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