Mandarin newspaper hunts for new subscribers
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
It has been five years since the government lifted the ban on expressions of Chinese culture, and many Chinese language publications have since come and gone trying to serve a dwindling community of Chinese-savvy Indonesians.
But, one Chinese language publication has come out on top, Harian Indonesia (Indonesian Daily), which, at 39 years, is the oldest of them all.
Established on Sept. 12, 1966, Harian Indonesia was born -- with government backing -- amidst tumultuous relations between Indonesia and China.
After an apparent coup attempt in 1965, which the government believed was supported by China, the newly installed New Order regime banned all expressions of Chinese culture. Additionally, the teaching of Chinese languages was prohibited, ostensibly to encourage Chinese-Indonesians to assimilate.
It was all the more important at that time for the government to be able to disseminate information to the Chinese-Indonesians, and since at the time they had little knowledge of Bahasa Indonesia, a Chinese-language paper was needed, according to an editor of the paper.
"The aim was information. We wanted the Chinese community here to receive the correct information from the government about the political situation at that time," the daily's chief editor, Inny C. Haryono, told The Jakarta Post.
"Chinese-Indonesians today can proudly say they are Indonesian citizens, but at that time people were still heavily tied to China. It took time to make them understand that they were now Indonesian citizens, and tied to Indonesian law," she explained.
Despite being heavily censored by the government -- as were all other publications during the New Order -- Harian Indonesia was allowed some freedom to report on Chinese culture.
"Because we printed in Chinese text and used Chinese language, we were allowed to write about Chinese life and culture, unlike Indonesian language newspapers," Inny -- who has been with the paper's editorial staff since the beginning -- said.
The paper also served another function. Because of its broad circulation both in Indonesia and abroad, separated families in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, could get news of their family members living in Indonesia.
"At least through our obituary section they would know which members of their families had passed away," Inny said, explaining why the paper's obituaries were popular with readers.
Times now have changed and Chinese-Indonesians are now busy trying to rekindle the cultural traditions that were lost to them for more than three decades.
And after watching its daily circulation drop to less than 40,000 copies from about 100,000 in its heyday, Harian Indonesia too felt the need to change.
"Our readership has gotten older, many have died and not many in the younger generation know enough Chinese," said Inny, adding that the paper now runs a Chinese learning segment every Wednesday and Saturday to help readers increase their Chinese- language capabilities.
Since her appointment as chief editor in November, Inny has also changed the paper's format from the usual broadsheet with nine columns to a more compact eight column paper and the number of pages to 12 pages daily, from alternating between eight pages and 12 pages previously.
The paper now also opens from right to left -- like other newspapers -- whereas previously it opened from left to right.
"We used to print in two languages (Chinese and Bahasa Indonesia) for our Sunday edition, but now we only use one language. After all, we are a Chinese-language newspaper," Inny said, adding that the paper now also runs more community stories.
But gaining a new and younger readership is certainly not easy, particularly with their limited ability to read Chinese characters, which is why the paper is pushing for more circulation abroad.
"We now have about 5,000 readers abroad, mainly Chinese- Indonesians who live in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore, who want to keep in touch with Indonesia," Inny explained.