Espass, cuman belakangnya ipuk(?), ipuk(?), tertutup

01:52 Mar 7, 2013 

adjoining consonents. We had an Indonesian homestay student who couldn't pronounce 'shoes'. He always pronounced the word as 'sues'. I cured him by explaining that 'sh' in English is pronounced like 'sy' in Indonesian, i.e. 'shoes' and 'syukur' and voila!, he could say 'shoes'. Maybe this guy has the same problem with 'box' i.e., 'boks' and said 'buk'. I'm going to put 'buk' into the transcript, on your suggestion and then I can translate it as 'box'. You win one chocolate rabbit for all your good suggestions, Ian!

01:33 Mar 7, 2013 

Yes, the video definitely clears things up. I have had a look and I would say that he is definitely saying his version of ‘boks’ but he pronounces it ‘buk’ as in ‘gebuk’/’sibuk’ to which the interviewer calls it a ‘mobil Espass boks’ in seeking confirmation and they say yes. At least we now know it wasn’t filled with closed-minded ladies (ibu-ibu tertutup) :)

00:54 Mar 7, 2013 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6WSIoyl48A At about 3:00 minutes into the tape, the courier describes the van. At 3:17 he is heard to say this and makes the shape of a box with his hands. He definitely is not saying 'ibuk, ibuk' but I can't make out what he is saying. I have labelled it 'unintelligible' and indicated that he made the shape of a box with his hands.

21:33 Mar 6, 2013 

Yes, I did say that, but on listening again, it was Yuliani's staff, not Yuliani herself, who were in the car in front (the one carrying 5 cartons of cash). Given the text that surrounds this problem sentence, all of which relates to the Espass, not the people, and the fact that he said 'belakangnya... tertutup', I have settled on the translation of what sounds like 'ibuk, ibuk' as 'Ma'am, Ma'am'--even though it is odd. It is a badly formed sentence, understandably, given the stress the speaker was under, and I can only use the context and the grammar to guide my decision. I don't know how I would manage without my ProZ.com KudoZ supporters! Many, many thanks. Even if we don't always agree, at least we have the benefit of many minds working on the same problem.

14:10 Mar 6, 2013 

Quoted from below: ...that Yulianis and her staff were in the car in front, not behind.

If any woman in this convoy had to be regarded highly so as to be called Ibuk/Ibu, then she must have been Yulianis. She was at the time the Finance Director, the highest ranked company officer.

So, again it is right that Ibuk/Ibu was a polite addressing, but in this case, IMHO, it was not to address a female or the woman, but to tell the interrogator that the respected woman was behind.

13:00 Mar 6, 2013 

5 cartons of money and Yuliani's staff. Yuliani was in another vehicle, behind the Espass. The Espass is a box van, i.e., tertutup, no seats, passengers or windows.

12:18 Mar 6, 2013 

Somebody must be lying. Here it goes:

Mobil Fortuner mengangkut duit dolar, mobil boks Espass membawa uang rupiah, Honda CRV yang ditumpangi Yulianis, dan satu Fortuner mengawal di belakang iringan. "Paling depan adalah mobil patroli polisi," kata Yulianis kepada Tempo, 23 Februari 2012.

And here, Yulianis's chauffeur confirmed that the CRV is Yulianis' personal car. She could not ride in a rental car when her car was involved in the convoy:

Ref:http://bulanbintangjabar.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.htm...
Uang-uang itu dimasukan dalam 19 kardus. Sebanyak 14 kardus dibawa mobil box, sementara 5 kardus lagi dibawa mobil Fortuner. Menurut Dayat, mobil box dan Fortuner ini kemudian dikawal lagi dua mobil lainnya, mobil CRV dan Kijang Innova. "Tiga mobil itu sewaan. Mobil CRV milik Ibu Yulianis," ujar Dayat.

From both sources, the composition is consistent up the fourth car:

police car, Fortuner, Espass, CRV.

The fifth is one of these Toyota models: Fortuner or Kijang Innova.

10:42 Mar 6, 2013 

... the text goes on to say that Yulianis and her staff were in the car in front, not behind. It also says that the van was full. The Espass is a box van, closed, no windows even. I think I am safe in guessing that what I hear is 'ibuk, ibuk' and that Ian is correct that the speaker was trying to be very, very polite. Definitely no ladies in the back and definitely Yulianis and her staff were in the car in front of the Espass.

08:53 Mar 6, 2013 

Yes, Ian could be right to guess that the correct pronounciation is ibuk, with the k clerly pronounced. A standard articulation should not have this.

However, I think it does not refer to a lady or ladies seated at the back, but about the car following the Espass. In this Tempo's report, Yulianis said that she followed the Espass in a Honda CRV: http://www.tempo.co/read/news/2012/02/28/063386908/Polisi-Ka...

So, the translation could be like this:

[Carried by an] Espass, but at the back [car] were the ladies [=Ms. Yulianis and her staff, Ms. Furi]. Close by.

Now, tertutup will be very much intriguing, I doin't think it refer to the car being closed or open. If you bring such a lot of money (tens of boxes), you will be crazy to load it up on an open truck. I mean, the transport car would be by default closed, so tertutup should refer to something else. Does this mean that the CRV was following at a very close distance? Just a guess, hence the Close by translation above.