Jakarta (ANTARA) - The decision to anoint Yogyakarta as "Hanacaraka City" on International Literacy Day, which falls on September 8, is the right step to promote the indigenous Javanese script and the local culture, an official has said.

Hanacaraka is also another name for the Javanese script.

Head of Language and Literature Department of Yogyakarta Culture Office Setya Amrih Prasaja said the advancement of digitization of the Javanese script is essential to promote the use of the traditional script in the digital era.

"Javanese script digitization is important to build awareness among the public that Javanese script is now digital-friendly. Javanese script users and usage should also increase following its digitization," he said.

Besides advocating for its digitization, the government should utilize the script and promote its daily uses in schools and government offices to promote it further, he suggested.

Several events to promote the Javanese script have been held by the Culture Office, including a webinar to promote the Javanese script in the digital world, talk shows on Javanese script, and other promotional events, he pointed out.

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"We encourage all levels of society in Yogyakarta to support this initiative. The International Literacy Day commemoration is our opportunity to rekindle Yogyakarta culture as pride for all of us," Prasaja said.

Concurring with Prasaja, Deputy Head of Business Development, Marketing, and Cooperation Department of the Indonesian Internet Domain Name Registry (PANDI) Heru Nugroho said the decision to declare Yogyakarta as Hanacaraka City is in line with his agency's mission to digitize Indonesia's indigenous script.

"Decision to declare Yogyakarta as Hanacaraka City is appropriate with our spirit and mission to digitize Indonesia's indigenous scripts," Nugroho said in a press statement issued on Monday.

The Yogyakarta Culture Office and PANDI recently engaged in cooperation to digitize and register Javanese script font and keyboard standardization with the National Standardization Agency (BSN).

Besides the Javanese script, PANDI has also collaborated with other parties to digitize the Sundanese and Balinese scripts, Nugroho added.

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Translator: Suryanto, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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