...

Qoute from Mer's Blog: Miss Indonesia Says Indonesia is A City.

" Being able to speak English is a plus, not a necessity, for Indonesians. In fact, most people in Indonesia do not speak fluent English. My parents, for example, don’t speak English at all. And there’s nothing wrong with it. There’s no real need to speak English in the country. Nobody is valued less for his/her inability to speak English.

However, representing Indonesia in international context is different than merely being Indonesian. For country representatives, being able to speak English properly, if not fluently, in my opinion, is a must. And sometimes, it’s better to speak in your own language — meaning: having an interpreter — rather than forcing yourself to speak English just to put an egg on your face. And hey, not only on your face, but on the face of your country!"

i received this email few days ago from a friend in indonesia. along with these couple of paragraphs, the writer also transcribed the actual interview of Nadine Chandrawinata, indonesian representative for Miss Universe Pageant this year.

at first, i didn't believe what i saw with my own eyes. i mean, i seriously thought that the transcript made here was merely a joke. so i decided to go to the official miss universe website, hoping i could find the record of the interview. and i did. and i was...

*speechless*

and i couldn't be more agree with what Mer said above. even the transcript still looked better after listening to the actual interview. i was so stumbled, not in admiration, but in confusion. however, i will not try to judge her in anyway. my english is not flawless so i won't judge her english skills. even though from what i've heard, there were some major errors she'd made grammatically and to make it even worse, sometimes after a long line she'd spoken, the sentence became trully meaningless, if not funny.

now this miss-indonesia-interview-thingy has been badly ridiculed in our country. oh dear, may be this is just another big rock nadine had to jump over it. surely, it must be a challenge for a person whose english isn't her mother tongue to speak fluent english in front of set of juries. and recorded. i believe, she had this HUGE nervous attack!

on the other hand, unfortunately, public were not happy about this. since nadine is a miss indonesia, plus a miss universe contestant, people off course have a very big expectation towards her. because nadine couldn't be mistakenly chosen and has been carefuly prepared, so people are naturally believe that she, as an indonesian representative for international relations, is capable of -at least- speaking proper and correct english.

however, nadine is a beautiful girl with that body every girl would die for. i do believe she'd prepared for this pageant the best she could. to be honest, it wasn't a good interview. but she's been gone so well out there and her own controversy really has brought her to fame. i think it is unfair for her to be mocked around by her own countrymen, how about support? she did something embarrassing, obviously! but it was not a mischievous mistake. at least she didn't do corruption like some governments do. she is representing indonesia in eye's world.

so c'mon guys, give her a break....