Pornographic literature sold everywhere
By Johannes Simbolon
JAKARTA (JP): A group of junior high school girls walk past a book street vendor in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta.
Seeing the girls glance at his merchandise, the vendor, Yudi, a man in his 20s and clad in shabby clothes, goads them to come.
"Hey, girls, come. Crossword puzzler books? Not expensive," he says, opening one puzzler book. Then, pointing to another book, he continues, "English conversation book for students. You will be fluent in English in two months."
Seeing the girls hesitate, the vendor swiftly picks up one book from below the heap of puzzler books. "Love stories. Your satisfaction is guaranteed," he says. Smiling, he opens the thin book. On the page is featured a picture of a couple engaged in sexual intercourse.
The girls giggle and, laughing, walk away, leaving the still smiling vendor.
The vendor was offering what locals refer to as stensilan (stenciled material), a slang term for cheap, explicitly pornographic pocketbooks produced by local writers. The books usually have a size of 20 by 15 centimeters and contain about 50 pages. The term dates from the time when such books were typically hand-typed and then multiplied on mimeograph machines, using stencils. Now, the underground publishers of the books use modern equipment which produce better results.
The history of the publication of such books is lost in time. But printing techniques are continually improved to meet the changing tastes and demands of the readers. Formerly, the cover would be simply blank paper on which the titles was hand-typed. Today, the books are nicely wrapped in covers featuring models clad in skimpy clothes. Inside, they are richly illustrated with hard-core porn pictures reproduced from imported western and Asian porn magazines.
"The pictures help readers visualize the stories," says Yudi.
But as a matter of fact the pictures are mostly incompatible with the stories, which in most cases feature local characters in local settings.
The most popular writer in former days was Valentino. Now it is Enny Arrow.
In most books, the writers strive to arouse the imagination of their readers with stories that are so absurd that they could induce in youngsters misleading perceptions about sex.
Sometimes, however, the writers make it appear as if they "regret" the trash which they have produced by ending their stories with a "good" message, urging readers not to behave like the characters in the story. Obviously, the "good" message carries no meaning when compared to the unabashed descriptions of sex scenes.
Police from time to time crack down on this illegal business. In Jakarta, teachers and officials also routinely check the contents of students's bags. They have confiscated and burnt a countless number of books seized in operations such as the recent Operation Wijaya Kusuma.
Yet, the publication of such books never stops. They are sold in huge numbers in every city throughout the country, whether clandestinely or openly, regardless of place. In 1992, for example, Jakarta police officials apprehended several boy scouts on charges of selling such books to their teenaged peers during a scout meeting at the Cibubur camping grounds.
The books are typically priced at Rp 5,000 (US$2.22), but after some haggling they can be bought for between Rp 1,000 (44 U.S. cents) and Rp 1,500 ($1.5).
"The buyers are mostly male university and high school students. Girls usually laugh when they are offered such books. They are too shy to buy them openly," said Yudi.
But in big cities such as Jakarta, which provide many alternatives for adolescents to channel their budding sexual drive, foreign porn videos and magazines can easily be bought. The books do not seem to be as popular in the big cities as they are in the provinces, where such "luxuries" are unavailable.
"Here, the books are only read by junior high school students and by some senior high school students who are sex maniacs. Most senior high school students are already fed up with them, preferring to watch porn videos or pick up perek (bad girls)," says Rikardo, a student of a senior high school in the Tomang district, West Jakarta.
The Kompas daily newspaper at one time estimated that about one million copies could be sold nationwide for each single title, making them unbeatable best-sellers in this country and surely providing a good deal of money for everyone involved in the business.
But who publishes and writes the books still remains a well- kept secret. In their efforts to crack down on the illegal trade, police have so far only been able to nab the retailers and sometimes the wholesalers.
One of the wholesalers around the Senen district, Central Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post they had no idea of who produced the books.
Those outlets also sell magazines such as Playboy, Penthouse and Playgirl for around Rp 25,000 ($11.11) a copy, and porn videos for around Rp 15,000 ($6.66).
The business is run very carefully and cautiously. One group typically consists of around 10 tough young men, each of whom has a different job, including looking out for the police, "guides" for prospective buyers, sellers and guards for the sellers.
The men who are assigned to "guide" prospective buyers usually whisper to visitors of the Senen book market that they sell porn books. If someone is interested, they will guide him into a rather dark alley where other members of the gang gather. The transaction is then conducted there in such a way that the buyers usually feel "forced" to buy at the set price.
In an effort to find out who the publishers of the books are, the Post went to the place armed with two self-made porn books, telling the wholesaler he hoped he might help find someone to publish them.
"We only sell the books, we don't publish them. We accept books only from someone we know," said one, looking at the Post suspiciously while another band the gang members approached in a belligerent manner.