Public 'degrade' books, Minister Wardiman says

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Education Wardiman Djojonegoro has lamented again the poor place that books and reading occupy in Indonesia.

"For many people, books are not something that they need. In fact, people tend to degrade books," he said at an Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals gathering in Pekanbaru, Riau, Saturday.

"People see giving books as presents as something demeaning. The recipients and the givers both feel demeaned... sometimes, people refuse books," he said, reported Antara.

This year, the government declared May as The Month of Books and September as Love Reading Month.

Wardiman said he believed one of the reasons why Indonesians don't read much is its deeply-rooted verbal culture. "Our people are more used to listening to tales and other forms of verbal literature," he said. "Many think that they could understand spoken words better than written ones."

Other reasons that Wardiman blamed for the poor reading habits were people's perception that books are less advance than television, and the expensive price of books.

Another is the limited number of libraries and books, especially in remote areas.

"The key to instill a love of reading is motivating people, making them realize how important it is to read books if they wish to improve themselves... this way, books would become a need," he said. (swe)