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