Does Mr. Mochamad confuse you?

Does Mr. Mochamad confuse you?

JAKARTA (JP): A businessman from the Middle East eying
Indonesian investment opportunities recently found himself in a
tortuous situation as he tried to locate his friend's name in a
local telephone book.

The trouble started not with his naivete -- this being the
first time he had set foot in this country -- but because his
Indonesian friend's name is Muhammad Mahmud.

No, his friend had nothing to do with illegal activities or a
formless organization (structurally-challenged institution for
the politically-correct set), but because his first name has
become part of the local culture of confusion.

The businessman's fruitless search provoked him to look deeper
into the spelling of the name which means "praise worthy". It was
really beyond his imagination how Indonesians live with so many
varieties. There are more than 20 spellings of "Muhammad", with
or without a second name.

This, for the businessman, was unbelievable. He found it
spelled Muhamad, Mohamad, Mohammad, Mochamad, Mochammad, Moehamad
and Moehammad, Moehamad and Moechammad, and Moechamad. And then
discovered the abbreviations like Moh., Moch., Mohd., Moech.,
Much., Moeh., and just M. Something.

The businessman also found what he believed to be the correct
way to spell Muhammad was far outnumbered by the confusing
varieties. Further research dug up Mukhamad, Mukhammad, Mohammed,
Mohamaad, Muhammaad, Mohamamad, Mohamat and Mohammmad.

Not seeing any light at the end of the confused tunnel, and
discovering that Moh. or Moch. can be followed by a second name
like Mahmud, Machmud or Machmoed, Yusuf, or Joesoef, he fell ill
with a headache. In his delirium he reminisced about opening a
telephone book in Lahore, Pakistan, last month to find the only
way the name was spelled was the undiluted Muhammad.

This is by no means signifies, he reasoned, that there are
fewer Muhammad in the country of Muhammad Ali Jinnah than in
Indonesia, the country of Ahmed Sukarno.

The exhaustive spelling game ended when his friend Muhammad
Mahmud solved the puzzle. Muhammad Mahmud (he is known by his
second name) said that Indonesia has a long tradition of
respecting human rights -- well, at least the right to name
babies. But, he continued, confusion has long been part of the
culture because social communication is not yet developed.

According to Mahmud, William Shakespeare's most quotable quote
"What's in a name?/That we call a rose/By any other name would
smell as sweet?" is not applicable to Indonesia because a name
means a great deal here. A name symbolizes love, beauty and self-
respect.

Indonesians like to dig new names from the earth of culture,
which provides them with endless varieties originating from
Sanscrit, Arabic, English, Latin, Dutch and local dialects. A
beautiful and unique name becomes an object of pride.

As for the name Muhammad, and all its variations, most are
based on respect for the Prophet and are influenced by local
cultures. Sumatrans as well as Malaysians tend to abbreviate it
Mohd., while West Javanese, who prefer a softer sound, write Moh.
The rest of Java prefers Moch.. Furthermore, in Central Java it
is common to see Hasan or Husein changed into Chasan and Chusen
which are further developed into Kasan and Kusen.

Not all names found on official lists are spelled the way the
owners might want. The bureaucracy tends to regard the first name
as trivial and standardize it to Moch., or simply delete it.

Those who know how to correctly pronounce Mochamad or
Mokhammad use the original accent which a clear "h" sound coming
from the glottis. The different spellings stem from a lack of a
special letter to represent this particular sound.

There is no way to standardize the spelling in Indonesia
because legal consequences of names. The businessman was quite
satisfied by the explanation. So are confused Indonesians, maybe.

-- Thayeb Sabil