8. The development of English as lingua franca in Batik industry in Indonesia - The development of English as lingua franca in Batik industry in Indonesia
8. The development of English as lingua franca in Batik industry
in Indonesia
Pramesi Lokaprasidha, S.S., M.Par.
Tourism Practitioner, Politeknik Negeri Jember, Indonesia
Abstract
Batik is rated as a cultural icon that has a unique and profound philosophy,
also includes the human life cycle, thus established as a cultural heritage
of humanity. Determination of the traditional cloth called batik as a world
cultural heritage of Indonesia, among others, by weighing the traditional
craft of batik as the hereditary from Indonesia are rich in cultural values.
One effort to keep the existence of these traditional fabrics has also been
carried out by the city of Solo by creating Batik Tourism Village. Batik is
a handcraft that has a high artistic value that today it has become a part of
the Indonesian culture, particularly in Java. The journey of batik that has
taken many centuries proved that batik has the specific appeal, which
makes batik today widely used by the larger part of Indonesian society.
This article will further discuss about the use of English in developing
tourism dealing with Batik Industry. Concerning the result of the research,
it shows that Batik Industry has a significant progress not only in
Indonesia but also in other Asian and European countries. As the
globalization era has a big influence in many aspects in our life and
English becoming the second language, so today everything becomes
simpler and easier.
Keywords: Batik, Heritage, English as lingua franca
Introduction
Batik is one way of making fabric. Besides, batik can refer to two things. The first is the
technique of colouring cloth using wax to prevent staining part of the fabric, in the
international literature, this technique is known as a “wax-resist dyeing”. The second
meaning is a fabric or clothing made with these techniques, including the use of certain
motifs as its uniqueness. Batik, as the overall technique, technology, and development
of the motives and culture, UNESCO has been designated Batik as Masterpieces of the
Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity since October 2, 2009.
Towards the meaningful history and the development of Batik nowadays, this
paper would reveal the use of English and its relationship with tourism. Does the use of
English could increase the number of tourist significantly? How the stakeholders and
local people maintain the authenticity of its value in line with the increasing number of
tourism, in connection with the cultural syncretism that brought by the tourist which
makes some of the local people afraid to lose the real meaning of batik? In order to
study more specifically the relationship between batik, how they use English as the
important factor of their business and tourism, we’ll concentrate on our analysis in
Journal of English in Academic and Professional Communication
JEAPCo, 1(1) 2014
69
Kauman, one of the two cities of production of Batik, which has become a touristic
destination.
The hypothesis that could be seen from the above problem is that batik is a very
important part of the local culture, and so for the tourist it represents the cultural icon of
Indonesia. Moreover, these days batik becomes one of the strongest tourist attractions in
Solo. The local people and the stakeholders in Solo have a very good teamwork to
maintain and increase the number of tourist. They work together to make many kinds of
events about batik, not only in Indonesia but also in foreign countries such as
Netherlands and China. They are introducing and promoting batik at the same time. On
the other hand, the ability and the use of English becomes more than just a daily needs.
Now the local people believe that English is their second language, the increasing
ability of the local people brings a fresh air for their economic life.
It would contain about not only the history of Batik as a living heritage but also
how it develop from a domestic to international tourism. The use of English as the
second language also helps the local people to increase the number of tourist through
the event and promotion. The economic life of the local people is getting better. The
stakeholders and the government always support and help the local people to develop
the industry as well as giving the education such as training for marketing and learning
English.
The History of Batik as a Living Heritage
The origin of batik dates as early as the period when our ancestor in the 17 th century
attempted to write and paint on the palm frond. During that age, the motif was
predominantly local flora and fauna, which subsequently developed into ornaments
influenced by the Hindu religion, such as clouds, temple stone relief, shadow puppet
characters and other intriguing objects. The integration of painting motifs and
decorative clothes eventually led to the rise of hand – drawn batik, as we know it today.
The types and motifs are as diverse as the culture and ethnic groups producing it,
reflecting very much the inspiringly rich philosophical ideas behind the creation.
Indonesian batik has a rich symbolism related to social status, local community, nature,
history and cultural heritage; provides Indonesian people with a sense of identity and
continuity as an essential component of their live from birth to death; and continues to
evolve without losing its traditional meaning.
The history of batik is closely related to the rise of Majapahit14 Kingdoms and
the succeeding of its kingdoms. It has been widely believed that according to some
written references batik that we know today, using wax as the resist agent to draw the
14
Majapahit was a vast thalassocratic archipelagic empire based on the island of Java, from
1293 to around 1500, source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majapahit. Retrieved : June 23,
2012
70
Journal of English in Academic and Professional Communication
JEAPCo, 1(1) 2014
motifs, was first developed in Mataram15 Kingdom reign, continued by the age of the
Kingdom of Surakarta (Solo) and Yogyakarta. The golden age of batik producing was
toward the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 20th century (Pusponegoro,
2007:3).
The art of painting images on the clothes has become the favourite activities of
the successions of the Kings. Originally, batik was produce within the royal compound
and worn by the royal families along with their retainers. Over the year batik found its
way to the heart of the masses (peoples), as these retainers lived outside the palace and
brought with them some pieces to be finished at home. The tradition to produce batik
rapidly influenced the community and it soon became the favourite past time (activities)
by homemakers, breaking the boundaries of such royal restriction and in its process
making batik a common textile for larger part of society.
Historical development of Indonesian batik is a historical heritage from
generation to generation. The term of batik comes from "amba" and "nitik"16 (Javanese
language), which means writing. The word itself refers to the technique of batik making
patterns using “canting” or “cap”17 and cloth dyeing, using shades of the colour barrier
material, called wax that is applied on the fabric. So resist the entry of dye into the
motives of others. Those techniques could be applied only on the material made from
natural fibers such as cotton, silk, and wool. It could not be applied over the polyester
(artificial fibers). While the making process of the fabric patterns which are not using
the wax-resist dyeing technique known as batik printed cloth. Usually such fabrics are
made in industrial-scale printing techniques and it could not be called batik.
By the kingdoms in Solo and Yogyakarta around the 17th, 18th, and 19th century,
batik start to develop widely, especially in Java. At first, batik was just one of the
hobbies of the royal family to shows their social position. However, by the time goes
by, the community developed batik into a commodity trading.
Batik, which comes from Solo, is famous for its traditional style and patterns,
whether it is printed or traditional hand-made batik. The materials used for coloring was
still originally comes from domestic materials such as Javanese Soga18 already famous
15
Mataram was a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom existed in 570-927, source :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mataram. retrieved June 23, 2012
16
Amba and nitik is a Javanese language means writing. Hamidin, Aep S. 2010. Batik –
Warisan Budaya Asli Indonesia, Narasi, Yogyakarta, p.7
17
Canting and cap is a tool that used for making batik motif. Hamidin, Aep S. 2010. Batik –
Warisan Budaya Asli Indonesia, Narasi, Yogyakarta, p.7
18
Soga (Peltophorum pterocarpum) is the name of the trees for dye batik-producing.
Journal of English in Academic and Professional Communication
JEAPCo, 1(1) 2014
71
since the first. The pattern remains, among others, famous for "Sidomukti" and
"Sidoluhur"19.
Meanwhile, the origin of batik known from Yogyakarta since the first Mataram
kingdom, named Panembahan Senopati20. Batik at the time was limited within the royal
family and it is made by the women who work for the queen. From that moment batik
was spread to the other royal family such as the wife of the courtier (the maid in the
palace) and the soldiers. At the official ceremony, the royal family both men and
women dressed with a combination of batik. The people outside the palace started to be
interested in the clothes worn by the royal family, and then they try to imitate the style
of the dress that worn by the royal family. Finally, starting from the interest of the
people outside the palace, batik eventually spread out outside the palace’s wall
The spreading of batik out of the palace was happened after the end of the
Diponegoro21 war. Many royal families moved outside the area of Yogyakarta and Solo
because they refused to cooperate with the colonial government. The royal family who
brought his courtiers (house cleaner who works in the palace) into the new areas
continues to make batik which then it becomes their new job and a livelihood for them.
Batik patterns born in the new areas outside Solo and Yogyakarta are well
adapted to the circumstances that exist in those areas. So, that the result or the batik
pattern has the specific characteristics of each region from where they were made.
Between one region to the other, there are many differences, especially in the
development of the motif or pattern
Batik nowadays is no longer become the official clothing that worn by the kings
and their maid, but now batik is very popular with common people that have no relation
with the king or the palace. Many people interested in batik and worn batik as a formal
dress in a formal occasion such as wedding ceremony, or events that was held by the
state or government.
Batik has been recognized not only in Indonesia but also by the international
community, that today batik becomes the cultural identity of Indonesia. Nowadays, the
word batik is widely known in western countries. Both Indonesian women and men
from all over the cities like to wear batik and they create the design of their batik dress
by themselves. Foreign tourists or expatriates who live in Indonesia were very fond of
batik and they often make it as a souvenir.
Becoming an International Destination
Today, Solo become one of the international destinations for tourism in Indonesia. The
famous of batik brought a lot of tourist came to visit the uniqueness and of course, they
want to experience this world living heritage by themselves. The stakeholders such as
the government and local people work as a team for this. They both work to create some
events abroad, to introduce and promote batik. This is one of the great ideas to promote
19
The name of Javanese batik pattern.
20
Javanese title for the first King of Mataram.
21
One of Indonesian national hero, and Diponegoro war was happened in 1825 - 1830.
72
Journal of English in Academic and Professional Communication
JEAPCo, 1(1) 2014
the local culture to become
me international, and this kind of promotion
on works out very
well. The promotion and
nd events that they made are using English
lish as well. The
stakeholders and the governm
ernment always give the annual training for the local people to
prepare the event and prom
romotion abroad. The good teamwork which
ch is built by the
government of Solo and the local people develop in order to keep this
his ccultural heritage
alive. Their event abroad,
d, suc
such as in Netherlands, China and other Asi
sian country held
annually and this batik eve
event was greatly appreciated by all the peopl
ople who come to
visit.
Promoting batik to foreign countries is one of the biggest event
ents that Solo has
every year. However, it iss not the only one that creates the interest of for
foreign tourist, the
other local event also create
ates different interest such as the event of Kerat
eraton (Palace) in
Solo draws the attention of foreign tourist. Since the number of tour
ourist significantly
increasing the local people
ple has to increase their ability to speak Engli
glish as well. The
fact that nowadays English
sh become the second language for the locall pe
people in Solo, it
is affected the economic life of the local people.
The increasing numb
number of tourist could be shown in the chart below
below:
Figure
ure 2. Number of Foreign Tourist in Solo
Figuree 3. T
The Origin of Foreign Tourist who come to S
Solo
Journal of English in Academi
emic and Professional Communication
JEAPCo, 1(1) 2014
73
From the above chart, it could be seen that the number of foreign tourist are
increasing significantly, from January up to June. The increasing number of foreign
tourists starts to increase from 2005 with 9.649 people, and one year after it was
increase to 10.626 people. It was significantly increasing until the year of 2009, which
the numbers of foreign tourist reach 26.047 people in a year. This data proves that batik
was successfully reaching the international market by the increasing number of foreign
tourist every year. Despite the fact that Solo is not a big city in Central Java, but the
history of its cultural heritage and how the local people could welcome the foreign
tourist very well, it could attract the interest of international tourist. The success of its
promotion and most of all the use of English for its promotion done very well by the
stakeholders such as the government and local people help batik spreads globally. The
origins of the tourist also various, start from Netherlands, Japan, Germany, France and
Singapore as the big five, followed by Malaysia, Australia, United States, Italy and
others. Netherlands always become number one for foreign visitor to Solo. It is because
they want to have nostalgia tourism in Indonesia, they wanted to regain the memories
when their great grandfather was invaded Indonesia. Moreover, since they invaded
Indonesia for 350 years, there must be a lot of heritage from Netherlands such as
buildings or bridges in Indonesia. However, specifically in Solo, there are a lot of old
buildings made by the Netherlands thousand years ago and those buildings stands still
up to these days. The local people inhabited the old building now and some of them
were used as government offices.
Conclusion
This paper has been discussed about the history of Batik, and how it becomes
international. The development of batik production becoming a touristic place also has
been explained in Part 1. The process of becoming international touristic destination
through the hard times and today everything seems to be ready. It is all because the
good teamwork that happen between the local people and the government to introduce
and promoting batik overseas. Creating the batik event become one good point that has
been done by the local community in Solo that today it becomes the biggest attraction
for tourist in Solo. Developing the idea and creating the new motif of batik also
becomes the special interest that brought tourist to see the beauty of art and cultural
heritage in the same time.
Through the discussion, I can conclude that Batik as the cultural heritage and
the use of English in every sector of promotion and local or international events as well
could increase the number of tourist who comes to Solo. The good teamwork between
the local government and the local people to eagerly developing and using English as a
second language works out very well. They also create annual batik events to attract
both foreign and domestic tourist to come visit Solo every year. The last point about
going international is not an easy job, but in this case, the local people and the
government of Solo could reach the best achievement in their cultural heritage. Through
English everything seems easier, the promotion and the international events they held
every year turns out perfect. At finally yet importantly, another great achievement that
they have is the increasing number of international tourist significantly every year.
74
Journal of English in Academic and Professional Communication
JEAPCo, 1(1) 2014
Therefore, Batik today is not only a local heritage but also it goes international because
of English.
References
Hamidin AepS. (2010) Batik – Warisan Budaya Asli Indonesia. Narasi: Yogyakarta.
Ramelan, Tumbu. (2010) The 20th Century Batik Masterpieces. KR Communications:
Jakarta.
Wulandari, Ari. (2011) Batik Nusantara – Makna Filosofis, Cara Pembuatan, Dan
Industri Batik. Andi Publisher: Yogyakarta.
Majapahit
Kingdom.
Accessed
on:
23
June
2012
Available
at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majapahit.
Mataram
Kingdom.
Accessed
on:
23
June
2012
Available
at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mataram.
Journal of English in Academic and Professional Communication
JEAPCo, 1(1) 2014
75
in Indonesia
Pramesi Lokaprasidha, S.S., M.Par.
Tourism Practitioner, Politeknik Negeri Jember, Indonesia
Abstract
Batik is rated as a cultural icon that has a unique and profound philosophy,
also includes the human life cycle, thus established as a cultural heritage
of humanity. Determination of the traditional cloth called batik as a world
cultural heritage of Indonesia, among others, by weighing the traditional
craft of batik as the hereditary from Indonesia are rich in cultural values.
One effort to keep the existence of these traditional fabrics has also been
carried out by the city of Solo by creating Batik Tourism Village. Batik is
a handcraft that has a high artistic value that today it has become a part of
the Indonesian culture, particularly in Java. The journey of batik that has
taken many centuries proved that batik has the specific appeal, which
makes batik today widely used by the larger part of Indonesian society.
This article will further discuss about the use of English in developing
tourism dealing with Batik Industry. Concerning the result of the research,
it shows that Batik Industry has a significant progress not only in
Indonesia but also in other Asian and European countries. As the
globalization era has a big influence in many aspects in our life and
English becoming the second language, so today everything becomes
simpler and easier.
Keywords: Batik, Heritage, English as lingua franca
Introduction
Batik is one way of making fabric. Besides, batik can refer to two things. The first is the
technique of colouring cloth using wax to prevent staining part of the fabric, in the
international literature, this technique is known as a “wax-resist dyeing”. The second
meaning is a fabric or clothing made with these techniques, including the use of certain
motifs as its uniqueness. Batik, as the overall technique, technology, and development
of the motives and culture, UNESCO has been designated Batik as Masterpieces of the
Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity since October 2, 2009.
Towards the meaningful history and the development of Batik nowadays, this
paper would reveal the use of English and its relationship with tourism. Does the use of
English could increase the number of tourist significantly? How the stakeholders and
local people maintain the authenticity of its value in line with the increasing number of
tourism, in connection with the cultural syncretism that brought by the tourist which
makes some of the local people afraid to lose the real meaning of batik? In order to
study more specifically the relationship between batik, how they use English as the
important factor of their business and tourism, we’ll concentrate on our analysis in
Journal of English in Academic and Professional Communication
JEAPCo, 1(1) 2014
69
Kauman, one of the two cities of production of Batik, which has become a touristic
destination.
The hypothesis that could be seen from the above problem is that batik is a very
important part of the local culture, and so for the tourist it represents the cultural icon of
Indonesia. Moreover, these days batik becomes one of the strongest tourist attractions in
Solo. The local people and the stakeholders in Solo have a very good teamwork to
maintain and increase the number of tourist. They work together to make many kinds of
events about batik, not only in Indonesia but also in foreign countries such as
Netherlands and China. They are introducing and promoting batik at the same time. On
the other hand, the ability and the use of English becomes more than just a daily needs.
Now the local people believe that English is their second language, the increasing
ability of the local people brings a fresh air for their economic life.
It would contain about not only the history of Batik as a living heritage but also
how it develop from a domestic to international tourism. The use of English as the
second language also helps the local people to increase the number of tourist through
the event and promotion. The economic life of the local people is getting better. The
stakeholders and the government always support and help the local people to develop
the industry as well as giving the education such as training for marketing and learning
English.
The History of Batik as a Living Heritage
The origin of batik dates as early as the period when our ancestor in the 17 th century
attempted to write and paint on the palm frond. During that age, the motif was
predominantly local flora and fauna, which subsequently developed into ornaments
influenced by the Hindu religion, such as clouds, temple stone relief, shadow puppet
characters and other intriguing objects. The integration of painting motifs and
decorative clothes eventually led to the rise of hand – drawn batik, as we know it today.
The types and motifs are as diverse as the culture and ethnic groups producing it,
reflecting very much the inspiringly rich philosophical ideas behind the creation.
Indonesian batik has a rich symbolism related to social status, local community, nature,
history and cultural heritage; provides Indonesian people with a sense of identity and
continuity as an essential component of their live from birth to death; and continues to
evolve without losing its traditional meaning.
The history of batik is closely related to the rise of Majapahit14 Kingdoms and
the succeeding of its kingdoms. It has been widely believed that according to some
written references batik that we know today, using wax as the resist agent to draw the
14
Majapahit was a vast thalassocratic archipelagic empire based on the island of Java, from
1293 to around 1500, source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majapahit. Retrieved : June 23,
2012
70
Journal of English in Academic and Professional Communication
JEAPCo, 1(1) 2014
motifs, was first developed in Mataram15 Kingdom reign, continued by the age of the
Kingdom of Surakarta (Solo) and Yogyakarta. The golden age of batik producing was
toward the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 20th century (Pusponegoro,
2007:3).
The art of painting images on the clothes has become the favourite activities of
the successions of the Kings. Originally, batik was produce within the royal compound
and worn by the royal families along with their retainers. Over the year batik found its
way to the heart of the masses (peoples), as these retainers lived outside the palace and
brought with them some pieces to be finished at home. The tradition to produce batik
rapidly influenced the community and it soon became the favourite past time (activities)
by homemakers, breaking the boundaries of such royal restriction and in its process
making batik a common textile for larger part of society.
Historical development of Indonesian batik is a historical heritage from
generation to generation. The term of batik comes from "amba" and "nitik"16 (Javanese
language), which means writing. The word itself refers to the technique of batik making
patterns using “canting” or “cap”17 and cloth dyeing, using shades of the colour barrier
material, called wax that is applied on the fabric. So resist the entry of dye into the
motives of others. Those techniques could be applied only on the material made from
natural fibers such as cotton, silk, and wool. It could not be applied over the polyester
(artificial fibers). While the making process of the fabric patterns which are not using
the wax-resist dyeing technique known as batik printed cloth. Usually such fabrics are
made in industrial-scale printing techniques and it could not be called batik.
By the kingdoms in Solo and Yogyakarta around the 17th, 18th, and 19th century,
batik start to develop widely, especially in Java. At first, batik was just one of the
hobbies of the royal family to shows their social position. However, by the time goes
by, the community developed batik into a commodity trading.
Batik, which comes from Solo, is famous for its traditional style and patterns,
whether it is printed or traditional hand-made batik. The materials used for coloring was
still originally comes from domestic materials such as Javanese Soga18 already famous
15
Mataram was a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom existed in 570-927, source :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mataram. retrieved June 23, 2012
16
Amba and nitik is a Javanese language means writing. Hamidin, Aep S. 2010. Batik –
Warisan Budaya Asli Indonesia, Narasi, Yogyakarta, p.7
17
Canting and cap is a tool that used for making batik motif. Hamidin, Aep S. 2010. Batik –
Warisan Budaya Asli Indonesia, Narasi, Yogyakarta, p.7
18
Soga (Peltophorum pterocarpum) is the name of the trees for dye batik-producing.
Journal of English in Academic and Professional Communication
JEAPCo, 1(1) 2014
71
since the first. The pattern remains, among others, famous for "Sidomukti" and
"Sidoluhur"19.
Meanwhile, the origin of batik known from Yogyakarta since the first Mataram
kingdom, named Panembahan Senopati20. Batik at the time was limited within the royal
family and it is made by the women who work for the queen. From that moment batik
was spread to the other royal family such as the wife of the courtier (the maid in the
palace) and the soldiers. At the official ceremony, the royal family both men and
women dressed with a combination of batik. The people outside the palace started to be
interested in the clothes worn by the royal family, and then they try to imitate the style
of the dress that worn by the royal family. Finally, starting from the interest of the
people outside the palace, batik eventually spread out outside the palace’s wall
The spreading of batik out of the palace was happened after the end of the
Diponegoro21 war. Many royal families moved outside the area of Yogyakarta and Solo
because they refused to cooperate with the colonial government. The royal family who
brought his courtiers (house cleaner who works in the palace) into the new areas
continues to make batik which then it becomes their new job and a livelihood for them.
Batik patterns born in the new areas outside Solo and Yogyakarta are well
adapted to the circumstances that exist in those areas. So, that the result or the batik
pattern has the specific characteristics of each region from where they were made.
Between one region to the other, there are many differences, especially in the
development of the motif or pattern
Batik nowadays is no longer become the official clothing that worn by the kings
and their maid, but now batik is very popular with common people that have no relation
with the king or the palace. Many people interested in batik and worn batik as a formal
dress in a formal occasion such as wedding ceremony, or events that was held by the
state or government.
Batik has been recognized not only in Indonesia but also by the international
community, that today batik becomes the cultural identity of Indonesia. Nowadays, the
word batik is widely known in western countries. Both Indonesian women and men
from all over the cities like to wear batik and they create the design of their batik dress
by themselves. Foreign tourists or expatriates who live in Indonesia were very fond of
batik and they often make it as a souvenir.
Becoming an International Destination
Today, Solo become one of the international destinations for tourism in Indonesia. The
famous of batik brought a lot of tourist came to visit the uniqueness and of course, they
want to experience this world living heritage by themselves. The stakeholders such as
the government and local people work as a team for this. They both work to create some
events abroad, to introduce and promote batik. This is one of the great ideas to promote
19
The name of Javanese batik pattern.
20
Javanese title for the first King of Mataram.
21
One of Indonesian national hero, and Diponegoro war was happened in 1825 - 1830.
72
Journal of English in Academic and Professional Communication
JEAPCo, 1(1) 2014
the local culture to become
me international, and this kind of promotion
on works out very
well. The promotion and
nd events that they made are using English
lish as well. The
stakeholders and the governm
ernment always give the annual training for the local people to
prepare the event and prom
romotion abroad. The good teamwork which
ch is built by the
government of Solo and the local people develop in order to keep this
his ccultural heritage
alive. Their event abroad,
d, suc
such as in Netherlands, China and other Asi
sian country held
annually and this batik eve
event was greatly appreciated by all the peopl
ople who come to
visit.
Promoting batik to foreign countries is one of the biggest event
ents that Solo has
every year. However, it iss not the only one that creates the interest of for
foreign tourist, the
other local event also create
ates different interest such as the event of Kerat
eraton (Palace) in
Solo draws the attention of foreign tourist. Since the number of tour
ourist significantly
increasing the local people
ple has to increase their ability to speak Engli
glish as well. The
fact that nowadays English
sh become the second language for the locall pe
people in Solo, it
is affected the economic life of the local people.
The increasing numb
number of tourist could be shown in the chart below
below:
Figure
ure 2. Number of Foreign Tourist in Solo
Figuree 3. T
The Origin of Foreign Tourist who come to S
Solo
Journal of English in Academi
emic and Professional Communication
JEAPCo, 1(1) 2014
73
From the above chart, it could be seen that the number of foreign tourist are
increasing significantly, from January up to June. The increasing number of foreign
tourists starts to increase from 2005 with 9.649 people, and one year after it was
increase to 10.626 people. It was significantly increasing until the year of 2009, which
the numbers of foreign tourist reach 26.047 people in a year. This data proves that batik
was successfully reaching the international market by the increasing number of foreign
tourist every year. Despite the fact that Solo is not a big city in Central Java, but the
history of its cultural heritage and how the local people could welcome the foreign
tourist very well, it could attract the interest of international tourist. The success of its
promotion and most of all the use of English for its promotion done very well by the
stakeholders such as the government and local people help batik spreads globally. The
origins of the tourist also various, start from Netherlands, Japan, Germany, France and
Singapore as the big five, followed by Malaysia, Australia, United States, Italy and
others. Netherlands always become number one for foreign visitor to Solo. It is because
they want to have nostalgia tourism in Indonesia, they wanted to regain the memories
when their great grandfather was invaded Indonesia. Moreover, since they invaded
Indonesia for 350 years, there must be a lot of heritage from Netherlands such as
buildings or bridges in Indonesia. However, specifically in Solo, there are a lot of old
buildings made by the Netherlands thousand years ago and those buildings stands still
up to these days. The local people inhabited the old building now and some of them
were used as government offices.
Conclusion
This paper has been discussed about the history of Batik, and how it becomes
international. The development of batik production becoming a touristic place also has
been explained in Part 1. The process of becoming international touristic destination
through the hard times and today everything seems to be ready. It is all because the
good teamwork that happen between the local people and the government to introduce
and promoting batik overseas. Creating the batik event become one good point that has
been done by the local community in Solo that today it becomes the biggest attraction
for tourist in Solo. Developing the idea and creating the new motif of batik also
becomes the special interest that brought tourist to see the beauty of art and cultural
heritage in the same time.
Through the discussion, I can conclude that Batik as the cultural heritage and
the use of English in every sector of promotion and local or international events as well
could increase the number of tourist who comes to Solo. The good teamwork between
the local government and the local people to eagerly developing and using English as a
second language works out very well. They also create annual batik events to attract
both foreign and domestic tourist to come visit Solo every year. The last point about
going international is not an easy job, but in this case, the local people and the
government of Solo could reach the best achievement in their cultural heritage. Through
English everything seems easier, the promotion and the international events they held
every year turns out perfect. At finally yet importantly, another great achievement that
they have is the increasing number of international tourist significantly every year.
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JEAPCo, 1(1) 2014
Therefore, Batik today is not only a local heritage but also it goes international because
of English.
References
Hamidin AepS. (2010) Batik – Warisan Budaya Asli Indonesia. Narasi: Yogyakarta.
Ramelan, Tumbu. (2010) The 20th Century Batik Masterpieces. KR Communications:
Jakarta.
Wulandari, Ari. (2011) Batik Nusantara – Makna Filosofis, Cara Pembuatan, Dan
Industri Batik. Andi Publisher: Yogyakarta.
Majapahit
Kingdom.
Accessed
on:
23
June
2012
Available
at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majapahit.
Mataram
Kingdom.
Accessed
on:
23
June
2012
Available
at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mataram.
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JEAPCo, 1(1) 2014
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