Yogyakarta, Yogya, Jogja or Jogya?
Yogyakarta, Yogya, Jogja or Jogya?
You may call it Yogyakarta, Yogya, Jogja or Jogya. No problem.
Honestly, there are no other cities in Indonesia that have
equally "popular" different names like this one. And, frankly
speaking, none of the hundreds of names of areas in this country
have been abbreviated in so many ways by its name like
Yogyakarta.
On the streets, people -- including government officials and
university students -- prefer to call this sultanate province
Yogya or Jogja, despite its "official" name Yogyakarta.
Ahead of the upcoming ASEAN Tourism Forum next week, brochures
prepared by organizers, hoteliers and sponsors have already
baffled participants and the international press.
Many of the brochures and booklets quoted the welcome speech
by the Governor and Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, and State Minister
of Culture and Tourism I Gede Ardika by using the official name
of the city, which is also used as the name of the province.
The brochures also describe the venue of the event:
Yogyakarta Exhibition and Convention Center.
However, the map in the same brochures is written Jogya
Tourist Map. At the back, a banner reads "Jogja, Never Ending
Asia".
The last slogan, apparently a marketing tag, already colored
the tents of many food stalls on the streets.
Locals cannot give a precise explanation on this confusing
matter.
"It will surely be a question from the delegates, especially
from the press and participants as they have to put the name of
the city in their publications or brochures," said Weilin Han,
who was hired to train local students for various functions in
the ATF meeting.
According to data from Stuppa Indonesia, a tourism research
institution, the "Jogja: Never Ending Asia" brand was presented
to Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X in February last year by marketing
consulting firms aiming to boost the promotion of the culture-
rich land.
It disclosed that the name "Jogja", instead of "Yogyakarta" or
"Yogya", is used as a promotion to market Yogyakarta since "Y" is
a difficult alphabetical start for most international audiences
both reading and spelling. While "Jogja" is easily pronounced as
"JOG-ja", even "JOG" could be used as nickname.
Meanwhile, with the promotional line of Never Ending Asia,
Jogja is expected to join the "club of Asia". So far, Singapore
and Malaysia have been using "New Asia" and "Truly Asia" as their
promotional lines.
But visiting tourists should not worry about the names since
you can mention any of the four and -- guaranteed -- you will not
be misunderstood.
It is great for Jakartans that their city has never been
shortened by name. Otherwise, a Singaporean friend might e-mail
me and write: "c u in Ja".
-- Grace Emilia