New bookshop to satisfy all readers
By Grace Segran
JAKARTA (JP): A bilingual bookshop aiming to be different by providing a comfortable, pleasant atmosphere conducive to browsing, a wide array of carefully-selected titles, and service from unobtrusive and knowledgeable staff is now available to satisfy book lovers.
Aksara is situated in a new building beside the duty free shop in the Kemang area, South Jakarta, and carries both English and Indonesian titles.
"We hope to reach both the Indonesian and expatriate communities. We try to be a general, popular bookstore and be equally strong in most topics, ranging from politics to literature, the sciences, as well as children's books," said proprietor Winfred Hutabarat.
"It might not make too much sense in today's specialization- oriented business model, but our goal, basically, is to please everyone. Really, everyone."
For instance, the bookstore has a Bahasa Indonesian book on nationalist movements in Java in the 1920's, novels by Y.B. Mangunwijaya, the newest Stephen King book on writing, a popular introduction to Quantum Theory, almost everything by Roald Dahl, and a recent book on how Shakespeare can influence management.
The bookstore itself is not quite completed yet. The grapevine has likened it to Singapore's Borders. Books are still coming in. Eventually, it will carry around 20,000 to 25,000 titles.
The building and its interior were designed by Andra Matin, one of the country's promising young architects. The overall design concept is clean, bright and modern, without being overly trendy or gimmicky.
The children's section is in the back of the shop. It's very nice and bright, and if you go in the daytime the area is lit by natural light shining in through glass sections in the roof.
"I've always loved reading and have always realized the importance of books as the primary source of knowledge. I mean, you really are what you read," Hutabarat said.
The idea of opening a bookshop occurred to Hutabarat three years ago when he realized that Jakarta lacked a decent bookstore, and that it would be fun (and hopefully profitable) to build one. He spoke to some friends about it who all agreed that it was time for Jakarta to be served by a comfortable and well- stocked bookstore.
"I was immediately joined by Davy Djohan, who now heads operations at Aksara, and Laksmi Pamuntjak, whom I consider to be Indonesia's most well-read person, as head of selection," Hutabarat said.
The 97-98 economic crisis did, unfortunately, put a temporary freeze on the project. But they picked it up again at the end of 99.
The 29-year-old man, who comes from a business-oriented family and completed a Master of Arts Degree in International Relations at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, has great plans for Aksara, which means "letter of the alphabet or character" in Indonesian.
"We try to be a general bookstore, but we also hope to be a place for book-related activities. So there will be events such as sessions with authors, book signings, readings and launchings, as well as other activities connected with books and publishing," said Hutabarat, who once worked as a reporter at the now-defunct Indonesia Business Weekly, a sister publication of Bisnis Indonesia daily, in between undergraduate and graduate school.
Soon, there will be two important additions to the building. One will be a sandwich bar on the mezzanine level run by William Wongso, of William Kafe Artistik and Vineth Bakery, whom Hutabarat considers to be Indonesia's foremost culinary expert.
Next door to Aksara will be a furniture store called Prodak, which will offer Zen-inspired furniture and home accessories. Aksara will be utilizing some of their comfortable chairs and sofas.
The book store opens from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, between 10 a.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays.