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Jakarta Post

The revival of Balai Pustaka

A. Kurniawan Ulung (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sun, February 17, 2019

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The revival of Balai Pustaka Hipster cafe: Visitors flock to Kafe Sastra, which is located in the lobby of publisher Balai Pustaka on Jl. Bunga in East Jakarta. (-/A. Kurniawan Ulung)

The country’s oldest publisher has come to life again.

Not many publishing companies in the world can last for over a century.

One of those few survivors is state-owned publishing company Balai Pustaka, which has published some of the most legendary pieces of Indonesian literature, such as Sitti Nurbaya by Marah Rusli, Azab dan Sengsara (Pain and Suffering) by Merari Siregar and Layar Terkembang (Set Sail) by Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana.

Being a centenarian company means that Balai Pustaka has been publishing books since the Dutch colonial era. This September, the publishing company will turn 102 and it has made numerous innovations to keep itself relevant for the current generation and, hopefully, for Indonesians in the centuries to come.

One of the innovations is the company’s decision to approach millennials by establishing a trendy and hip coffee shop called Kafe Sastra (Literature Cafe) on Jl. Bunga in East Jakarta.

The interior of the cafe features colorful portraits of Indonesian literature giants, such as Chairil Anwar and the widely recognized “Pope of Indonesian Literature”, H.B. Jassin.

The cafe is also decorated with uniquely designed bookshelves that feature Balai Pustaka’s classics, such as Salah Pilih (Wrong Choice) by Nur St. Iskandar, La Hami by Marah Rusli and Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang (After the Darkness Comes the Light) by R.A. Kartini.

The interior basically provides visitors with a cozy vibe to enjoy various beverages while reading the classic literary works.

To add a more “literature” persona, the cafe management also names its signature drip and French press coffees kopi pantun (rhyme coffee) and kopi puisi (poetry coffee) respectively. The snacks also have unique names, such as risol sandiwara (play rissoles) and kebab pujangga (poet kebab). 

Balai Pustaka president director Achmad Fachrodji created Kafe Sastra because he believed happiness could be found in a cup of coffee and a good book.

For Achmad, the country’s oldest publisher and its classic books are like no others.

“We call this ‘Istana Peradaban Balai Pustaka’ [Balai Pustaka’s Palace of Civilization] because all of the smart and civilized people in this country, including ministers and presidents, grew up reading Balai Pustaka’s books,” he said.

In addition to the cafe, Balai Pustaka now also has a division that creates animated films based on Indonesian folktales, such as Malin Kundang from West Sumatera, and has collaborated with Malaysian artists to produce audiobooks.

One of the Malaysian artists is singer Siti Nurhaliza, who read the voice over for the audiobook recordings. Balai Pustaka gets royalties from the sale of these recordings in Malaysia.

Balai Pustaka has also plans to adapt three of its classic books to the big screen, including Marah Rusli’s Sitti Nurbaya and Tulis Sutan Sati’s Sengsara Membawa Nikmat (Blessing in Disguise). 

“The casting process for the Sitti Nurbaya movie has been completed,” Achmad said.  

Under Achmad’s leadership, the company not only produces literature-related works. It recently redesigned Lokananta, the country’s first recording studio, home to around 40,000 tapes and vinyl records of great historical value.    

“We are reviving Lokananta as a cultural destination. We want to introduce it to millennials so that they can understand the history of music in Indonesia, such as how the ‘Indonesia Raya’ [Great Indonesia] national anthem was created,” he said. 

Fachrodji said that his company helped the 62-year-old Lokananta display its collections and create dioramas about the stories of Wage Rudolf Supratman, the writer of “Indonesia Raya”, and other legendary musicians like Gesang and Waljinah in a way that is attractive for the youth.

Seeing Balai Pustaka’s current success and innovation it’s hard to believe that six years ago it almost disappeared into oblivion because of financial troubles.

In 2013, the then-state-owned enterprises minister, Dahlan Iskan, planned to close down Balai Pustaka. 

When Achmad joined Balai Pustaka in 2016, it had suffered 20 straight years of losses amid competition from private publishers. At that time, Balai Pustaka had not published a single book in 10 years, forcing it to sell its assets, including a 16-floor building that now belongs to the Financial Services Authority (OJK). 

“I thank God because we booked a profit in 2018,” Achmad said. 

Achmad, despite his success reviving the dying Balai Pustaka, is not a littérateur.

Graduating from the school of forestry at the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB), he was the director of human resources and administration at state-owned forestry company Perhutani before State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarnoe asked him to save Balai Pustaka. 

“She called this ‘a ship that is going to sink’,” he recalled.

“She asked me to revive it.”  

When Achmad came to the 5,400 square meter Balai Pustaka office for the first time in 2016, it was as dark as a haunted house because the company was unable to pay its electricity bills.

Many of its employees were also not in the office because they had not received a salary for five months. They made a living as ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers and cake sellers. 

One of the biggest changes Achmad made was to have Balai Pustaka open its doors during weekends, a decision that shocked his staff at the time.

“Let’s take a look at Gramedia bookstores. They are crowded with visitors, especially on the weekend. Why don’t we try to work on those days too?” he said.    

When celebrating its 100thanniversary in 2017, the company launched a program called Sanggar Sastra Balai Pustaka(Balai Pustaka Literature Space) to maintain and preserve Indonesian literature. During weekends, people flock to it to take part in writing, theater and poetry classes. 

And to solve Balai Pustaka’s financial issues, Achmad personally visited other state-owned companies to meet their president directors. He reminded them all about how they grew up and became what they were by reading Balai Pustaka books.

Achmad’s reminder basically told the president directors they had the moral duty to help him revive the company.

“They then helped Balai Pustaka in droves,” he said.

Achmad now plans to use other state-owned companies’ assistance for Balai Pustaka’s most ambitious project, the development of 1,000 community libraries across the Indonesian archipelago. So far, Balai Pustaka has managed to establish 410 libraries and Achmad is upbeat the target could be met this year. 

Another ambitious project from Balai Pustaka is the conversion of over 6,000 book titles into electronic books.  

“So far we have converted around 3,300,” Achmad said. (hdt)

 

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