3.24.2005
Heloo....for those who have not read java frenzy, i urge you to do so.
Ok back to the java roots for me....
I have two younger siblings and i confess that i am partly to be blamed for giving them "uncool names". My sister is the proud owner of the name Susyanti Anggrayni. I gave her the name susyanti cos it sure does match mine..hehe... My dad however, added his artistic touch with the name anggrayni (anggerik = orchid). Well its ok for me what....i mean at least her flowery name is not like ros or melor or just anggrik ( these are typical malay names back then when malay men are still wearing sarongs; and nothing else). I mean she's having the same problems that i am having which is a conflict of nationality(refer to J.F 1).
When my brother herman was born, i was partly responsible 'again' for naming him uncooly. However, i do take the credit for saving him from an 'uncooler' name. My dad initially wanted him to be named Suheryono....(err........suher what) YONO!? At that instance, i somehow pictured himself carrying dat name around...so pitiful....i mean what do ppl call him then?
Yawn? or Yawnn NO or Noo. Sigh...i pitied him so.After much hoo haaa.....i told him that 'yono ' will have such a difficult childhood and a pitiful one too.( fm personal experience...sob)
The solution....> 1)To find him a name that is a blend with the socially accepted malay name
2)A name that can identify him as a javanese
3)A name that he can relate to his familyline......THE 'S'
It was then that the name herman popped in my head. Herman is a 'malaynised' name and its widelly accepted.Now that criteria (1) is met, (2) and (3) is easy." But herman don't seem quite javanese lah"my dad said. Ok how about Suhermanto. 'To' is a known suffix to Indon names like suharTO,wiranTO,sustantTO.In addition to that,the suffix 'Su' relates him to the family (sukarjan,sunaryo,susiayanto....(su+x+o) ) where 'x' is a variable.
That was how he got the proud name Suhermanto..........but, what does it mean?
This question surface around 8 yrs later during a school project.
Herman was tasked to enter this 'school speaking contest' as a project. He was told to talk about himself...his family...roots...culture....blah blah blah. Most of his malay friends who entered had much cooler things to say like...."I am a malay.My name is Muhammad Nor Ali which means Muhammad(prophet), Light,Ali (son in law of prophet) literally...i wear sarong(with nothing underneath..hehehe),songkok and baju kurung..blah blah...gasing...blah blah... congkak...
Herman had things to talk about his culture...like belangkons....kuda kepangs....rupiah and so on.However, its just not complete without knowing the meaning of his name.He asked my dad one day and amazingly there was an answer."son, your name is actually an impromptu idea by your big brother who was dumb, fat and clumsy(but cute!) when he was small"
NOT!!!!
that would have meen devastating for such a bright kid.So my dad did the things that parrents are good at doing (bohong sunat a.k.a white lies)." ohhhh Herman...your name is very special tau.....It is a very rare name with a very strong meaning.It means 'Son of the living volcano', "
Son of What!!??....excuse me....its ok to give a white lie....but can you pls not over do it.He is going to be one sad teenager in the future im telling you...hahaha.
Anywayz all of a sudden i have "the son of a living volcano" as a brother.....but hey....if hes the "the son of a living volcano" than doesnt that makes my dad 'Da Volcano' and me "the 1st son of a living volcano".......hmmmmm
-ouch-
can`t you even see through me? `` Thursday, March 24, 2005
