A land that time forgot?
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