Toy industry boom for all
Toy industry boom for all
By Ati Nurbaiti and Rita A. Widiadana
Children and toys are inseparable. Using toys, children create a world of their own. The kinds of toys children play with has an effect on the kinds of adults they grow into. In the following article The Jakarta Post looks at how parents' growing purchasing power is enabling children to gain access to countless varieties of toys and games. We also take a look at the country's booming toy export industry. On page 2 we examine the disappearance of traditional toys and games from many homes and on page 6 we visit a traditional toy seller in Yogyakarta.
JAKARTA (JP): In the dim light and crashing noise of a video game arcade in the Pondok Indah Mall, South Jakarta, a woman in a white uniform is the only female in a crowd of teenage boys glued to flashing monitors. She moves the joystick around violently and rapidly, banging on the red and yellow buttons. With her is a five-year-old boy, named Adi. He is also playing the game, but his style is more hesitant than that of his babysitter. Together they stand, transfixed by the screen on which three monsters are gobbling up fireballs. When the "Game Over" sign appears the young woman sighs. Adi tugs her sleeve for more coins.
"He and his cousin have spent Rp 20,000 in the last hour," says the babysitter. "There are many more choices here than among his video games at home."
She takes another Rp 10,000 note out of her purse and gives it to the boy, reminding him to get the change. Adi's parents are shopping and, at 8:30 p.m., the boy is dragging his babysitter to a new row of machines.
Adi and also, it seems, his babysitter, belong to a lucky generation which has a wide range of playtime choices.
Utami Munandar, professor of psychology, explains that toys are very important in children's development. No matter how simple or sophisticated they are, children need them.
"Toys enhance a child's imagination," the professor said.
Babies need toys that stimulate their bodily coordination. Colorful toys serve to improve their comprehension of their surroundings.
As they grow older, children need toys that boost their creativity and learning abilities. Parents need to know what kind of toys their children need.
Children can come to regard soft toys, like teddy bears and puppets, as their best friends. These can be a source of happiness or a means of escape. Children can talk with them when they feel sad, or when their parents are away. These toys are sometimes the victims of anger or disappointment.
Hard toys, such as model cars, planes, robots, and character- based toys, like Ksatria Baja Hitam ("Black Steel Warrior"), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Saint Saiya, Tamiya, are useful in fostering creativity, according to Utami. She also stressed the importance of hi-tech toys, like the multi-media video and computer games produced by Nintendo and Sega.
"Times have changed now and children need to be introduced to such equipment. There is nothing wrong with these games as long as parents monitor their kids," she said.
Potential target
Utami warned that parents should not fall victim to consumerism.
"Actually, they do not have to buy expensive toys. They can use various household items to make interesting toys for their children. A toy is only a static tool. What children need most is to be with their parents. Therefore, spent your leisure time with your children," the psychologist advised.
"The source of happiness is in the heart, not in things," Utami said.
But, as less and less children bother to make their own toys, they are falling prey to the toy industry.
With busy parents and shrinking families, industrialists see an opportunity for profit.
"Families will increasingly have only two children and will need toys to keep them happy at home," said Edward Sumarli of PT Asiana Imi Industries, the sole licensee, for soft character toys, of America's Walt Disney corporation.
Edward is the treasurer of the Indonesian Association of Toy Manufacturers, established in 1992.
His company's soft toy products are leading the booming industry, together with the licensee of America's classic "Barbie" dolls, PT Mattel Indonesia.
Apart from a potentially large domestic market, compliance with international toy standards is now allowing the Indonesian industry to reach children in countries where parents and governments insist on safe, durable playthings.
Until recently, even simple building blocks were imported from China.
The export figures provide grounds for optimism. Although Indonesia still supplies under one percent of the world's US$20 billion toy market, toy exports grew by 34 percent last year.
Swa magazine reported in January that the value of toy exports rose from $135.96 million in 1993 to $182.22 million in 1994.
Exports of dolls alone have reportedly leapt by more than 200 percent during the past three years.
Locally, spending on toys is expected to reach an astounding $100 million within five years, compared with $2 million at present.
Rudy Lengkong, chairman of the National Agency for Export Development, has been praised for his work in support of the industry. "Pak Rudy really helps in promotion," says Meiki Hasnawi, a manager of PT Exto Yasa Jaya, which exports wooden games and toys.
"Americans are spending more time at home as a result of recession," says Hasnawi, in explanation of the strong demand for her company's products. Her company employs 105 workers in Curug, Tangerang.
Relocation of plants as a result of increased labor costs in countries like South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, is cited as a factor in the toy boom.
The government's major deregulation of foreign investment last is also an important factor.
Toy exports have also benefited from the absence of import quotas and, under the United States' Generalized System of Preferences, Indonesian exports to that country are not subject to the average 6.8 percent tariff on toys.
Tie-ins to popular movies proved most popular at the international annual toy fair two weeks ago in San Francisco in the United States. While toys related to Walt Disney films are sought after only while the film is showing, toys based on television series toys remain saleable for much longer.
Local manufacturers are enjoying considerable success with dolls and swords connected with the television series Mighty Morphine Power Rangers and Ksatria Baja Hitam.
Problem
In what he regards as an obstacle for the growth of the local industry, Lengkong states that most Indonesian toy producers are still only interested in making dolls and soft toys.
Internationally, we still lag behind other countries, like China, which make a large range of toys.
"It's true we have cheap labor and resources -- but that's all," laments PT Exto Yasa Jaya manager Hasnawi. "We don't have designers."
Hasnawi said that although investment and industrial authorities are "supportive," banking is a major problem.
"Since the big cases of bad debts the banks have become too cautious, and its small businesses like us which are suffering as a result," she said.
The wooden game products of her family business, PT Exto Yasa Jaya, she says, are in big demand in America and Europe.
Her brother's designs of classic games in inventive designs sit along the office shelves, some in packages covered with German writing, international toy standard signs and the Greenpeace symbol for environmentally-friendly products.
"We cannot meet the demand for educational toys because we would need more manpower. And we cannot expand because of the problem with the banks."
Unknown Indonesian manufacturers must also be patient if they want to enter international fairs in Germany and America, which is an important step to reaching the big buyers, Hasnawi adds. "The waiting list is five to six years."
Her family is not interested in exploring the wealthy segment of the domestic market. "Indonesians want toys which look sophisticated," Hasnawi said. The games, made from pine, do, indeed, look like they would be hard to sell here, among all the electronic and battery operated toys, the miniature vehicles and the fashionable dolls which sell for tens of thousands of rupiah.
"Besides, people here are import-minded, they'll opt for Taiwanese toys any day."
While some may regret these constraints to a more diverse toy industry, kids just have fun on their minds. Rich and poor kids alike have access to video games through the arcades which are cropping up in every busy shopping center.
And adults could not care less for traditional or "educational toys" -- they are dazzled by the wonderful piles of newfangled toys. What better things to spend money on?