Books on Habibie a top seller

JAKARTA (JP): A vice presidential nomination sells books, as the attendant of Gema Insani Press stall at the General Session venue has found out.

"We sell an average of 10 copies of books on Habibie every day, while other titles do not sell as much," Eman Sulaeman told Antara.

Eman sells BJ Habibie, Kisah Hidup dan Karyanya (B.J. Habibie, His Life and Work) and Habibie, Soeharto dan Islam (Habibie, Soeharto and Islam), which are priced at Rp 4,400 and Rp 11,900 respectively.

The books were printed by Gema Insani Press in 1996 but Eman said now was a good time to start selling them again.

On display at the Inter Masa stand are three books on Habibie that it published. They are 60 Tahun Habibie (Habibie 60 Years), Habibie Iptek dan Masyarakat Indonesia (Habibie, Science and Technology, and the Indonesian Community) and Habibie Mutiara dari Timur (Habibie, the Pearl of the East).

The last title has been selling the most, the book seller, Suharjo, said. The other two titles, even with a discount of 20 percent, are slow to move because of their price tags. One of the books sells for Rp 120,000. (swe)