gotong royong
Language: Indonesian · [ˈɡotoŋ ˈrojoŋ] · Pronunciation: GO-tong ROY-ong
Meaning
a community shouldering one job together — cooperation
The story
In parts of Indonesia a village will still lift a whole wooden house onto dozens of shoulders and walk it to a new plot. In 1945 Sukarno told the independence committee that if the new state's five principles were squeezed into one word, that word was gotong royong. The nearest English picture is a barn-raising.
The four rounds
- Which language is it from?
- Indonesian
- What does it literally say?
- Carry-together
- Where would you hear it?
- A whole street clearing storm debris
- What does it mean?
- Neighbours shouldering a job together
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