 21, 2009.
This was confirmed by Amirul Tamim, 56, mayor of Bau-Bau City, who revealed in late July that Indonesia’s central government has authorized the adoption of Hangeul by the Cia-Cia tribe after close consultation with related departments. “The language department and the foreign affairs ministry agreed to make it official policy to support the Cia-Cia tribe’s usage of Hangeul. All that is left is the paperwork,” said the mayor.
The Cia-Cia tribe, one of the minority tribes in Indonesia with a unique history of its own, was faced with a dilemma – the absence of a writing system. This made it tough to pass down the intricate details of their traditions to the next generation. Although there were options of an alphabet and other local writing systems, none quite fit the native tongue of the Cia-Cia. It was the Hunminjeongeum Society, Korea’s Hangeul research institute, that stepped in later to ask the Cia-Cia people to give Hangeul a try. It wasn’t long before the Korean alphabet was officially embraced by the city.
Businesses and civic organizations asked ways to make contributions to the tribe. The Korea Foundation sent 150 beginners’ books in the Korean language, Samsung Electronics sent computers and many individuals volunteered to become Hangeul instructors.
Mayor Tamim concluded that the experiment with Hangeul over the past year has been a success and that the Korean characters have settled well within the city.
“Because Hangeul is easy to learn, students are absorbing them fast. Other tribes who came to understand the charm of Hangeul and the Korean language are also showing a growing interest to learn them,” he said, indicating more possibilities for the Korean writing system in Indonesia. “We plan to preserve the cultures of diverse tribes through Hangeul and establish infrastructure for tourism to develop Bau-Bau into a tourism city.”
“Not even King Sejong (1397-1450) would’ve guessed that Hangeul would be used by the people of Cia-Cia tribe when he created it six centuries ago," added the mayor. "Future historians will record it as a unique and interesting event." Bau-Bau City already has Hangeul signboards erected here and there.
In the long run the city plans to extend Hangeul education to elementary and high schools among other minority tribes if Hangeul is considered linguistically appropriate for them.
“If we have more instructors to teach Hangeul, it will form a strong basis to spread this new writing system to other minority tribes. We are also ready to send our teachers to Korea to study,” said the mayor. The Hunminjeongeum Society is considering dispatching additional volunteers to the city.
In the mean time, Bau-Bau City is likely to enjoy more cultural and economic exchanges with Korea in the future. Last year delegates from Bau-Bau made up of city officials (including Mayor Tamim), school teachers and students visited Korea’s capital at the invitation of the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Hunminjeongeum Society. During the tour, Mayor Tamim signed a letter of intent on cultural and art cooperation with the Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon.
Source : Korea.net
