Why not Splendors of Indonesia?
Why not Splendors of Indonesia?
Prompted by Soegio Sosrosoemarto's letter (The Jakarta Post,
June 15, 1995) on the subject of the Faces of Indonesia cultural
road show, that was recently conducted in a number of European
countries, I should like to make a different kind of comment on
the use of the word "faces" in the show's title.
What the organizers of the show probably did not know is that
in many European languages the English word "faces" is pronounced
in exactly the same way as the word "faeces," a word of Latin
origin. It is a word that is often used either as a quasi-medical
term or as a euphemism for more earthly locutions standing for
"human excrement."
If the show is to be taken on the road again, I would strongly
recommend replacing the unsavory (and malodorous) implication of
"Faces", as used in the show's title, with some other, less
offensive term. Sosrosoemarto has suggested the phrase Glimpses
of Indonesia. But to my mind, "glimpses" carries the connotation
of an all too brief, or glancing, look. The show certainly
deserves more than that. The substitute title that I--as a former
advertising professional--would like to propose is the mission
statement: The Splendors of Indonesia.
Incidentally, on the banner displayed as the show's backdrop
(as seen on the local television coverage of the show) there was
one single word that contained no fewer than three spelling
errors. The word is rystaffel.
Error number one is the use of the letter y: the correct
spelling of this Dutch word uses the letter i followed by the
letter j. Error number two is the omission of another letter t
as, correctly spelt, the word contains two letters t, one after
the other. Error number three is the use of two letters f where
only one should be used. The correct spelling of the word is
rijsttafel; it is the contraction of two Dutch nouns (rijst
meaning 'rice' and tafel meaning 'table').
That this ceremonial colonial Dutch custom of serving tiffin
should be flogged as an Indonesian tourist attraction is, I
think, as demeaning to the richness of Indonesia's cultural
heritage as it is spurious in its intent to lure foreign
visitors, with something that has long gone into oblivion in this
country.
NURADI
Jakarta