Javanese: Of language and unity

Dangdut singer Via Vallen performing Reach For The Stars at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. — viva.co.id

MORE people speak Javanese than Malay, Burmese or even Thai. Indeed, 95 million people, or fully 40% of Indonesia’s 265 million strong population, are Javanese speakers.

However, Javanese is not the national language of the Republic. That is Bahasa Indonesia, which is a variation of the Malay language. The two are very different and should never, ever be confused for each other.