Seize the day

My problem is really resembles everyone’s problem in Indonesia. Reading, primarily good books, has not been a culture here. Good books are still a mean of luxury which can’t compete with mobile phone or ipod. Books are too serious and uneasy. A written form of language with which the message is sent is much harder to understand than, for instance, verbal instruction to use electronic devices. Unlike sound and visual stimulant, script seems to be more difficult to digest by average people. People here are not really valuing concepts because pragmatism always wins in real life, especially in a country like Indonesia where everything seems tumbling down, unsolved. But I think that is not the way it is. The main point here is that globalization flourishing now only touch the very skin of consumerism. People put first fashion, fine products, and gala dinning as their primary life style. Books usually come in the middle of people’s expense list, if not the last because insurance’s premium started to enter people’s expenditure nowadays.

Another fact attracting me : consumer goods’ price rarely goes down while the price of a big portion of local books is slowly getting lower. Good bookstores, old and new, remain full of visitors (and hopefully buyers) but other boutiques, cafes, and outlets of fashion and luxury in shopping malls attract more. When I tried to calculate how much one spends on week end lunches or dinners (in this case, my family was the respondent), I was surprised that the cost goes higher every year. Based on my story and some samples, I came to a proxy that In average a small family in medium class spends about 100 thousands Rp per week on consumer goods, almost 100% higher that money they spend on books. Even if the family is committed to serve books as nutritious breakfast, they don’t always have time to do it. Household works, attention-demanding children, deadly traffic jam, couple’s communication and other family matters swallowed their time. A single might plans to invest small part of his/her fortune in bookstores if she gets enough time to read it due to her full schedule during week days (working late) and week ends (hanging out with friends). We can stand movies (even the dry ones) or TV shows but we can't survive on books. It’s obvious, we run out of money or time or attention for books.

Like how the food chain works, whenever there’s no food source the next group will face hardness to stay alive. Without good books and proper time to read and intention to grasp the idea from the books, seldom one succeeds the writing stage as a medium to disburse thoughts and share inspiration. This is also a big predicament for most of Indonesian. Writing is not as fun as playing or chatting. People send short message, email, or chat via telecommunication devices, of course, but their level of language and writing style are hardly improving in that way.

I am not complaining. Just not ready to give practical solution to this issue. My kid loves books even though she hasn’t been able to read on her own. But every child loves books, don’t they? Then, I think adult’s duty is to lead children’s  impulsive manner toward books into self directing spirit in managing their knowledge. Am I ready yet? I presume I am a kid myself for now.