The joys of Indonesianization<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): \"I think,\" cousin Joseph said, \"I'll have to
\nchange my name.\"<\/p>\n
He, I mean Joseph (among family circles also known as Jos and
\noccasionally Jop), is the kind of guy where you never know if he
\nis being serious or pulling your leg. So, among the four of us, a
\nfew variations on the theme of \"what do you mean\" popped up.<\/p>\n
Sorry, I mean the three of us.<\/p>\n
Stella -- Mrs. Jos, that is -- who has grown accustomed to his
\nquirks 15 years after they promised each other to love, honor and
\nobey, obviously couldn't care less what he was going-on about.
\nShe probably didn't even care what he had been saying, what with
\nbending over a crossword puzzle trying to find another word for
\n\"togetherness\", five letters, of which only a \"n\" had been
\nrevealed.<\/p>\n
\"My name,\" Jos continued looking even more owlishly serious as
\nhe peered at us through titanium-rimmed glasses, \"is not an
\nIndonesian name.\" Of course, when Jos looks owlishly serious I
\nknow he is nothing of the kind, but just to keep the talk flowing
\nI asked what he intended to do with his moniker.<\/p>\n
\"I think I shall change it to Yusuf.\" That elicited a snort
\nfrom Stella (she had been listening after all).<\/p>\n
\"You do that, and I'll file for a divorce.\"<\/p>\n
\"Why?\"<\/p>\n
\"It'll mean,\" she continued, \"that they'll start calling you
\n'Jus' for short and I refuse point blank to be hitched to someone
\nwhose name sounds like he's been squeezed out of an orange.
\nBesides, Yusuf isn't Indonesian. It's Hebrew or Arabic.\"<\/p>\n
\"Hebrew or Arabic?\" Jos interposed. \"But so many Hebrew and
\nArabic names have been received with open arms in Indonesian, so
\nI think it'd be alright. Hey, maybe you should do something about
\nyour name too.\"<\/p>\n
\"I can't do that, sweetheart.\"<\/p>\n
\"Why not?\"<\/p>\n
\"I will not be called Bintang. Also, when I file for divorce I
\nshall demand such an enormous lot of money you'll be broke for
\nthe rest of your life. Extreme mental cruelty, you know, trying
\nto make me change my name. Bintang indeed!\"<\/p>\n
Of course that led to an explosion of laughter, led by none
\nother than Jos himself.<\/p>\n
\"Y... You,\" he spluttered, \"you would sound like you've been
\npoured out of a beer bottle.\"<\/p>\n
Still wiping away tears, Cia (pronounced \"chee-ah\" -- short
\nfor Felicia) put in her pennyworth of wisdom. \"I take my hat off
\nfor our distinguished language profs. You know, Indonesian has
\nbeen enormously enriched in one enlightened stroke.\"<\/p>\n
That was too much, even for me.<\/p>\n
\"I don't call Lippo Bank changing itself to Bank Lippo
\nenriching a language.\"<\/p>\n
\"No, no. That's not what I mean,\" Cia continued, \"it's words
\nlike senter and poin (I saw those in Bandung). And there's
\nbesmen, and...\" here she was interrupted by another hoot from
\nJos.<\/p>\n
\"Now, what?\" asked his better half.<\/p>\n
\"From now on,\" Jos managed to utter in between bouts of
\ngiggles, \"I shall think of Pondok Indah Mall as crazy Pondok
\nIndah or sick Pondok Indah.\"<\/p>\n
\"Would you kindly stop tittering for a moment,\" I said, \"and
\nget on with it.\"<\/p>\n
\"Well, we still have to get used to all these new words, don't
\nwe? Now, as far as I know, mal doesn't exist in Indonesian, but
\nit's very much alive and kicking in Dutch and French. I really
\ncan't help it, but to me Mal Pondok Indah is either crazy Pondok
\nIndah in Dutch, or sick Pondok Indah in French. And of course I
\nneedn't tell you that in English any word prefixed by mal always
\nhas a negative connotation. You know, there's only one word to
\ndescribe the way Indonesianization is going.\"<\/p>\n
\"Let's have it.\"<\/p>\n
\"Malodorous.\"<\/p>\n
-- Jak Jaunt<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-joys-of-indonesianization-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }