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The culture and tourism office in Indonesia's west Java province has reportedly introduced fines for employees found misusing the local dialect. The Pikiran Rakyat daily says the new ruling, which came into effect last week, is an attempt to to preserve the local Sunda language. Staff face a fine of about 10 US cents for every grammatical error or use of the wrong word in the language. Office head, Budhyatna, says he was fined on the first day for making seven mistakes during a meeting with his colleagues. Indonesia has more than 300 separate languages and a Malay tongue widely used in the archipelago has been declared the country's official language. But under a law introduced in 2003, local authorities have the right to include the teaching and use of local dialects in schools and the partial use of the language at work. (Radio Australia)
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