Brag, brag and brag your head off

Brag, brag and brag your head off

JAKARTA (JP): "I'm going to nail those economic criminals and
drag them to court," an attorney general brags in front of the
cheering press. "I promise you, he'll spend the rest of his life
behind bars. This is a country of justice, for Pete's sake!"

Political leaders are notorious for bragging, especially when
campaigning for office. "We are going to work hard for the
prosperity of this nation," is their battle cry in every general
election campaign, spiced up with engineered lines ranging from
"Clean governance and law enforcement will be our priority" to
"We guarantee a bright future for our young generation and the
end of school fees."

Bragging is common activity that most people do in their
lives. Sometimes it can be so loathsome that you feel like
throwing up upon hearing it. How do you would feel when a high-
ranking government official brags about empowering small-scale
businessmen, while all he does in reality is empower his
relatives and cronies? Talk about law enforcement sounds
disgusting if, at the same time, you are witnessing unfair trials
and half-hearted investigations into corruption cases.

On the other hand, bragging has a positive side. If you brag
about something you plan to do, then you have an obligation to
really do it. That is, if you have a sense of shame.

When I met my elementary school teacher more than a decade
ago, and she asked me what I had done with my talent for writing
she remembered from school, I simply said that I was in the
process of writing a novel. Of course, I was bragging. The truth
was, I never had any intention to be a writer. No, thanks! This
occupation, as far as money is concerned, does not promise
anything but a pathetic lifestyle.

Writing, in Indonesia, is not a prestigious job. Sydney
Sheldon would not have written When Tomorrow Comes and John
Grisham would probably have abandoned the idea of writing The
Client, if both had lived here. The reasons are simple. First of
all, very few Indonesians are into the habit of reading, so it is
very apparent that a book you write here will only sell a limited
number of copies. An author is lucky if he pushes 10,000 copies
of his book into the hands of readers within a year. By way of
comparison, Jacky Collins got an advance payment for one million
copies of The Lady Boss before it was printed.

Another reason that discourages Indonesian writers from
writing good books is that pirating in Indonesia is "legal".
Suppose you come up with a best seller, it does not guarantee
that it will make you rich. Once a book is said to be in demand,
pirated copies of it will be in the hands of street vendors the
next day, offered at half price. Pramoedya Ananta Toer, one of
the few productive writers in Indonesia, would probably cry if he
visited Senen bus terminal where pirated copies of his books,
including newly published ones, are sold at a very low price.

Imported books are also a bonanza for pirates. Take a stroll
over the pedestrian bridge in front of a certain big department
store in Central Jakarta. You can get an English text book by
Raymond Murphy for a mere Rp 15,000, while a few meters away
inside the building, the original copy comes with a Rp 270,000
price tag.

"Report it to the police," you may suggest. "Sue the pirates
and demand compensation. This is the country of justice,
remember?"

Are you kidding? This country is a pirate heaven. Look at the
case of the pirated VCD's recently seized by the authorities. So
far, nobody has been held responsible. Oh, sure, several people
have been questioned, but they are mere sidewalk vendors who know
nothing about copyright. The men behind the scenes are still
untouched. And now, the case has been almost forgotten and
pirated VCD's are once again sold openly everywhere.

Condemned as it is, pirating in Indonesia has helped many
people. In an economic crisis as severe as this one, very few
people can afford original books, CDs or VCDs. "What are you
being so fussy about?" snorted a housewife showing off a dozen
pirated VCDs. "Pirating benefits small people like me. With the
same amount of money, I could buy only two of these VCD's. And,
think about those sidewalk vendors! Pirated products have enabled
them to put food on their families' tables, thank-you-very-much."

Now, what do we do? The government seems to be facing a case
of buah simalakama or a no-win situation. Struggling to uphold
the copyright law will apparently result in fighting with small
people with limited ability to buy and with those not-so-small
people with a "why pay more" philosophy. In addition, there is
also the interest of small-scale businessmen to consider. A win-
win solution, if there is one, must be sought. Otherwise, the
government will remain in its awkward position.

Back to my bragging business. Every time I met the said
teacher, I always felt uncomfortable. I felt like I owed her
something. And finally, I decided to start writing. At least I
could please the teacher whom I respected so much. Hence my
acquaintance with the word processor. And, hey, it was not bad! A
year later, my first novel was published by one of Indonesia's
leading publishers. And, with a "didn't I tell you?" expression
on my face, I handed over the first copy to the teacher.

Money wise, I got nothing from the sales of my first book. The
royalties I got from the publisher did not take me too far. Au
contraire, it cost me a bunch. Thinking that I had written my way
to fame, friends started calling, demanding a selamatan
celebration. They might have thought I had made it, in a class
with Harold Robbins and Erich Segal who made a fortune from their
books. So, one celebration after another left me flat broke. But
the pride of bearing a new job title, a novelist, was priceless.
Had I not bragged in front of my teacher, I would not have
started writing and you wouldn't have read any of my stories in
this column.

Now, if somebody up there could brag that he could nail the
pirates and, at the same time, provide the genuine products at an
affordable price...

-- Carl Chairul