On Code Switching/Code Mixing in Indonesia (Don't exaggerate, people)

Code switching and code mixing are two linguistic phenomenons that often happen in Indonesia. Ironically, these two "ordinary and daily" phenomenons often become the basis of judgment towards other people in Indonesia. As you know, sometimes your language is one of the indicators for other people to put you in particular position in the society. And one of the most popular indicators to support this language indicator in Indonesia is by judging how and how much you apply code switching and code mixing in your utterances.

Okay, to make it easier to understand, I'll explain first about what code switching and code mixing are. In short: code switching is the switch from one language in one complete utterance to another language in another complete utterance. For example, these are sentences taken from Cinta Laura Kiehl's official blog:

How are you all?? At last I'm posting again!!
Blog ini rusak 1 bulan. 

Now, that's called code switching because from one complete utterance "At last I'm posting again!!", she turned the language from English to Indonesian: "Blog ini rusak 1 bulan" (There have been some technical problems with this blog for one month).

So, what's the difference between this and "code mixing"?

Code mixing is if you mix more than one language in one complete utterance. For example, this is the sentence taken from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's speech:

Inilah yang mendongkrak perekonomian kita sekarang ini, dan insya Allah growth itu akan menjadi lebih sustain.

Here, he mixes Indonesian with Arabic (Insya Allah/If God willed it) and English (growth, sustain) in one complete sentence.

I took Cinta Laura's and President SBY's sentences as the examples because they're infamous for their code switching and code mixing attitude. What I need to underline is that I know that most people in Indonesia criticize public figures if they overuse code switching and code mixing. I know the two phenomenons are also considered as the indicators of the lack of language ability. I also admit, that the incompetence of "switching at the right part of the utterance" IS one of the indicators that one's language ability is not fluent.

Let's use Cinta Laura's and President SBY's utterances as examples. I'll use new sentences in code mixing form, to be fair (because if we use Cinta's code switching vs. SBY's code mixing, it won't be fair. Code switching demands more fluent language ability than code mixing).

Cinta Laura wrote on her blog:

"Premiere-nya tanggal 8 April so please check it out."

 She mixes Indonesian and English in this utterance. Let's see whether she does it correctly or not.
1. Premiere-nya  here means "the premiere." If we refer to formal Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia EYD), it is incorrect, because -nya in Indonesian is a possessive pronoun for third person (his/her... ). But in informal Indonesian, this is tolerable because most Indonesians in informal situations may use -nya for the same purpose as English uses "the."
2. Her switch from Indonesian to English is proper enough. Because she explains about one idea first (The premiere is on April 8) in Indonesian, then she moves to another idea in English (So please check it out).
3. The only mistake is only in the punctuation for she doesn't put the comma or period between "8 April" and "so." She doesn't even add a comma between "so" and "please." However, this is just a "normal" mistake, since even English native speakers often neglect such punctuation.

Now, let's check out Mr. SBY's speech:

Tapi, kami pemerintah mengatakan, it is achievable, bisa dicapai.

1. In formal and written Indonesian, we cannot use "tapi" (but) in the beginning of the sentence. However, since this is a "speech" instead of "writing", I guess it is still acceptable to use "tapi" in the beginning of the sentence.
2. Then, after stating one idea (The government said) in Indonesian, he switches it into another idea (It is achievable) in English. This is the right placement for code mixing, actually.
3. However, he then switches again into Indonesian. He said "Bisa dicapai" and this phrase carries more or less the same meaning with "It is achievable." Again, he translates it correctly. Only, stating the translation of his previous phrase in one utterance is actually very redundant and not necessary. Moreover, it may confuse some people who listen to him (and if they need to take notes on what he said. In this case, reporters). 

So, judging from the sentences above, I shall say that Cinta Laura's ability in code mixing is a little bit better than President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. This implies that Cinta Laura Kiehl somehow shows greater fluency in both English and Indonesian, compared to Mr. President. Still, this judgment is not fair enough because Cinta was raised as a bilingual. Code mixing may have been her daily activity since she was a kid.

Well, my opinion about this? Unlike most people in Indonesia who humiliate Cinta Laura's and President SBY's habit of code switching and code mixing, I shall say that this is an ordinary phenomenon. In other words, what they do is absolutely NORMAL. For me, those who exaggerate on this kind of issue are even more abnormal than Cinta and President SBY. Why minding other people's language? Language is the unique representation of its speaker. You cannot force other people to speak or write the way you do, even if you use the same language as theirs.

Besides, Bahasa Indonesia itself is a Lingua Franca, the mix between languages that is used by people with different languages to interact each other (in this case, the language is used by the traders from different mother tongues to interact in Nusantara centuries a go). It is no wonder if the language will be easily affected by foreign terms. Moreover, some foreign terms are hardly to be translated into Indonesian. In this case, code switching and code mixing are some ways to make our words easier to understand.

And even if sometimes Cinta and President SBY switch or mix codes inaccurately, IT IS ALSO NORMAL. Why? Because you don't need to be a third-culture celebrity who is disliked by many and you don't need to be a president with many political opponents just to fail code switching or code mixing.

What I'm trying to say is, sometimes we ALL fail code switching and code mixing, whether you realize it or not. You hardly find Indonesians today use the formal standard of Indonesian language (Bahasa Indonesia dengan Ejaan yang Disempurnakan/EYD). You hardly find Indonesians today use ONLY Indonesian in their daily conversation and even in their writings. Most of them must have done some code mixing and code switching during their daily activities.

In addition, I really understand that if you already hate and dislike people, you will find thousands of ways to humiliate them (including mocking their language). And again, I think this is also a NORMAL phenomenon. This exaggerating mockery is absolutely NORMAL for me. Especially if you live in Indonesia.