Lost in translation

At the recently concluded Asean and East Asia Summits in Bali, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono conducted all his interactions with the press in Bahasa Indonesia – the country’s national language – despite the fact that many of the 2,000 journalists covering the meetings were from overseas. Although live translation to English was provided at some of these engagements, foreign journalists were left wondering why the ex-general, who is fluent in English, insisted on speaking in Bahasa. After enquiries were made, local press members informed that Yudhoyono had been criticised earlier this year for making many of his official speeches in English, instead of Bahasa, as is the norm. As a result, much of the foreign press corps at the summit ended up clumsily sticking their recorders into their headphones to tape the English translations of Yudhoyono’s answers, even as the president understood every word of every question that was asked by them, without any aid.