Translator Rashid careful with words

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Local movie viewers will never see the Indonesian translation of words such as "Arab terrorists" used in subtitles for Hollywood films because Rashid Rachman translates it into kelompok teroris (terrorist group), instead.

The viewers will also not read the proper translation of "make love", "f..." or "have sex" along the bottom of the big screen as Rashid will translate the words as bercinta (make love).

He translates other words such as "penis" and "vagina" as kemaluan (genitals).

Many viewers may grumble at what they perceive to be Rashid's frequent translation errors.

Not many people know about Rashid. As soon as a film ends people usually make a mad dash for the exit.

Probably, only a few cinema goers have noticed his name at the end of films in the credits: " ... diterjermahkan (translated by) Rashid Rahman".

The 68-year-old Rashid is the most senior among three translators working for the only film importer, PT Subtan Film, of the Twenty-One Group. They translate the dialog from colloquial English into colloquial Bahasa Indonesia, as far as is possible, within the limits that cultural differences allow.

Rashid acknowledged that he also personally imposes a restriction on sensitive words covered by the Indonesian acronym SARA (ethnic affiliation, religion, race and societal groups). The sensitivities behind these issues are often been deemed to have led to conflict in Indonesia.

"If I didn't exercise censorship, the film censorship authority would do it. If they miss something, people will protest," he said in an interview with The Jakarta Post recently.

He said many movie goers might complain that he did not translate the dialog properly as he simply translates the film from a copy of the script, without actually seeing the film.

He said the scripts arrived often only a week before the film was due to be screened and he had two or three days to translate the dialog, which could reach 1,000 pages.

"A film is translated by a translator. It's different to the translation of television shows, which are usually done by four people, including an editor. It's really stressful," he said.

He added that a film translator had only one day to edit the translation while listening to the film soundtrack before it was played in a cinema.

"We just guess the precise words from listening. We make mistakes sometimes," he said, adding that not many people are interested in the job because of the hard work it entailed.

Besides Rashid, the two other film translators are Yusuf Adi, 60, and D. Hery R., 54.

"Many applications come in for the job. But many people quit after trying it. Now it's only three of us," Rashid complained.

He declined to discuss the payment he received from the company, saying that it was based on the number of films he translated.

"Sometimes, if there are no new films, we have nothing to do. Some of us even resort to translating films for video," he said, adding that before the economic crisis in 1997, he could translate 30 films a month.

Rashid's interest in watching films started when he was a young boy. He often spent his pocket money to watch films together with his younger sister Rachmini, who is known also as Mien Uno, the director of the John Robert Powers finishing schools in Indonesia.

His interest in film translation was prompted after seeing Desiree starring Marlon Brando, which was translated by noted artist Asrul Sani in 1962.

"I still remember the film. The translation was very good; it was beautiful," said Rashid, who is still single and considers his colleague Hery as his adopted son. Rashid now lives alone in a modest house in Baranangsiang, Bogor.

Rashid's first film translation was I Passed for White which was produced by Allied Artists in 1963.

Born the fourth of eight children, Rashid never planned to become a film translator. "I once dreamed of being a movie actor," he said.

His educational background is not connected with his job. He dropped out in the second year of his studies at the department of agriculture of the University of Indonesia, which is now known as the Bogor Institute of Agriculture.

"I always got sick when it was exam time at the university. So I quit," said Rashid, who is also the older brother of noted educator Arif Rachman.

He learned English formally during senior high school. But his language skills were mostly gained from books and other publications, including second-hand imported English newspapers at that time.

He no longer uses a typewriter in translating a film script; instead, he now uses a computer.

"I get really frustrated when the electricity goes off. I can't do anything," he said.