Geographical names

Geographical names

From Kompas

There is no standard for geographical names in the Indonesian language. We use the equivalents of "South-East Asia", "East Asia", "Western Europe" and "North America", but why do we say "Middle East"? I think this is more connected with the "Near East" and "Far East".

If Asians had the same frame of mind as Europeans, we would say that what is now known as the "Middle East" should correctly be "Medium West" or "Middle West", while "Far West" would be Europe.

There is "Munich" and "Muenchen", "Moskow" and "Moskwa". It would be a good thing if we adhered to the closest possible pronunciation of the original name. We do not need to refer to "Saint Petersburg" when its inhabitants call their city "Petrograd". "Georgia" in Russia is confused with a state of the same name in the U.S. while its people call it "Gorki". For us "Munsen" and "Kolon" should be adequate to indicate "Munich" and "Cologne".

What is already familiar to us should not be replaced. "Belanda" for "Holland" and "Perancis" for "France" should remain as they are, and should not be converted into such ridiculous names as "Bakeri Holan" and "Bakeri Fren" (Dutch Bakery and French Bakery) which gives an impression of stupidity.

SIDARTA

Bandung, West Java