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Asti Kleinsteuber: AN AUTHOR ON A MISSION
New series: Communications and etiquette trainer Asti Kleinsteuber poses with her fully-illustrated, Indonesian-English bilingual book series, which consists of 18 titles
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New series: Communications and etiquette trainer Asti Kleinsteuber poses with her fully-illustrated, Indonesian-English bilingual book series, which consists of 18 titles. (JP/Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak)
Communications and etiquette trainer Asti Kleinsteuber formulated “The 18 Right Steps of Educational Value” in her latest “Character Building: Foundations of a Mental Revolution in Building a Strong Indonesian Generation” book series.
The fully-illustrated, Indonesian-English bilingual book series by Asti Kleinsteuber consist of 18 titles, each of them touching on an issue delivered in simple, straightforward language despite the complexity of the subject, aimed at readers of any age.
“The books are not only for children or teenagers. They are also for parents, teachers, relatives, nannies and everyone involved in building the character of a child,” said Asti, the country’s expert on communications and etiquette.
Launched at the end of June at an event in South Jakarta, subjects of Character Building: Foundations of a Mental Revolution in Building a Strong Indonesian Generation book series includes love, honesty, respect, responsibility, diversity, tolerance, peacefulness, self-esteem, discipline, attention, culture, technology and violence.
In each book, which is about 30 pages long, Asti avoids dos and don’ts and instead encourages readers, especially adults, to find out more about the correct way to nurture the characters of children, beneficial to the future of the nation.
Asti, the pioneer of social and business etiquette and had published multiple series on etiquette over 15 years ago that still prevail today, took seven years to complete this latest series.
The idea came as an extension to her book on home etiquette combined with her personal experience and her observation on everyday life in Indonesia.
It took her a while to find the right illustrator and to have it translated in English. Another obstacle to the printing of the book was that Asti refused to collaborate with publishers to keep the books as neutral as possible.
“The books are self-published and I needed the time to get all the money for that. But what took the most time was for me to muster the courage to publish the books because I thought I lacked the credibility,” she said.
“But it’s important to have the books out there with activities involving the wider public to complement them. I hope the government uses them as an educational spearhead in their mental revolution movement.”
Born in Jakarta in 1952, Asti was raised with books that made her dream of visiting foreign lands, which she eventually earned enough money to do so.
“The first place visited was China because as a child I wanted to see a dragon, the majestic glory of Chinese kingdoms, the red and gold painted palace and the power of it.
“After that, I thought of visiting Africa to see the people boiled in the big cauldron as I read in comics,” she said, adding that her childhood imagination propelled her to write non-fiction.
At 16, she traveled to European countries performing Sundanese classical dances at 36 opera houses, and as a palace dancer during the first years of second president Soeharto, Asti performed in front of American president Richard Nixon and Indian president Indira Gandhi.
She was educated in the Jakarta Art Institute (IKJ), but unfinished, later studied at the Interior Design School of Art in Zurich, Switzerland.
Asti was also educated in international etiquette and table decoration at Neugast Hoeflichkeiten in Essen, Germany, and in public relations at Interstudi in Jakarta.
Married to Fritz Kleinsteuber, the former director of the German Indonesian Chamber of Commerce based in Jakarta, the couple of over 40 years have three children who all live in different parts of the world.
As a Muslim married to a Christian, Asti exercised pluralism in the family where she took her children to church while her husband accompanies her fasting every Ramadhan holy month.
She had the privilege to gain a multi-cultural perspective on the character-building and education of children, which also derived from her brief stint as an air hostess of a flag carrier.
“When I was a stewardess, I was [generally] treated as a servant by passengers, but a stewardess in Germany, for example, was treated with full respect as a woman.
“I also discovered how they raised their children with awareness where children should be taught about learning from their mistakes and getting back up on their own after falling.”
Asti was the public relations officer of the Antiterrorism Coordinating Desk during the administration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a lecturer at the Swiss German University, a trainer on communications and etiquette at numerous corporations, institutions and government agencies.
She had been the columnist at women’s tabloid magazine Nova — and initiated activities at small towns — as well at Warta BNN, a circular of the National Narcotics Agency during which she published three books on drug abuse.
From her personal and work experiences Asti had the privilege to look closer at the root of the problems in Indonesian society and was mesmerized by the local wisdom of village communities.
“Such local wisdom on coexistence is the reason this country has not been devastated despite terrorist attacks. Radicalism actually exists only in big cities where most people feel dissatisfied with their lives.”
Her pride as an Indonesian was also seen from her series of coffee table books on the country’s cultural heritage.
“With my photographer nephew, we traveled the country to make an archive of Indonesia starting with the State Palaces,” said Asti.
The project took almost two years due to red tape but her team at that time became the first, and the only one, with permission to take pictures of the palaces.
It followed by books on heritage Chinese temples, heritage mosques, traditional markets, old kingdoms, churches and Buddhist and Hindu temples.
But her next project was developing the character building series and reprinting a more affordable version of the books.
“I don’t look for profit by publishing these books. I hope the books can soon be available in school libraries and be read by more parents and children.”
