Indonesia needs to build its own cultural industry
Indonesia needs to build its own cultural industry
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia needs to build its own cultural
industry -- one that promotes local values -- to counter the
influx of foreign cultures, a senior official of the Ministry of
Education and Culture says.
Director General of Culture Edi Sedyawati told a seminar
yesterday that the penetration of foreign cultures is inevitable
because of the increasing number of imported foreign television
programs being screened by local stations.
The best way to counter this influx is by strengthening the
resilience of the national culture and the most effective way of
doing that is by building Indonesia's own cultural industry, she
said.
She proposed that local television stations be more creative
and innovative in developing local programs to balance the
influence of foreign ones. "It will be useless if local
production houses create things which simply imitate foreign
work."
Local televisions should also be more selective in choosing
imported programs, she added.
Foreign programs could enhance local cultures, provided they
are well supervised, Edi said, stressing that the government,
society, and the television stations themselves could exercise
the control.
The two-day seminar on cultural industry, organized by the
Directorate General on Culture, was opened on Monday by Minister
of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro. In yesterday's
session, the discussion focused on the impact of television.
Communication expert Alwi Dahlan, who took part in the
discussion, questioned the commitment of local television
stations to preserve local culture.
Alwi accused the stations of neglecting their social
responsibility.
Citing an example, he said the stations have disparaged the
concerns expressed about the impacts of violent films,
especially on children.
"If it is shown just once, may be the impact is not serious;
But if it is shown repeatedly, I think the effects will be
serious, especially on children," he told The Jakarta Post after
the seminar.
Quite violent
He suggested that the RCTI's Layar Emas films shown at 8 p.m.
every Wednesday night, which are usually quite violent, be
screened at a later hour so that children will not watch them.
Welcoming Alwi's critics, Eduard Depari of RCTI suggested that
parents be wiser in selecting television programs, especially
when their children are around.
He said television programs could hardly be expected to
encourage critical thinking among children. Thus, parents'
guidance for their children in using television is recommended.
"Critical thinking can be induced through reading, not through
watching television. Therefore, television should be used as a
complement to the print media," Depari said.
He said if people's reading habits were high enough, there
would be no need to worry about the influx of foreign programs.
"Unfortunately, the amount of time we spend reading is still
relatively low."
Depari said people should not expect too much from private
stations because they are a business concern.
"They can take part in building a healthier cultural industry
only if they are economically healthy. If they are not healthy,
what can we expect from them?" he asked. (rid)