JP/13/L04

...main features of the year to come.

On the flip-side, plasma TVs and entertainment centers have risen to dominate the local lifestyle market on the "home" front, indicating a continuing solid trend in consumerism, even with the fuel hike. In fashion, this trend has fixed upon imported couture and accessories, leaving local designers scrambling to maintain a foothold with no national support.

Meanwhile, the year has seen a boom in the literary sector -- both in terms of published works and readership -- with writing competitions sprouting across the archipelago covering a broad range of genres and writers of all ages. Further, a proliferation in publications on Islam, from the moderate to the radical, reveal an effort to address terrorism by a scholarly approach.

It could be said that Indonesian culture has been undergoing a steady "internationalization" via exposure both local and abroad, raising expectations for the coming year in enriching the knowledge of national and international audiences as to its rich and timeless heritage.