'I never see youngsters reading'

'I never see youngsters reading'

The Indonesian Publishers Association is currently holding this
year's Book Fair, which lasts until Sunday. The association is
hopeful that the fair will encourage more people to read, a habit
that seems to be severely lacking in Indonesia. Several people
spoke with The Jakarta Post about the issue.

Rani, 21, in her final year at Trisakti University in West
Jakarta, where she majors in accounting. She lives in Salemba,
Central Jakarta, with her family:

I think the poor service and complicated catalog systems at
libraries discourage people from reading books. Libraries also
don't have many new books and the books people are looking for
are sometimes missing from the shelves.

The complicated process of borrowing books is another obstacle
to encouraging people to read.

Also, I never see young people here reading books on buses or
in public places. Probably because buses and public places are
uncomfortable and unsafe, people are reluctant to read books
there.

And reading at home isn't easy for young people either.
Personally, I find television and radio to be more appealing
options.

In addition to these obstacles, the education system here
doesn't do anything to encourage reading.

We should refer to Japan, which has becomes an advanced
country due in part to its people's reading habits.

Gantoro, 34, is a marketing employee with a company in Radio
Dalam, South Jakarta. He lives in Pamulang, Tangerang, with his
wife and daughter:

Maybe people don't like reading because reading is boring and
unpractical as it wastes a lot of time.

Also, all the new TV stations offering more entertaining
programs also have something to do with the poor reading habits
here.

Television lets people get information easily without having
to waste a lot of time, as is the case with reading books.

Personally, I read books when I was a child because I had to.
Now I don't read at all.

In my opinion, reading could lead to introverted personalities
and make people uncreative, because readers focus only on books
without doing anything else.

Success, I think, is determined not by one's reading habits
but rather by chance, experience and self-determination.

It would be useless if people read a lot of books but then did
not persistent in real life to become successful.

I don't encourage my child to read for fear she will be
introverted and have to wear thick glasses when she grows up.

Astuti, 32, is a teacher at Sekolah Global Jaya in Bintaro,
Tangerang. She lives in Pondok Aren, Tangerang, with her husband
and two children:

It's sad but I hardly ever see young people in public places
carrying books or reading.

Students generally spend their time at arcades, chatting,
smoking or playing with their cellular phones, not reading books.

Young people nowadays tend to take for granted instant
information from instant sources, like the television, or they
just prefer comic books. Instant culture is a very influential
factor, in this respect.

The language barrier might also be a factor in the poor
reading habits of people here, because usually the interesting
books are the imported ones.

Local books have limited appeal to readers, and they are not
quite attractive.

Most young people here now lack a sense of curiosity to
research different subjects and gain a deeper knowledge of them.

Lots of the parents probably never read and they passed this
on to their children by failing to set a good example for their
children.

--Leo Wahyudi S