In an audience with the mayor of Surabaya, ꦄꦼ ꦫꦶ ꦕ ꦲꦾ ꦣꦶ Eri Cahyadi, on Thursday 23 November 2023, a book, which documents the journey of Javanese Script in Surabaya “Surabaya Beraksara Nusantara: A Story of Courage Again Javanese script, a symbol of identity”, was awarded to Eri Cahyadi for making a policy instructing the use of ꦄ ꦏ꧀ꦱ ꦫ ꦗ ꦮ Javanese script in Surabaya City Government offices starting from City Hall, OPD, Service Department, District to Village.
Until now (13/12/23) the use of ꦄ ꦏ꧀ꦱ ꦫ ꦗ ꦮ Javanese script in the form of office names has decorated several offices ranging from sub-districts, sub-districts, offices to the mayor’s office in Surya Park. One of the staff of the Surabaya City Planning and Development Agency (Bappeko) informed that his party had just installed ꦄ ꦏ꧀ꦱ ꦫ ꦗ ꦮ Javanese script for the name of his office. Installation will take place on Saturday, December 9 2023.
The installation of office names in ꦄ ꦏ꧀ꦱ ꦫ ꦗ ꦮ The Javanese script was actually handed over to each office using the Javanese script as a writing reference that had been created by ꦏ꧀ꦭꦶ ꦤꦶ ꦏ꧀ꦄ ꦏ꧀ꦱ ꦫ ꦗ ꦮ ꦱꦸ ꦫ ꦧ ꦪ Surabaya Javanese Script Clinic, a Javanese Script consultation forum, which is a partner of the Surabaya City Library and Archives Service (Dispusip).
So far, not all offices have installed it, but the installation is continuing and it is hoped that in 2024 the faces of the Surabaya City Government offices will be decorated with Javanese script, one of the ꦄ ꦏ꧀ꦱ ꦫ ꦤꦸ ꦱ ꦤ꧀ꦠ ꦫ [/ sc] Indonesian script.
According to the Head of the East Java Language Center, Umi Kulsum, in Indonesia there are more than 700 regional languages, but only around 12 have scripts. One of them is Javanese script. Of the 12 ꦄ ꦏ꧀ꦱ ꦫ ꦤꦸ ꦱ ꦤ꧀ꦠ ꦫ Nusantara script, only the Balinese script has been installed everywhere on the Island of the Gods. It is installed in government offices, for street names, public facilities, airports and even hotels.
According to Meidik Handoko, one of whose businesses receives services for making ꦥ ꦥ ꦤ꧀ꦫꦺ ꦏ꧀ꦭ ꦩꦼ billboards, he once received an order for making signage ꦧꦼꦂ ꦄ ꦏ꧀ꦱ ꦫ ꦧ ꦭꦶ is a Balinese character from a bank office spread across Bali. According to him, banks in Surabaya, in order to ground Javanese script and local identity in Surabaya, need to imitate Balinese ꦧꦭꦶ.
ꦄꦼ ꦫꦶ ꦕ ꦲꦾ ꦣꦶ Eri Cahyadi when receiving an audience from the East Java TVRI group, Begandring Soerabaia and the Surabaya Indonesian Cyber Media Union (SMSI) said that this work (ed: installation ꦄ ꦏ꧀ꦱ ꦫ ꦗ ꦮ Javanese script and the development of ꦥ ꦫꦶ ꦮꦶ ꦱ ꦠ history-based tourism) is not finished.
“I want in 2024, the installation of ꦄ ꦏ꧀ꦱ ꦫ ꦗ ꦮ Javanese script will be completed. Here are examples of writing Javanese characters for all office names. Just copy it,” said Eri Cahyadi while opening the book “Surabaya with Indonesian Character: A Story of Courage to Return to Javanese Character, a Symbol of Identity”.
In field observations, writing Javanese script is not only carried out by offices within the Surabaya City government, independently several businesses already use Javanese script for ꦆꦣꦺꦤ꧀ꦠꦶꦠꦱ꧀ their business identity.
There is a noodle shop in the ꦠꦼ ꦒ ꦭ꧀ꦱ ꦫꦶ Tegalsari area and there is a tobacco shop on Jalan Kedungdoro. Apart from that, there is also a resident of ꦗ ꦩ꧀ꦧꦁ ꦄ ꦤ꧀ Jambangan, Gatot, who will soon open a shop, saying that he will use Javanese script for the name of his shop.
The enthusiasm of the residents of the city of Surabaya in responding to the Mayor of Surabaya’s policy regarding the use of Javanese script is quite good. The Head of Peneleh Subdistrict, Skundario, informed by sending a photo that his residents, while working at the subdistrict office, in groups and independently began to learn Javanese script.
“We will accommodate them in the form of Javanese script learning activities,” explained Skundario, Head of Peneleh Village.
ꦤꦺꦴ ꦮ꦳ꦶ ꦠ Novita, a Surabaya women’s activist, after holding training in Javanese script batik at the Sainstren Vocational School in Jambangan, is now starting to prepare to hold a Surabaya Batik design competition with Javanese script. According to him, this batik will complement the Indonesian batik, the Indonesian batik from ꦱ ꦧꦁ Sabang to ꦩꦼ ꦫꦻꦴ ꦏꦺ Merauke has become a collection an Archipelago Mini Museum in its area.
According to the figure of the Surabaya Cultural Movement, AH Thony, Javanese script in Surabaya is not only used to decorate offices, but must also be used in creativity for ꦌ ꦏꦺꦴ ꦤꦺꦴ ꦩꦶ economic goals so that its existence can help improve the welfare of the people of Surabaya. (nanang)