Speech on the ABPA Forum Under the Theme Expanding Marketing Coverage

SPEECH ON THE ASEAN BOOK PUBLISHERS ASSOCATION (ABPA) FORUM UNDER THE THEME “EXPANDING MARKETING COVERAGE IN THE ASEAN REGION THROUGH THE ADOPTION AND/OR DEVELOPMENT OF A COMMON LANGUAGE WHILE RETAINING THE LANGUAGE OF CULTURE”

by

ATTY. DOMINADOR D. BUHAIN
Vice-President, ASEAN Book Publishers Association

(August 30, 2006, World Trade Center, Manila)

I.ANTECEDENT DEVELOPMENTS

From the time the ABPA was finally organized in August 2005, the members thereof attended the respective bookfairs such as in the Philippines on August 30, 2005, in Brunei Darusssalam on February 25, 2006, in Malaysia on March 25, 2006, in Thailand on March 29, 2006, in Indonesia on May 18, 2006 on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Publishers Association’s (APPA) Convention and in Singapore on May 26, 2006. antecedent

Except for Philippines and Singapore, most of the important speeches extemporaneously or formally read during the opening rites of the bookfairs were done in their respective languages without the benefit of translation.

Though it is our aspiration to be unified in order to reap greater benefits of a bigger market while at the same time securing a better understanding of one another culturally and socially, the adoption or evolution of a common language to be understood by all the member countries appear indispensable in compliance with Objective No. 1 of ABPA “To exchange ideas among ABPA-member countries.”

It is important likewise to retain the language of culture to ascertain the innermost feeling of the inhabitants of a country in compliance with ABPA’s Objective No. 4 “To promote better understanding and goodwill among Asean countries.”

The ASEAN countries which is comprised of almost five hundred thirty five million (535,000,000) people which is almost ten percent of the total world population of Six Billion Eight Hundred Forty Eight Million Nine Hundred Thirty Two Thousand Nine Hundred Twenty Nine (6,848,932,929) for the decade ending 2010 .

POPULATION OF ASEAN COUNTRIES

are confronted with this dilemma on how they could achieve the desired unity especially if they would not be able to communicate or understand with one another during the discussion of important subject matters as contradistinguished from casual or informal conversations.

Be it reminded also of the million of titles being published globally as exemplified by the United States  which alone  produces more than one hundred thousand (100,000) titles at a given year and Canada which produces more than fifty thousand titles  (50,000) per year  —

It is unfortunate to observe that until this point in time, the east, notwithstanding its sizeable population is relying on the west for the various intellectual inputs.

It may therefore be imperative to adopt or evolve a common language and retain the language of culture in order that co-publishing, co-authorship and the tapping of more writers would be adopted and that we will not only rely substantially on the intellectual inputs of the west but also on consolidated inputs of the ASEAN countries.

II. STATISTICAL DATA

A.Philippines

Though the medium of instructions in school is English, Filipino and English are the official languages pursuant to the Constitution.

There are twelve (12) native languages with at least one million people speakers in Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilokano, Hiligaynon, Bohol, Waray-waray, Kapangpangan, Pangasinan, Kiraray-a, Maranao, Maguindanao and Tausug.

There are one hundred seventy five (175) languages in the Philippines. Almost all of them belong to the Austronesian language family.

The Philippines publishes almost six thousand (6000) book titles a year.

B. Thailand

Thailand has a population of Sixty Four Million Nine Hundred Ninety Four Thousand (64,994,000). The population includes Forty Five Million Eight Hundred Fifteen Thousand (45,815,000 ) or Ninety Three and Five percent (93.5 %) Daic languages, One Million Thirty Seven Thousand Six Hundred Fifty (1,037,650) or two percent (2%) Austro-Asiatic languages, One Million Nine Thousand Five Hundred (1,009,500) or two percent (2%) Austronesian languages.
During the year 2005,they produced approximately Eleven Thousand Six Hundred Fifty One (11,651) titles.

C.Singapore

Republic of Singapore has a population of Two Million Two Hundred Ninety Six Thousand (4,296,000). The official languages are Mandarin, Chinese, Malay, Tamil, English. The literacy rate is Ninety Three percent (93%). It also includes Hindi (5000), Indonesian, Japanese (20,000), Korean (5,200), Sindhi (5,000), Sylheti, Telugu (603), Thai (30,000), Tukang Besi North, people from the Philippines (50,000). Blind population is 1,442.

D.Malaysia

Malaysia. has a population of Twenty Six Million Two Hundred Seven Thousand (26,207). Its national or official language is Malay. The other languages are Melayu, English, Chinese and Tamil The number of languages listed for Malaysia is One Hundred Forty One (141). Of those, One Hundred Forty (140) are living languages and one (1) is extinct. They produce ten thousand (10,000) book titles a year.

E.Indonesia

It has a population of Two Hundred Nineteen Million One Hundred Forty Two Thousand (219,142,000). The national or official language is Indonesian. The literacy rate is seventy eight percent (78%) to eighty five percent (85%) The number of languages listed for Indonesia is seven hundred forty two (742). Of those, seven hundred thirty seven (737) are living languages. Seventy five million two hundred (75,200,000) speak Javanese. Three Million Nine Hundred Thousand (3,900,000) speak Bali. two million seven hundred thousand (2,700,000) speak Betawi. According to statistics submitted to the APPA, they produced Ten Thousand (10,000) book titles during the year 2005.

F.Vietnam

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has a population Eighty Three Million One Hundred Fifty Six Thousand (83,156,000). Fifty Six Million Eight Hundred Forty Nine Thousand Three Hundred Seventy (56,849,370) or Ninety Four percent (94%) speak Austro-Asiatic languages; Two Million Two Hundred Twenty Five Thousand Four Hundred Fifty (2,255,450) or Three Point Seven Percent ( 3.7%) are speakers of Daic language. Their national language is Vietnamese. The literacy rate is sixty six percent (66%) to seventy eight percent (78%). They have one hundred two (102) local languages. According to the statistics submitted to the APPA, they produced twenty one thousand (21,000) book titles during the year 2005.

G.Myanmar

The Union of Myanmar has a population of Fifty Six Million Three Thousand (56,003,000). Twenty Eight Million Eight Hundred Seventy Seven Thousand (28,877,000) or seventy eight percent ( 78%) of the population speak Tibeto- Burman language. The number of languages listed for Myanmar is one hundred nine (109).

H.Laos

Laos has a population of Five Million Nine Hundred Four Thousand (5,904,000). Its official language is Lao. Seventy One Percent (71%) are speakers of Daic languages , Twenty Four point One Percent (24.1%) speak Austro-Asiatic languages, Four Percent (4%) speak Miao-Yao languages while One Percent speak Tibeto-Burman languages. Its literacy rate is Forty Three Percent (43%) to Forty Five Percent (45%).

I. Cambodia

It has a population of Thirteen Million Eight Hundred Seventy Two Thousand (13,872,000). Ninety Four point Three Percent (94.3%) are speakers of Austro-Asiatic languages while One point Seventy Six Percent (1.76%) are speakers of Austronesian languages. Seventeen thousand (17,000) speak Lao, Three Hundred Fifty Thousand speak Mandarin Chinese and Three Hundred Ninety Three Thousand One Hundred Twenty One (393,121) speak Vietnamese. Its national or official language is Khmer. The literacy rate is Forty Eight Percent (48%) to Fifty Percent (50%).

J.Brunei Darussalam

It has a population of Three Hundred Eighty Three Million Four Hundred Thousand (383,400,000). The official languages are Malay and English. During the year 2005, the Language and Literary Bureau published forty one (41) books. The highest number of publications in a single year was ninety (90) in 1997.

II.DELIBERATIONS

During the Singapore Book Fair, the topic was thoroughly discussed. There appears to be the perception that the Singapore stakeholders were in favor that the English language could be the most practical approach to be adopted considering that the language is well established and predominantly used worldwide as the language of commerce.

But should we stop from there and not search for other alternatives? As Confucius said, “The journey to a thousand miles begins with the first step.”

Theoretically, it is easy to say that expanding the market coverage to the ASEAN is attainable. But the search for a common language while retaining the language of culture is a big quest.

Allow me to share the historical experience of Portugal. When the Portuguese was exploring the seas of Africa, America, Asia and Oceania, they tried to communicate with the natives by mixing a Portuguese influenced version of lingua franca with the local languages. When English and French crew failed to understand the language of the natives, they used the “Broken Portuguese”. Through a process of change the lingua franca evolved among the villagers with the infusion of these foreign languages.

The same process was experienced in the Philippines. Spanish replaced Latin, then English replaced Spanish, the Japanese and Chinese had some influence in the language. To date, however, English and Filipino are recognized as the official languages or lingua franca of the Philippines, again with the infusion of these foreign languages.

The development of a common language or languages is possible. Operationally, the topic of our forum is feasible by adopting a common adage which is: “Think globally, act locally”. This means that while a common language may be attained through a coordinated research efforts by ASEAN countries’ language experts, the language of culture must be retained as it is the original work which will serve as an instrument for clarification in case of possible misinterpretations.

It is in this light that I propose that a resolution to develop a common language (whether it be in English or any other language that would evolve) to at least bridge communication and to correspondingly publish or express likewise the predominant language of culture to bring forth deeper understanding in order to foster unity, respect and love for one another be adopted to enhance not only the economic benefit but more importantly the social and cultural ties.

This scenario could even be replicated outside the confines of the Asean countries like the Asia Pacific as well as to the non-speaking European and African countries. To reiterate, the key is to adopt or evolve a language that would bridge communication.

I would like to conclude by stating a Chinese saying which goes : “ If you are thinking of a year ahead, sow seed. If you are thinking of ten years ahead, plant a tree. If you are thinking of 100 years ahead make people aware. By sowing seed once, you will harvest once. By planting a tree you will harvest tenfold. But by opening the minds of people, you will harvest 100 fold.”

Thank you.