Three original works grab awards for best Indonesian books
Three original works grab awards for best Indonesian books
JAKARTA (JP): Three original Indonesian works of literature --
Modernisme Sebuah Tinjauan Historis Desain Modern, Renaisans
Islam Asia Tenggara and Kembali Ke Akar Kembali Ke Sumber -- won
on Thursday the best book awards in their respective categories.
Two other books, translations of John Steinbeck's classic
Nobel winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and Amin Maalouf's Cadas
Tanois, won the Best Indonesian Translation Award.
Minister of National Education Yahya Muhaimin presented the
awards organized by the Buku Utama Foundation, which was founded
by cultural critics and experts in 1973.
"Books are windows to the world. It is nice to still have
quality, critical books despite the fact that our country is
undergoing a crisis," Yahya said.
Modernisme, Sebuah Tinjauan Historis Desain Modern (Modernism,
A Historical Review of Modern Design) was written by Agus Sachari
and Yan Yan Sunarya. It received the award for Best Book on
Science and Technology.
Published by Balai Pustaka, it details the development of
modern western designs in sociology and history.
Azyumardi Azra's Renaisans Islam Asia Tenggara (Islamic
Renaissance in Southeast Asia) received the award for Best Book
on Social and Humanitarian Sciences.
Azyumardi in his work presented nine writings on the rise of
Islam in Southeast Asia, its past, present and future, and its
specific characteristics which differentiates it from Islam in
the Middle East.
Kembali ke Akar Kembali ke Sumber (Return to the Roots, Return
to the Source) won the award for Best Book on Literature.
Written by Abdul Hadi W.M. and published by Pustaka Firdaus,
the book consists of writings on the nation's Islamic literature.
Ida Sundari Husen and Sapardi Djoko Damono received the award
for Best Indonesian Translation for their translation of Cadas
Tanios and The Grapes of Wrath, respectively.
"We are hoping for more good books to come next year," Yahya
said.
Each winner received a cash prize of Rp 5 million.
The winning books were selected from a total of 187 books in
five categories.
No books in the children's book category received any awards
although a total of 75 titles were considered in that category.
The foundation had established a team of judges for each
category.
Noted poet Taufik Ismail, who headed the team of judges for
the literature category, said after the ceremony that in a bid to
further bolster writing skills among children, a total of 600
teachers in Java and Sumatra were recently given a course in
teaching writing skills.
"Next year we will hold a similar program for teachers in the
eastern regions of Indonesia. It's a shame that Indonesia is
stuck with a generation who are 'blind in reading and paralyzed
in writing' because writing compositions was never taught in
class in a fun and creative way," Taufik said.
Yahya further revealed his plans to accelerate the quality of
education in regions outside Java, on the sidelines of the
ceremony.
"I want the quality of education outside Java to be equal to
that in Java. With the implementation of regional autonomy and
the distribution of the (education) employees to the region...the
teaching methods will be more progressive," he said.
He added that some 120 hours of reading and writing classes
will be imposed on students from elementary to senior high
schools per year.(edt)