Lippo group to use Indonesian names

Lippo group to use Indonesian names

JAKARTA (JP): Lippo group, owned by businessman Mochtar Riady,
has agreed to replace the foreign names of its branches with
Indonesian names.

A memorandum of understanding was signed on Tuesday by Mochtar
Riady and head of the Language Development Center, Hasan Alwi.
Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro, State
Minister of Public Housing Akbar Tanjung and Enggartiasto Lukita,
general chairman of the Indonesian Real Estate Association,
witnessed the signing.

"Lippo supports the government's promotion of the use of the
Indonesian language. Language is one of the factors that can
unite people. That is why we cooperated with the Education and
Culture Department to find the right terms," Mochtar said.

Lippo group has yet to announce the new names and how much the
project will cost. "We hope that this project can be finished as
soon as possible," said Mochtar.

Based on the Language Development Center's guidelines for the
proper use of Indonesian, Lippo Bank should be called Bank Lippo,
Lippo Land changed to Bumi Lippo, Lippo City to Lippo Pura and
Lippo Village to Dukuh Lippo.

The memorandum of understanding was signed in response to the
government's call for all housing estates, hotels, shopping
centers and office buildings to replace their foreign names
before Aug. 17, the 50th anniversary of Indonesia's independence.

"Using Indonesian terms does not necessarily mean the
businesses will lose their customers. They can still find the
right Indonesian terms appropriate for their target," Minister
Tanjung said.

"We have studied Indonesian language since childhood but now
we are not using it properly. We are even proud to use foreign
languages instead of the Indonesian language," Wardiman said,
adding that the use of foreign names makes Indonesian people feel
as if they were in other countries, not in Indonesia.

"The excessive use of foreign terms makes us feel inferior and
it reflects an erosion of pride in our own language. It is
dangerous for younger generations," Wardiman asserted.

Jakarta Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said recently that the city
administration had issued Regional Regulation No.1 in 1992,
regarding the proper use of Indonesian on billboards and for the
names of office buildings and business centers.

Aug. 17 has been set as the deadline for all foreign names to
disappear.

"At first I doubted the businesses response to the
government's call for the changing of the foreign names into
Indonesian, but I was mistaken. Their response is very good
indeed," Enggartiasto said. (31)