New subscription cost

I am surprised to find out that The Jakarta Post has increased its monthly subscription price from Rp 33,000 in June 2000 to 45,000 in July 2000 without any notice to its customers. The increase is quite high, Rp 12,000, or about 36 percent from the previous price.

As a comparison, Kompas's monthly subscription price, as a leading newspaper, is Rp 37,000 and other national newspapers are more or less the same, not exceeding Rp 40,000 (Suara Pembaruan: Rp 35,000; Media Indonesia: Rp 39,500). Although the comparison is with Indonesian newspapers which may not be fair but still the increase of 36 percent is too high.

I don't know how the Post came out with that price. It is understandable that the production costs are higher compared to Indonesian newspapers considering the language factor but the Post should be wise enough to try to keep the price as low as possible to encourage more Indonesians, particularly students, to read English newspapers. If that is not possible, alternatively, the Post should apply different subscription prices, for example, for educational institutions and students.

The Straits Times, Singapore English newspaper is only 60 cents per copy. It is very cheap considering the high standard of living in Singapore. Why can't The Jakarta Post be cheaper?

ADRIANUS HIYUNG TJUNG

Jakarta

Note: With regard to the price increase, notices were published since early June, announcing the increase in price due to higher production costs. It would not be fair to compare The Jakarta Post with the Singapore Straits Times as the latter carries a lot of advertisements which are the backbone of its business. The new monthly subscription price for the Post is Rp 48,000, and Kompas is Rp 38,000.

-- Editor