Kanisius publisher braves rough waves of time at age 80

Kanisius publisher braves rough waves of time at age 80

Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

"A witness to history." This must be the most appropriate tag
for Kanisius, a publisher and printing shop in Yogyakarta. With a
sailing boat as its logo, Kanisius celebrated its 80th
anniversary on Jan. 26, 2002, perhaps the oldest firm in this
line of business in Indonesia.

Kanisius may take pride in the fact that it has helped improve
the Indonesian people's level of intelligence with the books it
has published since 1922. It is interesting to know that in the
course of its history, Kanisius has also been involved in other
areas beside book publication.

Kanisius was actually established to publish spiritual books.
However, it was later involved in activities relevant to the
history of the nation, either directly or otherwise. Its logo -
the sailing boat on a wavy sea -- indicates that the company will
continue sailing, braving the weather, whether the sea is calm or
rough.

At first, the company was called Canisius Drukkerij and had as
its main business the printing of Catholic spiritual books,
particularly in Javanese. Then, when the Indonesian young people
of various ethnic groups closed ranks in 1928 by declaring their
Youth Pledge in 1928, namely one country, one nation and one
language -- Indonesia -- Kanisius took part in this great
undertaking. It published simple newspapers called Swaratama
(Voice of Excellence) and Tamtama Dalem (God's Army), to forge
this unity through the print media.

During the era of the Indonesian revolution for independence,
Kanisius also served the nation. On Oct. 30, 1946, the newly
established Republic of Indonesia issued its own money, known as
ORI (the money of the Republic of Indonesia). (The date, which
marked the first emission of ORI, is now observed as the Finance
Day of the Republic of Indonesia.)

Some time later, however, ORI was rivaled by money issued by
the NICA, the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration, the
administration of the Dutch colonial power when it returned to
Indonesia following the proclamation of the Republic of Indonesia
on Aug. 17, 1945.

To block the circulation of NICA money, the government of the
Republic of Indonesia circulated ORI currency to the entire
Indonesian territory. In this context, Kanisius was then one of
the places where ORI, of the second to the fifth releases, was
printed.

"At that time our printing shop was still near Kidul Loji
Church, to the north of the Northern Alun-Alun (town square) of
Yogyakarta," said president director of Kanisius, Emmanuel
Surono.

When the Indonesian Communist Party under Muso rebelled
against the Republic of Indonesia in Madiun in 1946, Kanisius was
also affected. This firm refused an order to print Patriot, a
magazine containing Communist and atheist teachings. A Kanisius
employee was paraded by communist sympathizers under the name of
"the people".

Today, this company employs some 300 people and has modern
equipment. It publishes not only books but also multimedia
products such as CDs, cassettes, videotapes and CD-ROMs.

At present Kanisius does not only specialize in the
publication of spiritual books. It also publishes books of
general interest. "Most of the Kanisius products today are for
the general public. Sixty percent of our books are for general
interest while the remaining 40 percent are for spiritual
purposes," Surono said.

Managerially, Kanisius is divided into five book divisions.
The first handles books related to liturgical matters, such as
theology, catechism, liturgy, prayers, holy books, spiritual
readers, history and pastoral materials.

The second deals with the humanities and is focused on
philosophical studies. The books published under this division
invite people to get into a systematic, critical, profound and
comprehensive study of thoughts. The books published include
those on management, psychology, sociology and culture.

The third is the social division, which produces practical
books for the community in areas involving agriculture, cattle
breeding, fishery, planting, community health and appropriate
technology.

The fourth division publishes children's books. These books
are expected to develop children's memory, creativity,
imagination, sensation and behavior.

The last focuses on school textbooks, particularly those for
vocational and English studies at secondary schools.

To be able to publish books of a great variety, as referred to
above, Kanisius has established cooperation with local writers
and also teams up with foreign parties. It has, for example,
published a number of foreign books in Indonesian translation
with a license from the copyright holders. This kind of
cooperation, for example, has been established for LOGICO
products made by Germany's Finken Verlag and "Tell Me More" of
France's Auralog.

As it can now boast a great variety of products, Kanisius is
now ranked as one of Indonesia's largest publishers. "In a year,
our target is to publish about 250 new titles. Thank God we have
always been able to reach that target. At present there are about
2,500 titles published by Kanisius in bookshops across the
country," said Surono.

It has not been an easy job for the management to ensure that
Kanisius could reach its eightieth year in a satisfactory state,
and it is even more difficult to maintain this achievement.

Perhaps only loyalty and strong discipline will ensure that
Kanisius can continue to exist. In terms of discipline, Kanisius
has often been criticized for enforcing very strong discipline
upon its employees. To outsiders, this strong discipline may
appear inhuman.

Discipline is the key to success, though. "One of the things
that enables us to survive is discipline. If an employee comes
late -- though only by a few minutes -- he will be penalized. His
salary will be cut. This seems inhuman but it is important to
ensure that discipline works in this company," said Surono.

Another key to success, he said, is the working ethos of the
employees. From very early they have been told that this company
depends for its survival on its own personnel, not on other
people, let alone subsidies from the church.

"We do not receive a single rupiah from the church, although
we are under its authority. The survival of this company depends
entirely upon its employees."

So, when someone is accepted to work for Kanisius, he must
become something, and not own something. "Try to be something;
avoid material thoughts," is what all employees of Kanisius
always remember in their hearts.

Perhaps, this message has become part and parcel of the soul
of the employees so that the company continues to survive despite
frequent obstacles, many of which were so huge they could have
caused the collapse of the company. In the New Order era, for
example, the government took over the supply of most school
textbooks through its projects.

Kanisius, as a result, had to find another entry point for its
book business. Then in 1988 there was a devaluation, and the
debts of the company tripled.

"We were close to bankruptcy then, but thanks to our hard
work, we were able to survive the crisis," Surono said.

Perhaps, as an institution with a noble mission, Kanisius was
strengthened by going through all these ordeals. Again, this
shows the appropriateness of its logo. The boat continues
sailing, come hell or high water. Perhaps the story might have
been different if the logo had been a sailing boat on a calm sea.