Verbal Abuses as Impact of Hatred

Masda Surti Simatupang

, Ramot Peter

Faculty of Letters, Universitas Kristen Indonesia, Jakarta 13630, Indonesia

Character Building Development Center, Information Systems Department, School of Information Systems, Bina

Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia 11480

Keywords: Verbal Abuse, Hatred

Abstract: People are expected to speak politely to others in order to show solidarity. It means that they emphasize shared

attitudes and respect to each other. In communication, people speak in polite manner to show respect to and

to be appreciated by others. When people talk in a manner based on what they like, for instance with the

purpose of hurting others, the verbal abuses, then, take place. People do verbal abuses, in this study because

of showing authority and religion fanaticism. The words uttered are sometimes meaningless, but showing

hatred, with curses or condemnation. There are some bad impacts of uttering verbal abuses especially stated

by public figures. The purpose of this research is to explore some abusive words spoken by the public figures.

The researcher analyses the scripts, explains why the words are classified into verbal abuses, and elaborates

the impacts of the words to public. The methodology used is descriptive method which explains the verbal

abuses from the data obtained from some links from the internet which contain verbal abuses. The results

show that the verbal abuses have increased the public hatred. The conclusion is that verbal abuses cause

impacts of public hatred.

1 INTRODUCTION

People will try to communicate clearly and politely in

order to avoid misunderstanding. When people speak

politely, they will speak according to the rules in their

community and also based on the cultures which exist

in the society. According to Thomas (Thomas, 1995),

politeness can be seen if there is the phenomenon of

respect one another between a speaker and a listener.

The way we speak and write should be suitable with

the situation, variety and the language system in

social context. However, Sukamto (Sukamto, 2012)

states that in communication we need to be aware to

consider “being polite”. What we think polite may be

considered impolite by other speakers, especially if

the interlocutors are from different ethnic group,

culture or religion. When speaking to other people,

we need to know the principle of politeness so there

will be harmony in communication. If a speaker

communicates using any kinds of words carelessly,

which sometimes make the listener offended, the

speaker then has done verbal abuse intentionally or

not.

To be accurate, verbal abuse is the more

intentional and personally directed act of verbal

rudeness (Ickes, Park, & Robinson, 2012).

Humiliating, intimidating, or threatening is included

in verbal abuse. Moreover, the attitudes to hurt or

harm someone are also considered verbal abuse. The

data reported by Smith in Ickes et.al. suggest that

people who are the targets of another person’s verbal

abuse often feel angry and disgusted, particularly in

the immediate aftermath of the encounter. Verbal

abuse is an act of dehumanization prevailed

universally in human history, beginning from the

hostility of primitive inter-tribal because of injustice,

arbitrariness, violation of human right and genocide.

The forms of verbal abuse can be scornful, curse,

expletive or other rude words spoken by the intention

to humiliate the other speakers. The root of verbal

abuse comes systematically from authority,

ethnocentrism, and religion.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

The root of verbal abuse comes systematically from

authority, ethnocentrism, and religion. However, this

study focusses on religion differences and fanaticism

that caused people to utter their hatred. Each root will

be discussed thoroughly in the following subsections.

360

Simatupang, M. and Peter, R.

Verbal Abuses as Impact of Hatred.

DOI: 10.5220/0010008000002917

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Social Sciences, Laws, Arts and Humanities (BINUS-JIC 2018), pages 360-364

ISBN: 978-989-758-515-9

2.1 Authority

Authority is the power to give orders or to make

decisions; or the confident quality of someone who

knows a lot about something or who is respected or

obeyed by other people (Merriam-Webster

dictionary). People of the majority group will get

authority against the small groups; or bosses to

employees. The one who gets the authority is the one

who does the verbal abuse, as Johnson (Johnson &

Indvik, 2001) stated ‘abuse’ becomes a regular

occurrence in established work relationship, such as

those between managers and employees, male and

female workers, and so on. It can eventually lead to

more serious acts, such open conflict, workplace

violence, and sexual harassment.

2.2 Ethnocentrism

According to (Cunningham, Nezlek, & Banaji, 2004),

ethnocentrism is the tendency to form and maintain

negative evaluations and hospitality toward multiple

groups that are not one’s own. In other words, people

have the tendency to believe that the norms and

values of their ethnic group are absolute and can be

used as the standard to measure other ethnic groups.

Indonesia as a multi lingual and multi ethnic nation

has the potential to have disintegration if one ethnic

group measures others with their own way.

2.3 Religion and Fanaticism

Fanaticism, as expressed in www.dictionary.com is

wildly excessive or irrational devotion, dedication, or

enthusiasm. In many cases, fanaticism is an

exaggerated attitude towards one religion or group.

Simatupang (Simatupang, 2013) states that the fanatic

person has irrational dedication to his/her religion

since he/she will consider his/her religion is the most

correct or the purest

. Conflict starts with scorn the

symbols of a particular religion. For that reason,

fanaticism and religion are inseparable for those who

are not able to appreciate other persons’ religion.

Even though to some extent, fanaticism can be

categorized as skin color, ethnic, and social class, in

relation to verbal abuses, which sometimes can lead

to many conflicts, the present study discusses verbal

abuses spoken by public figures that deal with

religion fanaticism.

3 METHOD

This study investigates verbal abuses spoken by two

public figures: Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok), the

previous governor of Jakarta and Amin Rais the

advisor of Partai Amanat Nasional political party with

the focus on explaining why the spoken utterances are

classified into verbal abuses and what the impacts of

the words in public. The data are taken randomly

from the internet with the links containing verbal

abuses or rude words. The research procedures are:

first, getting the transcription of the spoken

utterances, explaining why the words are categorized

as verbal abuses, and elaborating the impacts of the

utterances

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The following is the result of some verbal abuse in

context. The words with capital letters are considered

as the verbal abuses.

4.1 Results

Table 1: Words in context which are considered as verbal

abuses.

Public

ure

Indone

sian

English

translation

Event

A. Basuki

Tjahaja

Purnama

(Ahok)

“Maka

nya

gua

bilang,

panggil

gua ke

angket,

biar

gua

jelasin

semua.

Gua

bukain

taik

semua

seperti

apa.

Biar

orang

tahu,

emang

taik

semua

gua

bilang.

“That’s

why I said

(before),

invite me

to the

‘(parliame

nt) inquiry

rights so I

will

explain

everything

. I will

open all

the

SHITS!

Let all

people

know, all

of them

are

SHITS,

that’s I

said”.

Live talk

show at

Kompas

TV,

Tuesday

March 17,

2016.

Verbal Abuses as Impact of Hatred

361

B. Basuki

Tjahaja

Purnama

(Ahok)

“…Kal

betul

ada

suap

12,7

triliun

kenapa

DPRD

memba

talkan

lapor

Baresk

rim?

Kok

GOBL

SEKA

LI LU

ORAN

…kala

u ada

bukti

meman

nyuap

apa lu

laporin

dong

BEGO.

…BEG

BANG

ET LU

gitu

lho.

…seme

ntara

ada

bukti

gua

mau

nyuap

lu 12,7

triliun,

kok lu

nggak

berani

laporin

? Gua

kuatir

KEMA

LUAN

PUNY

“…If the

bribe of

12,7

trillion is

true, why

the

representa

tives

canceled

their

report to

the

Criminal

Investigati

on Body?

How

DUMB

are you?

….If you

have some

evidence

that I

bribe

someone,

(why not)

report to

the police.

IDIOT …

How

IDIOT

you are. If

you have

evidence

that I will

bribe you

12,7

trillion,

why don’t

you tell

(the

police)

I’m afraid

that you

don’t have

GENITA

LS, do

you?”

Live talk

show at

Kompas

TV,

Tuesday

March 17,

2016.

A GA

NIH?

C. Amin

Rais

“Ahok

ini

SONG

ONGn

menyu

ndul

langit.

Sombo

sekali.

Tetapi

dalam

sejarah

tidak

ada

orang

sombo

menan

g. Jadi

kita

sama-

sama

lawan.

Jangan

sampai

DAJA

L itu

nanti

menan

“This

Ahok is so

ABSURD

that

strikes the

sky. Very

snobbish.

In history,

snobbish

man will

win. So,

let’s

attack

him.

Don’t let

that

BEAST

win”.

Big

meeting of

RT RW

DKI

Jakarta at

Permai

Traditiona

l Market,

September

18, 2016

D. Amin

Rais

“Pilih

yang

jujur,

yang

cinta

rakyat

kecil.

Yang

bukan

TUKA

GUSU

bukan

yang

melade

kepenti

ngan

pemod

al”.

“Select

the honest

one who

loves the

poor. Not

the ONE

WHO

EVICTS

(people

from their

property),

not the

one who

serves the

capitalists

”.

preacher

of Solat

Idul Adha

at a

mosque in

North

Jakarta on

September

12, 2016

E. Amin

Rais

“Karen

a kalau

“Ahok

e kok’

“Because

if this

pekok

Ahok is

free from

An oration

in front of

the

building

of The

BINUS-JIC 2018 - BINUS Joint International Conference

362

ini

sampai

bebas,

dia bisa

jadi

Menter

Dalam

Negeri,

bisa

jadi

Menha

nkam,

bisa

jadi

apa

saja””

the jail, he

can be the

Ministry

of Internal

Affairs or

the

Minister

Defence

and

Security,

or he can

somebody

”

Supreme

Court,

Jakarta, on

May 5,

2017

Sources: A (Setiawan & Mukti, 2015), B (Gubernurmuslim,

2016), C (Berita Nusantara Satu, 2016), D (Berita

Nusantara Satu, 2016), E (Prasetiyo, 2017)

4.2 Discussion

If any, should be placed before the references section

without numbering.

The words which are considered as verbal abuses

from table 1 will be explained one by one. The

followings are the elaboration of the verbal abuses

and the impact to public.

A. “That’s why I said (before), invite me to the

‘(parliament) inquiry rights so I will explain

everything. I will open all the SHITS! Let all people

know, all of them are SHITS, that’s I said”.

Utterance A is considered verbal abuse because

Ahok mentions the word “shits” in live talk show on

Kompas TV that possibly be watched by numerous

Indonesian people through television. The word

‘Shits” is rude word which is not to be spoken in

public. This demonstrates that Ahok exploits

inappropriate words to show his authority as the

government of Jakarta who does not control his words

when speaking to a reporter in front of television

audience all over Indonesia. As a result, the public

hate Ahok due to his own ill-manner words, and the

worse is people label him as an impolite person. As

Jakarta governor Ahok must not deliver rude words

when speaking in front of public that will impact to

public hatred.

B. “…If the bribe of 12,7 trillion is true, why the

representatives canceled their report to the Criminal

Investigation Body? How DUMB are you? ….If you

have some evidence that I bribe someone, (why not)

report to the police. IDIOT … How IDIOT you are.

If you have evidence that I will bribe you 12,7 trillion,

why don’t you tell (the police) I’m afraid that you

don’t have GENITALS, do you?”

In utterance B, the words ‘dumb, idiot, genitals’

are impolite and intolerable due to the fact that those

words are considered rude and should not be

mentioned in public. This utterance is spoken by

Ahok when answering the reporter’s questions. To

show that he is Jakarta governor who do not bribe the

parliament, Ahok wants to explain that he is clear

from the bribe. However, he utters his rude words to

shows his authority against the reporter.

Controversial to the values of politeness for

Indonesian people, the utterances are criticized by

many people that create hot issues on TV programs

and in social media by delivering “hate speech”

against Ahok.

C. “This Ahok is so ABSURD that strikes the sky.

Very snobbish. In history, no snobbish man will win.

So, let’s attack him. Don’t let that BEAST win”.

Utterance C is spoken by Amin Rais, not only as

the advisor of Partai Amanat Nasional political party

but also as Muslim scholar and religious leader. He

said “absurd, snobbish, and beast” just to show his

feeling of antipathy or religion fanaticism. He does

not agree if Ahok as non-muslim will be elected as

the Jakarta governor. He, then provokes the audience

of big business meeting of RT RW DKI Jakarta at

Permai Traditional Market by uttering his arguments

that Ahok is a ‘BEAST’ that should be defeated. As a

religious leader, he should not have said that, using

rude words to attack Ahok and reveal that Ahok is not

deserved to be next governor. He provocatively

influences other people in the meeting not to elect

Ahok for the next governor of Jakarta. The impact is

people who admires Amin will never elect Ahok to be

the governor; in addition, they increasingly deploy

hatred in the society.

D. “Select the honest one who loves the poor. Not the

ONE WHO EVICTS (people from their property),

not the one who serves the capitalists”.

Utterance D is also spoken by Amin Rais. It

seems that there is no verbal abuse stated. The words

‘one who evicts people from their property’ seems

alright. Ahok as the governor of Jakarta has relocated

people from their houses at some riverside of

Kampung Pulo, Kalijodo, and Bukit Duri in Jakarta.

The purpose of relocation is to rehabilitate the river

flow in order to reduce the flood in Jakarta. The

Verbal Abuses as Impact of Hatred

363

people of riverside were relocated to the better living

in flats or apartments in Marunda, Pulo Gebang and

Rusunawa West Jatinegara. Amin Rais satirically

criticizes Ahok’s action in this case, and called Ahok

as the ONE WHO EVICTS (people from their

property). Amin’s utterance is considered verbal

abuse due to his religion fanaticism that never agree

to have non-muslim as the governor of Jakarta. This

has impacted to disagreement of politicians,

socialists, and the victims of the eviction that will not

elect Ahok as the next governor of Jakarta. This

means most congregation follow Amin Rais

exclamation as their respect to him as a religious

leader.

E. “Because if this PEKOK Ahok is free from the jail,

he can be the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the

Minister of Defence and can be somebody”

Utterance E is stated by Amin Rais, a famous

chairman of People’s Consultative Assembly, a

politician who is always present in Media. Amin

mentions a rude word ‘pekok’, does not exist in

Indonesian language. The word ‘pekok’ is derived

from Javanese language (the vernacular language of

Amin Rais) means dummy, not having proper

behaviour, doing as one’s intent to. This utterance is

verbal abuse to degrade Ahok’s position as somebody

with awful attitude. He equates Ahok with someone

who has no good behaviour or performance. The

category of verbal abuse is still religion fanaticism

since people accuse Ahok as religion blasphemer,

which Amin approves. This effects public hatred that

finally Ahok is sentenced 2 years, which is longer

than previously claimed by the prosecutor.

5 CONCLUSION

This research shows that verbal abuses cause bad

impacts to public. In this study, the public figures

abuse others to show their authority and religion

fanaticism. Verbal abuses lead to make ‘hate speech’

of the others. This research shows that verbal abuses

mentioned by the public figures are ‘shit, damn, idiot,

genitals, absurd, beast, and pekok’. The hate speech

is presumed to happen aftermath. In other words,

verbal abuses only make the hot issues and public

hatred. Verbal abuse uttered by public figures tend to

make chaos and hatred. The interest part is that, when

Ahok speaks rudely in public about other persons,

people hate him; on the contrary, when Amin Rais

speaks rudely about Ahok, people hates Ahok more

than hates Amin. To avoid the bad impacts of verbal

abuses, public figures must select the appropriate and

polite words in delivering their speeches or

statements in public media.

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