Rajapatni.com : Surabaya (21/2/24) – Surabaya is the second largest city after Jakarta, which is the center of business and education. Modernization can be seen from the many tall buildings and modern shopping centers that fill the city center.
Apart from buildings and shopping centers, Surabaya is also famous as a city, which has many international schools that use foreign curricula. Thus, the use of foreign languages and scripts really colors the daily lives of the people of Surabaya.
There are several languages and scripts used in Surabaya. Namely Latin, Arabic, Chinese and Javanese script. Latin is a script, the most popular among other scripts, even though the majority of Surabaya residents are ꦎꦫꦁꦗꦮ Javanese.
Why do we need to go back to studying Javanese script?
The first reason why we have to get back to the Javanese script is because we need an identity in a world that is completely uniform. We all wear the same style of clothes, use the same ꦄꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦭꦠꦶꦤ꧀ Latin script, speak the same international language and enjoy coffee from the same international shops, and even buy smartphones of the same brand.
In the midst of this diversity, we seem to lose our identity as part of a great nation, which has its own uniqueness. Javanese script is one of the identities of Javanese people. So, using it in everyday life as a communication medium is the same as bringing back an identity that has long been lost because it was replaced with a foreign identity.
The second reason is that we must be proud to use our own script. There are more than 700 languages in ꦆꦤ꧀ꦝꦺꦴꦤꦺꦱꦶꦪ Indonesia, but not all of these languages have their own script. Javanese is one of the few languages that has its own script.
We must be proud to be part of a nation, which is ꦧꦼꦂꦧꦸꦣꦪ cultured and rich in tradition. We can realize this sense of pride through real activities such as using Javanese script in writing activities. This is a manifestation of our love for our own cultural roots.
In 2009 the Unicode ꦄꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦗꦮ Javanese script was officially recognized by the world and occupied the A980 – A9DF slot and entered Unicode Version 5.0. Then in 2013 Javanese script could be used on PCs with Windows 8.1 OS. and Windows 10.
The Unicode Javanese script can be used perfectly in MS Office 2019 with the Javanese Text.ttf font as the ‘default’ form. The long struggle for the ꦣꦶꦒꦶꦠꦭꦶꦱꦱꦶ process of digitizing Javanese script has started since 2006, but there are still many obstacles because Javanese script is still considered only as decoration, not a script that is administratively used or only known, but not used (table 7).
Apart from that, ꦧꦲꦱꦗꦮ Javanese which has not been registered as an Indonesian administrative language in ISO 3166-1 Country Code is also an obstacle. If we use Javanese script in our daily lives, then gradually this will help lower the level of Javanese script from table 7 (decoration) down to table 5 (used).
So, let’s go back to ꦧꦼꦭꦗꦂ learning and using Javanese script because it is a form of our identity. Apart from that, using our own script is a matter of pride and a form of our love for our ancestors.
Last but not least, using Javanese script in reading and writing activities (manual and digital) will help ꦩꦼꦤꦸꦫꦸꦤ꧀ꦏꦤ꧀ lower the level of Javanese script from being merely decorative to being a script that actually exists and is used. (IS PAR)