Pornographic literature sold everywhere<\/p>\n
By Johannes Simbolon<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A group of junior high school girls walk past a
\nbook street vendor in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Seeing the girls glance at his merchandise, the vendor, Yudi,
\na man in his 20s and clad in shabby clothes, goads them to come.<\/p>\n
\"Hey, girls, come. Crossword puzzler books? Not expensive,\" he
\nsays, opening one puzzler book. Then, pointing to another book,
\nhe continues, \"English conversation book for students. You will
\nbe fluent in English in two months.\"<\/p>\n
Seeing the girls hesitate, the vendor swiftly picks up one
\nbook from below the heap of puzzler books. \"Love stories. Your
\nsatisfaction is guaranteed,\" he says. Smiling, he opens the thin
\nbook. On the page is featured a picture of a couple engaged in
\nsexual intercourse.<\/p>\n
The girls giggle and, laughing, walk away, leaving the still
\nsmiling vendor.<\/p>\n
The vendor was offering what locals refer to as stensilan
\n(stenciled material), a slang term for cheap, explicitly
\npornographic pocketbooks produced by local writers. The books
\nusually have a size of 20 by 15 centimeters and contain about 50
\npages. The term dates from the time when such books were
\ntypically hand-typed and then multiplied on mimeograph machines,
\nusing stencils. Now, the underground publishers of the books use
\nmodern equipment which produce better results.<\/p>\n
The history of the publication of such books is lost in time.
\nBut printing techniques are continually improved to meet the
\nchanging tastes and demands of the readers. Formerly, the cover
\nwould be simply blank paper on which the titles was hand-typed.
\nToday, the books are nicely wrapped in covers featuring models
\nclad in skimpy clothes. Inside, they are richly illustrated with
\nhard-core porn pictures reproduced from imported western and
\nAsian porn magazines.<\/p>\n
\"The pictures help readers visualize the stories,\" says Yudi.<\/p>\n
But as a matter of fact the pictures are mostly incompatible
\nwith the stories, which in most cases feature local characters in
\nlocal settings.<\/p>\n
The most popular writer in former days was Valentino. Now it
\nis Enny Arrow.<\/p>\n
In most books, the writers strive to arouse the imagination of
\ntheir readers with stories that are so absurd that they could
\ninduce in youngsters misleading perceptions about sex.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, however, the writers make it appear as if they
\n\"regret\" the trash which they have produced by ending their
\nstories with a \"good\" message, urging readers not to behave like
\nthe characters in the story. Obviously, the \"good\" message
\ncarries no meaning when compared to the unabashed descriptions of
\nsex scenes.<\/p>\n
Police from time to time crack down on this illegal business.
\nIn Jakarta, teachers and officials also routinely check the
\ncontents of students's bags. They have confiscated and burnt a
\ncountless number of books seized in operations such as the recent
\nOperation Wijaya Kusuma.<\/p>\n
Yet, the publication of such books never stops. They are sold
\nin huge numbers in every city throughout the country, whether
\nclandestinely or openly, regardless of place. In 1992, for
\nexample, Jakarta police officials apprehended several boy scouts
\non charges of selling such books to their teenaged peers during a
\nscout meeting at the Cibubur camping grounds.<\/p>\n
The books are typically priced at Rp 5,000 (US$2.22), but
\nafter some haggling they can be bought for between Rp 1,000 (44
\nU.S. cents) and Rp 1,500 ($1.5).<\/p>\n
\"The buyers are mostly male university and high school
\nstudents. Girls usually laugh when they are offered such books.
\nThey are too shy to buy them openly,\" said Yudi.<\/p>\n
But in big cities such as Jakarta, which provide many
\nalternatives for adolescents to channel their budding sexual
\ndrive, foreign porn videos and magazines can easily be bought.
\nThe books do not seem to be as popular in the big cities as they
\nare in the provinces, where such \"luxuries\" are unavailable.<\/p>\n
\"Here, the books are only read by junior high school students
\nand by some senior high school students who are sex maniacs. Most
\nsenior high school students are already fed up with them,
\npreferring to watch porn videos or pick up perek (bad girls),\"
\nsays Rikardo, a student of a senior high school in the Tomang
\ndistrict, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The Kompas daily newspaper at one time estimated that about
\none million copies could be sold nationwide for each single
\ntitle, making them unbeatable best-sellers in this country and
\nsurely providing a good deal of money for everyone involved in
\nthe business.<\/p>\n
But who publishes and writes the books still remains a well-
\nkept secret. In their efforts to crack down on the illegal trade,
\npolice have so far only been able to nab the retailers and
\nsometimes the wholesalers.<\/p>\n
One of the wholesalers around the Senen district, Central
\nJakarta, told The Jakarta Post they had no idea of who produced
\nthe books.<\/p>\n
Those outlets also sell magazines such as Playboy, Penthouse
\nand Playgirl for around Rp 25,000 ($11.11) a copy, and porn
\nvideos for around Rp 15,000 ($6.66).<\/p>\n
The business is run very carefully and cautiously. One group
\ntypically consists of around 10 tough young men, each of whom
\nhas a different job, including looking out for the police,
\n\"guides\" for prospective buyers, sellers and guards for the
\nsellers.<\/p>\n
The men who are assigned to \"guide\" prospective buyers usually
\nwhisper to visitors of the Senen book market that they sell porn
\nbooks. If someone is interested, they will guide him into a
\nrather dark alley where other members of the gang gather. The
\ntransaction is then conducted there in such a way that the buyers
\nusually feel \"forced\" to buy at the set price.<\/p>\n
In an effort to find out who the publishers of the books are,
\nthe Post went to the place armed with two self-made porn books,
\ntelling the wholesaler he hoped he might help find someone to
\npublish them.<\/p>\n
\"We only sell the books, we don't publish them. We accept
\nbooks only from someone we know,\" said one, looking at the Post
\nsuspiciously while another band the gang members approached in a
\nbelligerent manner.<\/p>",
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