The trouble with finding a good book in Jakarta<\/p>\n
By Prapti Widinugraheni<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Reading is, to some people, a very serious
\npastime. For these people, life is not worth living without an
\nunfinished book on hand.<\/p>\n
But this serious pastime can turn into frustration if good
\nbooks are not available and if searching for one is always a
\nmajor ordeal.<\/p>\n
It gets even more frustrating if, firstly, the desired type of
\nbook is one in a language other than Bahasa Indonesia and
\nsecondly, if the search must be done in Jakarta -- a bustling
\nmetropolis and the country's busiest and most advanced
\ninternational gateway.<\/p>\n
Sad to say, Jakarta has so far proven that being an
\ninternational city does not automatically guarantee easy access
\nto international-standard facilities, including bookstores of
\ninternational standard.<\/p>\n
Joan Bungar, a Singaporean who has lived here for more than
\nsix months, for example, claims she has never bought anything
\nmore sophisticated than a few maps and traveling guides during
\nher stay in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think there are enough bookstores in Jakarta... The
\nTimes Bookstore's collection here is even smaller than the one in
\nSingapore, and in Singapore we always complain about how small it
\nis,\" she says.<\/p>\n
Bungar is not the only one to complain about the liited
\ncollection of Jakarta's bookstores.<\/p>\n
Chris Smith, the director of the Indonesian Netherlands
\nAssociation, says bookstores here not only lack in quantity but
\nin quality as well.<\/p>\n
\"I go to the Times Bookstore in Jakarta sometimes, but the
\nquality of the books they offer here is insufficient, so they are
\nof no interest to me,\" says Smith, who spends about US$350 to
\n$400 a year on what he considers good, high-standard literature.<\/p>\n
\"You can't find these kinds of books here ... What I do not
\nlike is junk -- easy reading and something you can get
\neverywhere. These are what you see here,\" he says.<\/p>\n
What about the non-English speaking expatriates here, like the
\nJapanese and Koreans? Are things easier for them?<\/p>\n
Hong Chang Hyung, a Korean executive on the Kodeco Group's
\nPlanning Board who enjoys magazines and novels, says he is quite
\ncontent with the variety of Korean books sold at the Korean
\nsupermarkets around the city.<\/p>\n
\"The supermarkets basically sell Korean spices and food, but
\nthey also provide additional services such as ordering books from
\nKorea for customers,\" Hong says.<\/p>\n
Japanese<\/p>\n
But it is slightly different for the Japanese. A Japanese
\ndiplomat who requested anonymity considers the Japanese
\nbookstores in Jakarta to have \"very limited\" collections compared
\nto those in Japan.<\/p>\n
\"The ones here only sell popular books,\" says the diplomat who
\nclaims he can spend up to Rp 100,000 (US$42.5) for one Japanese
\nbook here. This is about two to three times the price in Japan.<\/p>\n
Finding a bookstore is one problem, but finding books on
\ncertain subjects is another.<\/p>\n
Some expatriates, for example, feel that what Jakarta's
\nbookstores really need is a collection of good, informative books
\non Indonesia: what Indonesia is about and what makes it tick.<\/p>\n
Hong says he has long been looking for literature on
\nIndonesian politics and economics. \"But I have never found a book
\nthat has given comprehensive insight on this, so I have had to
\ncompile information myself,\" he says.<\/p>\n
Similarly, the Japanese diplomat says that in Jakarta it is
\ndifficult to locate books on certain subjects, like politics and
\neconomics which are written in English.<\/p>\n
\"In the end we have to rely on biographies and life-stories
\ntold by Indonesia's prominent figures ... and make our own
\nconclusion of an issue,\" he says.<\/p>\n
Although the major shortcoming of Jakarta's bookstores seems
\nto be what expatriates consider poor quality and variety, several
\nother expatriates claim they are quite content with what
\nbookstores here have to offer.<\/p>\n
However, they are concerned with another aspect of the book
\nindustry: high prices.<\/p>\n
A British diplomat who requested anonymity says that although
\nhe feels bookstores here provide a nice array, he prefers
\nSingapore stores as they offer cheaper prices.<\/p>\n
\"I will buy at the Times here only if I want something very
\nspecific and very quickly -- which is a very rare occurrence,\" he
\nsays.<\/p>\n
His average US$200 to $300 annual spending on books go mostly
\nto a London-based book club of which he is a member.<\/p>\n
\"The clubs buy in large quantities, so I can get the books at
\ndiscounted prices ... I can get two books for the price of one
\nhere,\" says the diplomat who claims he buys two to three books a
\nmonth and up to six when going on holiday.<\/p>\n
Buying books during a visit or transit in Singapore seems to
\nbe a popular option for many Jakarta-based expatriates.<\/p>\n
Smith claims his book budget is usually spent there, where the
\nTimes Bookstore is \"better\" and the MPH offers \"best quality
\nbooks\".<\/p>\n
Similarly, Bungar, who is a staff member at the Association of
\nSoutheast Asian Nations secretariat, says she visits the Times or
\nMPH whenever she is in Singapore or Bangkok.<\/p>\n
Friends<\/p>\n
Other expatriates rely on visiting friends and relatives to
\nadd to their collection of books.<\/p>\n
Louis Pectinger, an Australian who is married to an
\nIndonesian, says friends and relatives from overseas can always
\nbe relied on to buy and bring her books whenever they visit her
\nin Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"I prefer practical books, such as those on home designing,
\ngardening and teaching,\" says Pectinger, who works as a teacher
\nat an international school in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Books like these are far too expensive here. They reach well
\nover Rp 100,000 each,\" she adds.<\/p>\n
What does the bookstore say about the situation?<\/p>\n
The Times Bookstore, probably the most popular English-
\nlanguage bookstore in town -- and therefore the most frequent to
\nreceive complaints from the expatriates interviewed by The
\nJakarta Post, gets its collections from Singapore's Times
\nBookstore.<\/p>\n
Novena, an employee in the accounting department of PT
\nDharmala Timesindo which is the Indonesian retailer for Times
\nbooks, says the Times Bookstores in Jakarta prioritizes selling
\nbooks which are bestsellers in the United Kingdom and Singapore.<\/p>\n
\"Unless, of course, they are banned from entering the
\ncountry,\" she says. Banned literature is that which is in Chinese
\ncharacters and books by authors unfavorable to the government.<\/p>\n
For classic literature and other \"less-popular\" titles, Times
\nobtain a few copies from Singapore and use them to test the
\nmarket before retailing them on a larger scale, according to
\nNovena.<\/p>\n
Does she feel many expatriates are unsatisfied with the
\nbookstore?<\/p>\n
\"We haven't had any complaints so far,\" she says.<\/p>\n
Not all expatriates, however, are particular about the
\navailability of reading material, nor do they think Jakarta's
\nbookstores are lacking.<\/p>\n
Bob, for example, an American consultant who has been living
\nin Jakarta for seven and a half years, says he can do his book
\nshopping anywhere.<\/p>\n
\"In the airports, in five-star hotels ... nowhere special. I
\ndon't have a habit of buying books, I just get them if there
\nhappens to be a bookstore around,\" he says.<\/p>",
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