Bahasa Indonesia, or the Indonesian language, is spoken by virtually all of Indonesia`s roughly 240 million inhabitants, making it one of the most spoken languages in the world.

In Korea, the Indonesian Embassy every year holds their Indonesian Speech Contest foreign and Korean nationals.

In this fifth year, 21 participants, mostly Korean students from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Youngsan University and Kookmin University were cheered by their supporting professors and a large number of their fellow students.

"I fervently hope that this young generation of Korean students will play a pivotal role in the future by enhancing and maintaining the existing amicable relation between Korea and Indonesia," said Indonesian Ambassador Nicholas Dammen.



Each contestant delivered their speech before the audience and juries, mostly in grammatically flawless Indonesian, with subjects ranging from culture to the more serious themes of bilateral relations between both countries.

The first prize went to Park Ki-young from HUFS who was awarded by the ambassador a round-trip airline ticket, a one-week tour and study package to the Angklung House of Udjo in Bandung, West Java.

There, Park will also explore the enchanting beauty of West Javanese nature and culture, learn how to make traditional handicrafts and learn to play the angklung, an Indonesian traditional bamboo musical instrument.

Second and third prizes went to Kim So-yeon and No Eun-bee who received 400,000 won and 250,000 won respectively.

Indonesian is based on a version of classical Malay of the Riau-Johor Sultanate and was first declared the official language with the declaration of Indonesian independence in 1945, following the 1928 unifying-language declaration in the Indonesian Youth Pledge.

Most Indonesians, aside from speaking the national language, are fluent in another regional language or local dialects that are commonly used at home and within the local community.

Most formal education, as well as nearly all national media and other forms of communication, are conducted in Indonesian.

(yoav@heraldm.com)

By Yoav Cerralbo