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Editorial: The same old story
Many of us are grappling with Twitter and the language of the young, which increasingly resembles an obscure Morse code with a brazen and come-what-may sense of ethics
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any of us are grappling with Twitter and the language of the young, which increasingly resembles an obscure Morse code with a brazen and come-what-may sense of ethics. The puzzles of decoding new behavior and new developments are part and parcel of any generation, but some of us have managed to act as if the world has stood quite, quite still.
This includes members of officialdom behind the walls of the justice ministry and the Attorney General’s Office; from where we learned Saturday that dozens of new books might be banned. The officials’ family members and grandchildren were probably chatting and playing games with friends across borders, or downloading music and reading material – while with a straight face Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar told the Indonesian public that “we are currently evaluating 20 books that we consider provocative and could lead to disintegration within our nation”.
He was speaking 10 years after reformasi, at a time where we thought such policies were a thing of the past.
As if nothing had happened, minister Patrialis added that it was the responsibility of all Indonesians to prevent such books from being widely distributed. He is an executive of the National Mandate Party (PAN), one of the new parties known for its progressive platform in the first months since the New Order ended. Yet what we heard was plain New Order-speak, to the degree that some thought it must be a New Year hoax.
If it hadn’t been for the problem of nonexistent providers for the likes of Kindle here, the electronic books would have been a much coveted Christmas and year-end gift in these parts – adding to the figure of Internet access to virtually all books, banned or otherwise.
The titles the Justice and Human Rights Ministry are “evaluating” are “provocative” because they deal with issues of corruption, freedom of religion and the 1965 communist purge – all issues that have led to hundreds of new titles since Soeharto stepped down from his authoritarian rule.
Since then, everyone can read anything, practically anyone could write anything and the former taboo issues sold well, to the extent that we are now drowned in books by obscure writers.
New writers are coming up, staid publishers are overcoming earlier failures to recognize new talent and blogs are always there for those who are still happy to scribble and interact with readers in cyberspace.
A ban on books? As usual, such statements only serve to pique curiosity and help sales – besides leading to laughter all around. While we’re overwhelmed and spoilt with choice, the government still has the ancient mind-set of being tasked and trusted to control the content of books reaching a random audience.
A step past the old Indonesia would be an awareness the state had better spent its energies on citizens’ needs. A zero tax on books would be a great, overdue New Year surprise. It would mean recognition of the need to stimulate citizens’ intellect, instead of wondering about “certain parties” who want to discredit and oppose the government and spread heretical teachings and confusion with books.
