Translation of Britain

Translation of Britain

Throughout my several years of residence in Indonesia, I feel
I have tolerated the translation of "Britain" and "United
Kingdom" into the Indonesian word Inggeris for just about long
enough. The final straw came when a young woman recently asked me
where she could find the Embassy of Scotland. Being English and,
therefore, British, this question came as more than just a
surprise to me.

I am now getting weary of hearing TVRI and RRI newsreaders
refer to John Major as Perdana Menteri Inggeris which he is
certainly not. Just as Soeharto would definitely not be pleased
if referred to as Presiden Jawa.

Even Inggeris Raya (Great England) would not, I feel, be an
appropriate translation of the word "Britain." If a Glaswegian
were to be referred to as English, the speaker would probably
finish up with his whole set of teeth dangling from his tonsils.

How many more times am I going to hear the Union Jack being
called bendera Inggeris, which it certainly is not.

How is "Wales" to be translated into Indonesian language? Can
the "British Isle" be translated to become Kepulauan Inggeris
with or without the addition of Raya when it includes the
Republic of Ireland, which is a totally independent nation now.

What must Indonesian people be thinking when they are informed
that Great Britain consists of three countries and that the
United Kingdom consists of four?

If England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are to be
regarded as an individual countries, then what's Britain called?
A nation? And the United Kingdom? A kingdom? And what about those
teeny-weeny places like the Orkney Islands, the Isle of Wight,
the Western Isles, the Isle of Man? What country, nation, kingdom
do and don't they belong to? Perhaps we could agree that the
Scilly Isles be translated into Indonesian as kepulauan konyol
(Foolish Archipelago).

I seriously believe that it is the responsibility of the
British Embassy which, by the way, is inappropriately called
Kedutaan Kerajaan Inggeris, to officially and publicly clear up
this misunderstanding and misinterpretation so that a large
percentage of the population do not remain in ignorance of this
for too much longer.

JEREMY D.R. GIBBONS

Jakarta