Wardiman opens huge book fair
JAKARTA (JP): The International Book Fair 1996, which brings together 93 publishers from Indonesia and abroad, was officially opened by Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro yesterday.
Taking place at the Senayan Sport's complex, the 16th book fair, which will last until Sunday, features a wide variety of books for children, youths and adults.
Foreign participants at the book fair includes Brunei, England, France, Iran, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The event, which is expected to attract 10,000 visitors every day, will also feature seminars.
In his speech, Wardiman expressed concern over the lack of interest in reading among Indonesians.
"We can't say that we're proud of our book industry," Wardiman said. "A characteristic of an advanced society is they love reading, but here...the condition saddens me," he said.
He pointed out that the country's book production is very low. "The number of books published here are not comparable to the country's population," Wardiman said.
In 1995, only 5,000 book titles were published, he said.
Neighboring countries, such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, produce a lot more books than Indonesia, he said. Moreover, advanced countries, such as Britain, Japan and Korea, produce about 40,000 titles every year, he said.
According to the 1994 official data, 87 percent of Indonesians above 10 years of age, or 130 million people, are literate. "It means that 130 million people need books. But, despite their good income, they still don't buy books," Wardiman said.
People's buying power has not improved their interest in books, he said.
"Instead, people love buying music cassettes," he said.
In 1995, about 95 million cassettes were sold, each costing between Rp 6,500 (US$2.70) and Rp 12,000. During the same period, only 30,000 copies of books were sold, Wardiman said.
He urged the Indonesian Publishers Association to help improve people's reading interest instead of continuously demanding lower taxes on books. (ste)