Foreign place names in Indonesia

john madden

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West of Ginteng on the Jember road is a town named Glenmore. A little further on is a signpost to PT Glenfalloch. Have you noticed any other examples?
 
Scots working for the Dutch were stationed there. David Jardine and Terry Collins (passed away earlier this month) knew a fair bit about it but I'm sure a Google search will bring up an article or two.
 
Not exactly the same thing, but "Central Park" has always struck me as a weird name for a mall in Jakarta.
 
I pulled up some old company docs for the PT ages ago but haven't looked again recently.
 
Scotlands biggest export...next to whisky...are its people. Therefore it is no surprise Scottish names pop-up all over the world.
 
Is Malioboro in Jogya named after Marlboro? Lovina Beach in Bali sounds foreign too.

But this works the other way around e.g there are quite a few places in the USA that have names sound just like Indonesian/Sundanese its uncanny.
Tahoe City, CA. (tahoe was an old spelling for tahu like my favorite snack tahu gejrot)
City of Tempe, AZ ( tempe is an alt spelling for tempeh)
City of Bangor, Maine (bangor means juvenile in Sundanese)
State of Utah (utah means vomit in Sundanese)
 
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Many people believe that the street Jalan Malioboro was named after the Duke of Marlborough, a former Jogja Governor, but some scholars say it comes from the Sanskrit word, malybhara (adorned with flowers).
 
Many people believe that the street Jalan Malioboro was named after the Duke of Marlborough, a former Jogja Governor, but some scholars say it comes from the Sanskrit word, malybhara (adorned with flowers).

How interesting. I had been told that the street was named after Marlboro cigarettes, back in the era when the "Marlboro Man" was a big image. I never stopped to consider whether this explanation makes any sense or not. Either of your explanations seem more plausible.
 
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Not exactly the same thing, but "Central Park" has always struck me as a weird name for a mall in Jakarta.

Developers are fond of constructing facades for their planned unit developments that mimic well know, presumed prestigious European and North American attractions. Case in point the pretentious housing projects in the BSD area; one with its own Eiffel Tower, among other things.

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Not only Indonesia...go to Las Vegas and walk down the street..... then guess where one is located...:doh:
 
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Developers are fond of constructing facades for their planned unit developments that mimic well know, presumed prestigious European and North American attractions. Case in point the pretentious housing projects in the BSD area; one with its own Eiffel Tower, among other things.

40328990331_47194b8ba3_z.jpg
In Bitung in North Sulawesi there' a replca of the Eiffel tower in the middle of town. It' not hugh but kind of a cool story. The long time mayor of this shipping point had a daughter that went to school in Paris and before she came home had it built as a welcome home gift.

I don' know who or how it was paid for but the city is very proud of it and really shows a love of a father to a daughter.

Bitung is along the Lembeh straits which any diver can tell you is a world class muck diving spot.
 
Looking at the Bellezza Shopping/Residences/Business Towers in Permata Hijau in Jakarta could have one thinking they're near the Colosseum in Rome....
167774d1344795943-jual-apt-bellezza-permata-hijau-thebellezzapermatahijau_thumb.jpg
 
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So, no other examples similar to those I originally posted? A little surprising given the colonial history.
 
I don' know who or how it was paid
I think I know, unfortunately.
The "long time mayor of this shipping point" is a well known figure of the region: former governor Sinyo Harry Sarundajang who was mayor of Bitung from 1986 to 2000. It was him and not any of his three daughters who studied in Paris in the early 70's at the Institut International d'Administration Publique. It is unclear if he got any diploma from there but he managed to get a certificate of proficiency in French. He indeed speaks reasonably french.

The Sarundajang tribe are close neighbors, staying in Winangun where I live.

Vanda, his oldest daughter who is anggota DPR--RI at the moment, was still a teen (she must have been 14 or 15) when the 12m high Eiffel tower in Bitung got erected. She has a S1 from UKI, Jakarta. Nothing from France. Eva and Shinta the two youngest daughter were still in primary school at the time.


By the way, if one day you go further south in the Gorontalo province, you also have an Eiffel tower in Limboto, a few kilometers before Gorontalo. That one is cool because you drive through it. It is also "much" higher than the one in Bitung. I think it's about 30m high.
 
So, no other examples similar to those I originally posted? A little surprising given the colonial history.
The name of our village here are poetically Minahasan... Tangkuney, Tombariri, Kawangkoan, Tondegesan, Touluaan, Ratatotok, dll. Not really Scotish if you want my opinion. :)
 
But if you try them with a Scots accent they remain poetic, albeit in a Burnsian mode!
 
But if you try them with a Scots accent they remain poetic, albeit in a Burnsian mode!
Hahaha... I should try that.

What I really love is the appropriation of English, spelled in a more Indonesian way, that many of my contacts here do. As an example, to a message I WApp in Bahasa Manado to someone I do business with, I receive this answer. "Hai bu... okeyokey.. tengkyu..". Whenever I WApp I am used to get called "bu" because people don't really check what number send them the message and think it comes from my wife's hp, but "hai", "okey" and "tengkyu" never cease to amaze me.
 
"After you", says my wife, when she means "up to you", but in fact it retains some internal logic.
 
Not only Indonesia...go to Las Vegas and walk down the street..... then guess where one is located...:doh:

There is a rather big one in one of the new casino / hotel in Macau..... Build about 1 year ago.
 

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