'Mitra' magazine provides forum for thinkers

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): Looking at the cover of the first edition of the relaunched Mitra magazine, Budaya Pemilu, Budaya Pemalu (the Election Culture, the Shy Culture), one might assume the magazine is just one of many new publications hitting the newsstands.

But that would be a wrong assumption. Mitra is a quarterly journal of culture and philosophy published by the Mitra Budaya Indonesia Foundation.

The foundation, comprising art and culture lovers, was set up in 1967 among a rising concern over the illegal trade in the country's archeological and historical relics.

The founders, including Herawati Diah, Siti Rachmiati Hatta and Mohammad Said, were determined to do something to ensure the country's rich cultural heritage would be preserved for future generations.

Mitra magazine was relaunched last week. It was first published annually as Mitra Budaya in 1983, with the goal of raising people's awareness of the need to preserve the country's cultural heritage.

The new Mitra, just like other magazines and publications, sees the June 7 general election as a hot topic.

The difference from these other publications is that Mitra takes a different angle, publishing in-depth articles about the past and present roles of women in elections.

The articles point out the need for women, who comprise half of the country's 200 million people, to recognize their significant role in determining the country's future.

The magazine urges women to actively participate in the June 7 general election -- without the fears many of them faced during the New Order regime when women only played conservative roles, simply following the choices of their husbands, religions or social organizations -- for the sake of their own future, as well as the future of their families and communities.

The foundation's chairwoman, Toeti Heraty N. Roosseno, said the magazine chose to cover the upcoming general election because it believed this year's elections, expected to be fair and just, were bringing a change to the elections culture in the country.

Women, she said, should realize that they have significant power and could play important roles in determining the country's future.

"There's a need for them to cast aside their shy culture to ensure a healthy and peaceful election," Toeti, Mitra's chief editor, said at a ceremony marking the relaunching of the magazine.

As a part of its elections coverage, the magazine carried a number of articles on the general election and women. Toeti wrote an article on redefining mothers' roles for the sake of reform, while the magazine's deputy chief editor and cultural observer, Eka Budianta, wrote an article on the role of women in the general election.

Former education and culture minister Fuad Hasan, also a professor of psychology at the University of Indonesia, wrote a guide to democracy and the chairman of the Institute of Public Affairs, Heri Akhmadi, published a detailed map of the country's political parties.

Mitra also paid tribute to the late Y.B. Mangunwijaya, popularly known as Romo Mangun, a writer, architect, social worker and Catholic priest. He died of a heart attack at the age of 69 in February, shortly after addressing a seminar on the role of books in society's progress. The magazine also published Romo Mangun's last paper, a piece on the wisdom of books in scientific and technological progress.

Apart from issues relating to the elections, the 80-page magazine, which took two months to put together, also carried a number of articles on philosophy, culture and art.

Eka Budianta said that unlike other magazines on culture and philosophy, Mitra tried to define culture in broader terms.

For instance, he said, the magazine not only covers the performing arts, but also the latest dynamics within the community, including the effects of the upcoming general election -- seeing it as political culture. It also discusses the street cafe phenomena, environmental issues, tourism and traditional wisdom.

Mitra, he said, was relaunched amid a press boom, with new publications hitting the newsstands almost every week.

"But most of the new publications reach people from the middle to lower classes, while Mitra is trying to reach upper-class people; trying to be a trendsetter in philosophical views," Eka told The Jakarta Post. "We're trying to provide a forum for thinkers. We lack thinkers."

He said he believed there were many thinkers within the country's 200 million people just waiting for the right media to express themselves.

"During times like these, during the reform era, I believe that many people are searching for the right media to express their opinions," Eka said.

Like other publications on culture or philosophy, Mitra does not really consider the commercial side of publishing.

"For us, it's the magazine's substance and influence that is important, not how many copies it sells," Eka said.

He cited the success of Pujangga Baru magazine in the 1930s, which only sold around 200 copies per edition.

Mitra sells for Rp 15,000 per copy, or Rp 40,000 for three copies. Its new edition had a 1,000 print run with a total cost of around Rp 40 million.