The trouble with finding a good book in Jakarta
By Prapti Widinugraheni
JAKARTA (JP): Reading is, to some people, a very serious pastime. For these people, life is not worth living without an unfinished book on hand.
But this serious pastime can turn into frustration if good books are not available and if searching for one is always a major ordeal.
It gets even more frustrating if, firstly, the desired type of book is one in a language other than Bahasa Indonesia and secondly, if the search must be done in Jakarta -- a bustling metropolis and the country's busiest and most advanced international gateway.
Sad to say, Jakarta has so far proven that being an international city does not automatically guarantee easy access to international-standard facilities, including bookstores of international standard.
Joan Bungar, a Singaporean who has lived here for more than six months, for example, claims she has never bought anything more sophisticated than a few maps and traveling guides during her stay in Jakarta.
"I don't think there are enough bookstores in Jakarta... The Times Bookstore's collection here is even smaller than the one in Singapore, and in Singapore we always complain about how small it is," she says.
Bungar is not the only one to complain about the liited collection of Jakarta's bookstores.
Chris Smith, the director of the Indonesian Netherlands Association, says bookstores here not only lack in quantity but in quality as well.
"I go to the Times Bookstore in Jakarta sometimes, but the quality of the books they offer here is insufficient, so they are of no interest to me," says Smith, who spends about US$350 to $400 a year on what he considers good, high-standard literature.
"You can't find these kinds of books here ... What I do not like is junk -- easy reading and something you can get everywhere. These are what you see here," he says.
What about the non-English speaking expatriates here, like the Japanese and Koreans? Are things easier for them?
Hong Chang Hyung, a Korean executive on the Kodeco Group's Planning Board who enjoys magazines and novels, says he is quite content with the variety of Korean books sold at the Korean supermarkets around the city.
"The supermarkets basically sell Korean spices and food, but they also provide additional services such as ordering books from Korea for customers," Hong says.
Japanese
But it is slightly different for the Japanese. A Japanese diplomat who requested anonymity considers the Japanese bookstores in Jakarta to have "very limited" collections compared to those in Japan.
"The ones here only sell popular books," says the diplomat who claims he can spend up to Rp 100,000 (US$42.5) for one Japanese book here. This is about two to three times the price in Japan.
Finding a bookstore is one problem, but finding books on certain subjects is another.
Some expatriates, for example, feel that what Jakarta's bookstores really need is a collection of good, informative books on Indonesia: what Indonesia is about and what makes it tick.
Hong says he has long been looking for literature on Indonesian politics and economics. "But I have never found a book that has given comprehensive insight on this, so I have had to compile information myself," he says.
Similarly, the Japanese diplomat says that in Jakarta it is difficult to locate books on certain subjects, like politics and economics which are written in English.
"In the end we have to rely on biographies and life-stories told by Indonesia's prominent figures ... and make our own conclusion of an issue," he says.
Although the major shortcoming of Jakarta's bookstores seems to be what expatriates consider poor quality and variety, several other expatriates claim they are quite content with what bookstores here have to offer.
However, they are concerned with another aspect of the book industry: high prices.
A British diplomat who requested anonymity says that although he feels bookstores here provide a nice array, he prefers Singapore stores as they offer cheaper prices.
"I will buy at the Times here only if I want something very specific and very quickly -- which is a very rare occurrence," he says.
His average US$200 to $300 annual spending on books go mostly to a London-based book club of which he is a member.
"The clubs buy in large quantities, so I can get the books at discounted prices ... I can get two books for the price of one here," says the diplomat who claims he buys two to three books a month and up to six when going on holiday.
Buying books during a visit or transit in Singapore seems to be a popular option for many Jakarta-based expatriates.
Smith claims his book budget is usually spent there, where the Times Bookstore is "better" and the MPH offers "best quality books".
Similarly, Bungar, who is a staff member at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations secretariat, says she visits the Times or MPH whenever she is in Singapore or Bangkok.
Friends
Other expatriates rely on visiting friends and relatives to add to their collection of books.
Louis Pectinger, an Australian who is married to an Indonesian, says friends and relatives from overseas can always be relied on to buy and bring her books whenever they visit her in Jakarta.
"I prefer practical books, such as those on home designing, gardening and teaching," says Pectinger, who works as a teacher at an international school in Jakarta.
"Books like these are far too expensive here. They reach well over Rp 100,000 each," she adds.
What does the bookstore say about the situation?
The Times Bookstore, probably the most popular English- language bookstore in town -- and therefore the most frequent to receive complaints from the expatriates interviewed by The Jakarta Post, gets its collections from Singapore's Times Bookstore.
Novena, an employee in the accounting department of PT Dharmala Timesindo which is the Indonesian retailer for Times books, says the Times Bookstores in Jakarta prioritizes selling books which are bestsellers in the United Kingdom and Singapore.
"Unless, of course, they are banned from entering the country," she says. Banned literature is that which is in Chinese characters and books by authors unfavorable to the government.
For classic literature and other "less-popular" titles, Times obtain a few copies from Singapore and use them to test the market before retailing them on a larger scale, according to Novena.
Does she feel many expatriates are unsatisfied with the bookstore?
"We haven't had any complaints so far," she says.
Not all expatriates, however, are particular about the availability of reading material, nor do they think Jakarta's bookstores are lacking.
Bob, for example, an American consultant who has been living in Jakarta for seven and a half years, says he can do his book shopping anywhere.
"In the airports, in five-star hotels ... nowhere special. I don't have a habit of buying books, I just get them if there happens to be a bookstore around," he says.