What reading means to professionals

By Wirasti Wiryono

JAKARTA (JP): It's surprising to find out what busy professionals like to read. Do they have time at all to read?

At the top of the list is Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro, the public campaigner of reading for an educated Indonesian society. He helped set up May as the Month of Books and September as Love Reading Month.

Despite his busy schedule as a cabinet minister, leading member of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals and other positions in society, he practices what he preaches.

He said 80 percent of his reading materials are news magazines, the remaining 20 percent are books.

Variety is the spice of life and Wardiman's repertoire is regularly peppered with several magazines which keep him informed on up-to-the minute developments in the world. They are US News and World Report, Asiaweek, National Geographic and The Economist.

"The Science and Technology and Face Value columns of The Economist help me decide the books I'd like to read next," said the minister who claimed he also devours history, religion and nonfiction crime books.

Aside from a computer book on Windows '95 in Indonesian, his latest reading includes Mind Hunter: Inside FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. "It's an insightful and informative probe on the efforts to define a serial killer's profile," he said.

He said his all-time favorite book on social science studies is Fervez Hoodbhoy's Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and Battle for Rationalism.

He proudly said that from among history books, he has read four of the 10 volumes on the works of Dutch writer Snouck Hurgronje. He has also read translations of selected stories on Indonesian history by Frenchman Louis Charles Damais, which depicts, among other things, people's conversion to Islam in Gresik, East Java as early as 1082.

In addition, he has also read Road to the West, a dissertation in English about the Dutch language in colonial times.

Poetry is another favorite, including the works of Indonesian poet Chairil Anwar from the fight for independence era. He said English books on kites rekindle memories of his childhood pastime, while books of the Star Trek science fiction series and Isaac Asimov remain his most steady reading companions.

He regrets that he does not have time to read John Grisham, Michael Crichton and detective novels.

UNICEF's representative in Jakarta, Stephen J. Woodhouse, said he has enjoyed reading biographies on two British prime ministers, namely Clement Attlee, who served in office from 1945 to 1951, and Harold Wilson, who served in office from 1964 to 1970.

Woodhouse enjoys reading novels by Dick Francis and Wilbur Smith, whose stories are set in South Africa, while his all-time favorite book is Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October.

He said medical journals keep him informed about the latest developments in the health profession, including the Harvard Medical Review and The Lancet of the United Kingdom.

Weekly news magazines like Newsweek regularly maintain his attention, especially on the latest news about AIDS, while the Science and Technology column of The Economist help Woodhouse select social science topics to read.

The National, City, Business and International pages of The Jakarta Post and International Herald Tribune round out his reading.

Psychologist and advertising executive Tika Bisono said reading is a wonderful escape from our everyday problems. The habit is therapeutic and important to developing our imagination, especially if the books are adapted to the silver screen, she said.

Romance and horror novels by Barbara Cartland, NH Dini, Eddy D. Iskandar and Marga T. from her teenage years remain favorites.

"I also love the wayang (shadow puppet) comics of R. Kosasih, the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen and popular action tales of silat, the martial art" she said.

The book Psikologi Popular is the fixture of her reading corner due to occupational demands, as are books on women's issues, working professionals, leadership and youth.

She admitted to reading the adventures of Tintin on the sly and never misses the comic strips of The Born Loser on the Post.

"Above all, though, the holy Qur'an opens a spiritual and psychological window to the soul," she said.