Translating Names: Indonesia Case

Not so long ago in a land far away called Indonesia there lived a powerful man renowned as the Minister of Education, who with his grasp turned all names (buildings, shopping centres, apartments etc) from its origins into Indonesian. Like most powerful supremacy it was only for a short while but the impact was pervasive at least in the language world we translators come to know of it.

This turn of event came after a spell that shocked Indonesia in which most commercial names on billboards and advertisements along the street of Jakarta, its capital, were in utterance other than its own, Indonesian. It was wise, then, to take drastic measures to Indonesianize the English or other foreign tongue for that matter. 許多優點和缺點都在報紙正在談論, 收音機和電視. 從知名機構專家, 大學等分享了他們的觀點.

什麼出來的這個: 皇家公園/塔曼普瑞/; 荷蘭麵包店/麵包Hollan /; Artola / Artolita /; 穆拉塔/塔寶貴/等等.

體面和令人震驚的結果有望走出這一切. 目前看來,在它的起源只是一個陌生的名字名字, 但Indonesianize當它是完美的. 有些橫空出世可怕, 如此糟糕,這是無法識別作為一種商品名稱,直到你看到什麼它確實是. 當然,這是不好的一些行業.

不僅, 電視行業有其負載的份額. 它不得不表示,在電影中的英語翻譯成印尼語. 一個新的行業誕生. Many companies in the television related industry sprung up. It just literally appeared as if it was an old-timer in the field. Like nature the best ones survived and the bad ones trashed in the waste-bins.

It was a blessing in disguise for the translators, though. Many translators turned dubbers, a profession fit for actors, yet it still was in the comforts of a translator, back-staged out of the lime-light. Whether dubbing in Indonesian for children’s animation or voice-overing in English for a Hindi film, it was a new experience. The bargaining power for cash was still less than it was expected and the hours, it was tiring.

Now, all this is history. But, it seems that it’s going to repeat itself soon. Nobody knows when, but sure signs are noticeable.

Hence, what can we say about an event such as this especially for us translators in Indonesia? Do we really need to turn Pizza Hut into Kedai Pizza? Do we really want to turn Rasuna Apartments into Rusun Rasuna? Do we really need another headache?

Do translators have a say in all this? One translator may not be heard. But, an association of translators might? Can we really make a difference? Does the HPI, Himpunan Penerjemah Indonesia (Indonesian Translator Association) reach out for younger generation of translator?

Can we as Indonesian translators in this cyber-forum as translators that reside in Indonesia (or anywhere else) do anything about this? I think we can, but how? Let’s talk and gather round and ‘kopi-darat’.

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