It would not be an exaggeration to say that our way of life has, in many ways, been irrevocably upended by the Covid-19 pandemic. From now on, in addition to the already-routine metal detectors and bag and body searches when boarding trains and airplanes (that were put in place after terrorism attacks in the past) the new normal, at least for the foreseeable future, will be face masks and temperature-taking devices prior to entering hospitals and supermarkets—the only buildings we are allowed to go to within the confines of local quarantine rules. Life must go on, however, and though working and studying from home has posed a challenge to educators, students, and parents, long-distance schooling is proving to be both feasible and effective. Through the state-run TVRI television station, students are allotted specific times to receive their assignments, based on their particular curricula. One improvement over the normal system is that an extra hour every day is dedicated to the subject of parenting. The system is far from perfect at present, but this method of distant schooling might very well be implemented on a wider scale to schools in Papua and other remote regions of the country.
Speaking of Papua…. Lontar is proud to report that in a small way, we have contributed to the promotion of writing in that region. Following a four-day creative writing workshop that Lontar held in Jayapura in January, participants in the workshop submitted 21 short stories. Following their evaluation, 14 were selected which will be published soon.
As elsewhere throughout the world, World Book Day on April 23 was commemorated in the mainstream and social media. Although a survey of 100 bookstores by the Indonesian Publishers Association (IKAPI) has shown a drop in book sales by 58.2% since the enforcement of social distancing, there are promising signs of growth in on-line orders, both for printed publications and digital books. This is a welcome development, especially with the increase in the number of Indonesian literary works being produced in the past few years.
Also in conjunction with World Book Day, The Jakarta Post chose one of Lontar’s books for its list of nine “must read” works, that being Eyewitness, a collection of short stories by Seno Gumira Ajidarma translated by Jan Lingard and John McGlynn. Another “Lontar-related” book on the list is There is No New York Today, a collection of poems by Aan Mansyur which was also translated by John McGlynn. We urge you to read them and other Lontar books.
One book that all Indonesia-culture lovers should have is Malay Seals from the Islamic World of Southeast Asia, a large-size 850-page book that carefully catalogues more than 2000 seals that were sourced from collections worldwide. Published in association with the British Library and National University Press, this book would make an excellent gift for close friends and associates at the upcoming Idul Fitri holidays. Because of the detrimental impact that Covid-19 is having on cultural organizations such as Lontar (which depend on public support for their survival), I hope you will consider purchasing this book. Although priced at Rp. 2 million per copy, substantial discounts are available for educational institutions and bulk orders. For more information send a message to contact@lontar.org.
Here’s wishing you the best!
Yuli Ismartono
yismartono@lontar.org