Why books? For Indonesia is not only known as the fabled land of hand-painted batik or meticulously-crafted leather puppet (wayang kulit) or even cheap pirated DVDs (only Rp 5,000 or RM 2 or USD 0.50 per copy); people, especially from Malaysia, now are storming Indonesia to buy books. Yep, you heard that right. Books! I might be exaggerating a tad bit about the storming part--not intentionally wanting to paint the image of tourist mobs, cameras hung around their sun-seared necks and shopping bags firmly gripped in one hand, guide books in the other, pillaging and plundering every available Gramedia bookstores from Sabang to Merauke--but the gist of it is understandably clear: Since 1998 (pasca Orde Baru), Indonesia has become a prime destination for book-shopping, and I'm not the only one who dares to assert this claim. Refer to this particular kakiseni.com article, written by the multi-talented Jerome Kugan, for an overview on Indonesia as a shiny literary haven amidst the dark and benumbed publishing world of the rest of Southeast Asia.
This brings up two obvious questions: What explains the genesis of this fairly new phenomenon (the supernova-like explosion of published literary works), and its importance vis-à-vis the Southeast Asian literary world? The simple answer would be since the downfall of Soeharto’s autocratic regime, the intellectual floodgates were flung wide open, releasing a fierce stream of liberated creativity and wealth of ideas to wash away the sediments of decades-old censorship, fascist-like thought control and state-sanctioned publishing. The not-so simple answer would be, though there were virtually omnipresent state surveillance and crackdowns on subversive literatures (perceived or real), the culture of dissidence still managed to exist, even thrived amidst the miasma of Orde Baru's fascism. Courageous litterateurs found creative and ingenious ways to express their discontent and to thumb their noses at the all-powerful state monolith. The founding of a cultural place like the Komunitas Utan Kayu by the famous poet and essayist, Goenawan Mohammad, is simply an attempt to wrest the control of and to wean arts and culture from the corrupting--and stifling--influence of politics and ideology, irregardless of persuasion. Pak Goen's Manikebu or Manifesto Kebudayaan is a testament to this view of total, unfettered liberation of arts and culture, though the manifesto itself was unjustifiably panned by some of Indonesian literary heavyweights, most notably the world-famous Pramoedya Ananta Toer (of whom I'm an ardent, obsessed fan.)
There would not be an upsurge of published works without heavy demand from the public. The public is simply tired of being kept in the dark for so long and of being told what to read and what they can know; hence, the newfound zeal and unquencheable thirst for knowledge and info as soon as the Soeharto's edifice crumbled to the ground. To wit, imagine some of the Saudi men who are sheltered from the so-called insidious Western and secularistic culture and are deprived of even a minimal contact with the fairer sex, travel abroad to the Western Hemisphere and go completely ape-crazy in all forms of debauchery, with not a single thread of restrain. The more one censors and imposes restrictions on human freedom, the more curious and inquisitive it gets. Cocaine and heroin would not be that much appealing if they are legal and can be bought in every mom-and-pop grocery stores. Of course total and unbridled freedom is also not good for human civilization; Thomas Hobbes's "war of all against all" comes to mind if freedom is to be left unreined and unchecked. It means a tenuous and delicate balance between social stability and individual freedom has to be struck and it is this equilibrium that we should all be striving for.
A case can also be made that reading habit is more entrenched in Indonesia than elsewhere in the region (to explain the staggering number of readers), but the sheer size of her population makes the claim seems a bit facetious. 10 percent of Indonesian population is almost equal to the whole population of Malaysia, or the whole 13 million people in Jakarta alone is more than half of Malaysia's 23 million people. Thus, a small percentage increase in readership in Indonesia accounts for a whole lot of people; no wonder that the Indonesian writers are churning out books left and right to meet this new demand.
Soeharto's Orde Baru claimed that any allowance for diversity of idea in the public discourse is a detriment to national unity and can posed a threat to the stability and security of the nation. Fast forward seven years since the downfall of Soeharto and clearly that this claim is grossly overblown and had no basis in facts. For democracy to thrive and prosper, it is imperative to have an open public discourse that permits a vibrant and stimulating yet peaceful contestation of ideas. When one learns to tolerate and respect other diverse points of views--and strive for common understanding and goals--only then people can live in relatively peaceful co-existence with each other--the main ingredient for vitality of democracy in a pluralistic, multicultural society.
Anyway, I've always been enamored by Indonesian literatures since I was a kid-- reading all the Ramayana tales of heroics and derring-dos, the adventures of Wali Songo, Indonesian bloody road to independence, among others. As for modern Indonesian writers (read: 20th century), I've always been captivated by the brilliant works of Pramoedya (Pak Pram), Chairil Anwar, Goenawan Mohammad, Emha Ainun Najib (Cak Nun), WS Rendra, Mochtar Lubis (though some of them hold diametrically-opposite political views from each other and even bitterly clashed amongst themselves) and most recently, the irreverent and fiesty Bogor-born-and-bred, Ayu Utami. I remember reading her novel Saman for the first time and completely fell head-over-heels for her--the impact was that strong! A novel that is unabashed in asserting its gender independence and in breaking the shackles of long-held taboos while infusing it with astute observations on the contemporary Indonesian socio-political affairs. The sequel Larung is not too shabby either, and rest assured that both novels do not have your typical fairy-tale endings. It also doesn't hurt that the writer is quite a looker herself. Grrrrr...
All in all, go to Indonesia to buy books. Seriously!
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