A symbolic new look
A symbolic new look
I was amazed to see the new look of The Jakarta Post, which I
understand will appear from now on, starting from Oct. 1, 2001.
The editors and staff must have had special reasons for
choosing the symbolic date in the Indonesian political calendar
for the new facelift.
What is specially meaningful and encouraging to me in
appraising the new look of the Post is that the constructive
spirit of dynamism, as prevails in the press world, is not the
monopoly of newspapers in Japan. Such a spirit turns out to exist
also in Indonesia, as witnessed by the new look of the Post.
In Japan, the English-language daily Mainichi suddenly changed
into The Mainichi Daily News in the 1950s. The name of the daily
suddenly appeared in a different new print. The Nippon Times of
wartime Japan began to bear the new name The Japan Times at the
end of the "Greater East Asia War", the Japanese version of the
Pacific War.
In response to the sympathetic passage in the editorial titled
A new face, inviting comments and suggestions from readers, I am
rather curious as to how the Sunday edition of the Post will show
up in its new look. Will the distinctive columns like People,
Life, Arts, Sports, Travel, Entertainment, Images, Cook's Corner,
carrying instructive and thought-provoking features, be continued
and improved?
Features that are cherished with great expectations, and
excitement, among the intellectual or educated class are, for
instance, a sequence of glimpses of classrooms with pupils in
elementary schools in outer regions like Biak, Ambon, Sumbawa,
Lombok, Bali, etc. For that matter, similar features may be run
on elementary schools in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi.
Could such features be given the chance to appear in, for
instance, the Images column of the Sunday edition? It is
important to note that the conditions of the classrooms in
elementary schools will reflect on the quality and the state of
mind of the local leaders, whether they belong to the class of
politicians or that of bureaucrats.
In conclusion, I wish to commend the considerateness of the
editors and staff in opting for a larger type of print, making
English reading easier for the younger generations now studying
in high schools and universities. The future of Indonesia lies in
their hands.
S. SUHAEDI
Jakarta