Chinese publications face rivalry

Chinese publications face rivalry

By I. Christianto

JAKARTA (JP): Only a small percentage of people in Indonesia
can speak Chinese, let alone read the characters. But new local
magazines and newspapers in Chinese are now available in the
capital.

The publications are openly sold by most street vendors in
hectic Chinatown in the Glodok area in West Jakarta -- a
situation not seen until recently after the government lifted the
over-three-decade ban on Chinese religion and culture in the
country.

Among the new publications, mostly published in Jakarta, are
three magazines: Weekly Bulletin, Indonesia and ASEAN (based in
Bandung) and the Voice of Indonesian Chinese (Yinhua Zhisheng).
The daily newspapers include Peaceful (Harian Umum Perdamaian/Ho
Ping Ri Bao), The New Life (Harian Hidup Baru/Xin Sheng Ri Bao)
and Indonesia Shang Bao, the Chinese version of Bisnis Indonesia.
In addition, there is the 34-year-old Harian Indonesia, which is
published under the government's auspices.

Under the New Order government, the use and teaching of
Mandarin, the main Chinese language was banned in public in order
to support the Chinese-Indonesian assimilation scheme. The total
prohibition of any Chinese facets dates back to 1965 following
the failed communist coup as the government believed that the
coup was supported by China. Harian Indonesia was the only paper
licensed by the government as was printed under the authorization
of the special executor and commander for the restoration of
security and order in 1972.

President Abdurrahman Wahid, who gained power last October,
has revoked some discriminative policies against the Chinese.

Yinhua Zhisheng is run by Eddy Untung, 62, who previously
worked for a tourism magazine. The 52-page monthly magazine was
firstly published in July last year.

"We target Chinese-Indonesians and those who understand
Mandarin. I think they are senior Chinese-Indonesians of over 50
years as most the younger generation under 40 years don't
understand Mandarin," he said.

He said that he worked only with two other colleagues as it
was a kind of family business.

"Indonesia is now new. We want to promote the awareness about
this. There are also other interests, including to support the
government in increasing the sense of a new Indonesia, that
Chinese-aspects are not forbidden anymore, to some extent," he
said, adding that the magazine was independent.

Yinhua Zhisheng is priced at Rp 5,000 (63 U.S. cents) per copy
and has a circulation of between 4,000 and 5,000 copies, with
content mainly politics and literature.

"Our costs reach Rp 10 million (US$1,025) per month, and for
sure, we haven't reached break even point yet," he said, adding
that he was optimistic about surviving.

Eddy, who also runs a photocopy service, said that putting the
magazine in as many as possible outlets in Glodok was the best
marketing strategy for the magazine.

"The only challenge is rivalry. There are so many Chinese
language publications now, including those owned by media giants
and the well-established Harian Indonesia."

In the efforts to be different, he admitted that sometimes he
used the coverage of overseas magazines, "Just like the recent
report on (former Army Strategic Reserves Command chief) Prabowo
by Asiaweek."

Another challenge, according to Eddy, was the lack of
advertisers, though his rates are moderate: Rp 2.5 million ($315)
for the back cover.

"The market is there, we believe that there's still a segment
seeking Chinese-language media," said Eddy.

Other publishing companies appear to agree.

The respected Indonesian business newspaper Bisnis Indonesia
has recently expanded its market by printing Indonesia Shang Bao.

"We target the Chinese-Indonesians as well as industrialists
in East and Southeast Asia," said businessman Sukamdani S.
Gitosardjono of Indonesia Shang Bao.

"It's different from other Chinese-language papers as it
focuses on economic and business affairs," he said.

The 12-page daily has a circulation of 25,000 copies, while
Bisnis Indonesia has at least 20 pages and with a circulation of
between 70,000 and 75,000 copies.

Newspaper vendors in Glodok said that Harian Indonesia was
popular, while retail prices were quite competitive.

A vendor said that he sold about 10 copies of the Chinese
language newspaper. Indonesia Shang Bao is sold at Rp 1,700 (22
U.S. cents), Xin Sheng Ri Bao Rp 1,500 and Harian Indonesia Rp
1,300.

Chinese healer Yiu, 70, said that Harian Indonesia had good
coverage of domestic affairs while Xin Sheng Ri Bao lead with its
world and foreign news.

Ping Ping, 33, said that she read several newspapers every day
and found the contents about the same.

Akiko, a shop owner in Salemba, Central Jakarta, said he had
been subscribing to Harian Indonesia for years. Interestingly,
one of the columns that he always reads is the obituaries as this
keeps him informed about those in the Chinese community who pass
away.

"In recent weeks, I got some other Mandarin newspapers freely.
I don't understand why there are so many papers in Mandarin now,
albeit with the same contents," he said.

The local media are now enjoying greater freedom after
enduring years of ex-president Soeharto's authoritarian rule. The
process to get a publishing license has been simplified. During
the New Order regime, a number of publications lost their
publishing licenses because of contents that the government did
not agree with.

Atmakusumah Astraatmadja of the National Press Council and the
Dr. Soetomo Press Institute said that the Chinese-language
newspapers would enrich the journalism in Indonesia.

"It's good to show that Indonesia is quite diversified. We
have to be accustomed to diversity as it enriches us in
understanding each other. What I regret is that there's no new
media in regional languages as Indonesia has a lot of dialects.
We need to provide for local cultures as well," he said.