The trouble with finding a good book in Jakarta

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.