What reading means to professionals

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.