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