On Reading

If I am not mistaken, it has been five or six months I have not read Kompas Newspapers since my return to West Borneo. From that time, everyday I read some local newspapers in my town. To be frank, in my opinion, those newspapers for some reasons have not presented worth reading news for their readers because most of the headlines are covered by violence such looting, crime news, rape, gambling news etc[not all, some are good. But the portion is still imbalanced]. The local newspapers put a bigger portion for such hard news. As a reader, I think such news to some extent has decreased society’s sensitivity and affection to violence since such news is presented daily and uneducated. I cannot find such interesting opinions or writings on the opinion corner.
When I was in college, every morning I used to go to the library to read newspapers such as Kompas, Tempo and some other English newspapers. I found that Kompas’ Opinion corner so interesting and inspiring. Some writers such as Goenawan Mohamad, Gede Prama, Mochtar Buchory, and Haryatmoko are among those who inspire me through their writings in Kompas. I like them so much [it is my habit when I read Kompas to read the opinon corner first]. Since my return home, I have looked for it in the town where Kompas seller is and I could not find one. Long time ago, I remembered that there was a man who sold Kompas but recently Kompas is a scarce thing to find here.
This morning, when I was going to the church, a newspaper seller rode the bike to the parish or the church where I attended a mass. I saw in the seller’s bike basket there was Kompas Newspapers and I shouted to stop him. I asked him about the newspapers. He said to me that there is Kompas but it is only for subscribers and the priest is one of them. The seller is afraid of buying many Kompas Newspapers because of the sale here is not good. So he buys only for the subscribers. Today, I begged the seller to sell one for me [He said that actually he can’t sell it because it is the only one left for him]. Kompas newspapers are never on time here, it is always a day late. It means if you buy it Sunday, it is the Saturday edition and always like that because of the distance [even in Pontianak, Kompas comes at 12.00 o’clock].
Today, I find the joy of reading Kompas that I have lost for a quite long time. Today I read again my favorite writer Goenawan Mohamad writing on Atheism on page 39 and Gede pram on peace. I feel happy today for such things. From today, I told the seller to buy for me Saturday and Sunday editions and it costs me to save some money from my very low salary as a teacher for 5500 Kompas Newspaper. I am happy doing such things since as a teacher I need to know what happen in the world. I am not saying that I am an ardent reader or a kind of, but I like reading in my spare time. Till now, I keep learning on how to improve my reading skills and love on reading. Happy reading to everyone. God be with you.



Peace and Love


Kristian