A land that time forgot?

Some two years ago, a well-known local supermarket chain marketed a 31-volume American encyclopedia/dictionary set through its stores around Jakarta. Customers were offered easy payment terms, including getting the first book free with purchases of other items. Over a period of six months, I managed to buy the entire set, by purchasing one or two books each time I shopped at that supermarket.

Even today, I still consult that encyclopedia for certain information. But after I looked up its entry for "Jakarta," I began to wonder about its overall usefulness as an accurate reference source.

The encyclopedia set was published fairly recently. Under "Presidents, U.S.," Bill Clinton is listed as the 42nd American president. But the photograph accompanying the entry for Indonesia's capital city shows what seems to me like a 1948 Dodge in front of a 1915 Dutch-style building alongside a canal full of bathing people. The picture seems to date from the days just after Indonesia independence. I have lived in Jakarta almost my whole life, and I still cannot identify that particular corner of this city of ours. Has anyone seen a 1948 Dodge here lately?

I can imagine the following scene happening today in Peoria, Illinois, the United States: Ten-year-old Norma Sue, a fifth grader in elementary school, walks nervously and with her heart pounding, to the head of the class. It is the day for reading aloud homework assignments. The teacher, Mrs. Grizelda, had instructed each of her pupils to choose a country from a world map to make their reports on.

Our tense little heroine, Norma Sue, stands facing her classmates, nervously licks her lips, draws a deep breath, and starts her presentation: "Umm...my report is on a group of small islands lying southeast of the continent of Asia. It is one country and is a republic. My source is our family's encyclopedia at home. The title of my short essay is: Indonesia: The land that time forgot...".

And this scene is likely to happen in Peoria, all because some encyclopedia editors failed to do their research properly and thoroughly.

FARID BASKORO

Jakarta