[Kabar-indonesia] 'Kabar' - A small magazine that promotes a huge country

[Joyo at aol.com]

The Jakarta Post
November 4, 2006

'KABAR': A small magazine that promotes a huge country

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Starting in 2001 as a newsletter that catered for only about
800 expatriates in town, today KABAR has transformed into a
stylish magazine available in big cities across the country.

As a newsletter, the publication simply provided information
about events organized by its publisher, the Jakarta
International Community Center (JICC), which has now become
a hub of art, culture and learning center in Jakarta for
expatriates and locals alike.

Presently KABAR magazine, published every two months, offers
its readers broader coverage on the nation's arts, culture
and traditions in either easy-reading stories or magnificent
pictures supplied by its professional contributors.

The publisher has also increased the number of copies
printed to 9,000 for each edition.

"We want to make people better informed about this country.
Much material produced in the English-language shows
Indonesia in negative ways. We want to redress and try to
change that," the magazine's executive editor, Jan Russel,
27, told The Jakarta Post at her office recently.

Because the contents of the magazine are also available on
the Internet, the move to promote the country will
eventually reverberate among an international audience.

Apart from being an instrument to promote Indonesia, the
magazine has been designed to be a medium for Indonesians to
share their ideas with the international community.

"At present, our focus is on inviting people to participate.
It could be individuals, writers or photographers," said
creative director Avi Hazuria, 28.

The idea to develop the magazine came when Jan met Avi in
Jakarta two years ago.

At that time, Jan just came to this country from her
hometown of Dublin, Ireland, for a six-month assignment. By
the end of the assignment, her employer called her back for
a different assignment to another country. However, Jan
declined.

"The reason why it was Indonesia rather than somewhere else
was because here, I got a feeling that I hadn't had in any
other country. There is something special in being here,"
said Jan, who studied Law and German in Dublin.

Coincidentally, Avi had just arrived on a break from his job
as a computer programmer in the United States.

"It was like an old glove. It fits. Some of my best friends
came back from their study abroad. Then, we developed
computer programs here in 2004," said Avi, whose family
moved to Indonesia from India in 1981.

Meeting each other in 2004, Jan and Avi shared ideas about
developing a magazine during some casual conversations. It
materialized only late last year when both helped JICC on
different assignments.

They saw the newsletter and found its potential to be
developed in a broader scope. At that point, both Jan and
Avi jumped on board. They broadened the scope, got
contributors, got new advertisers and increased
distribution.

"The feedback that we got was very good. So, we continue
doing it," said Jan, who married Avi last May.

Aware of the importance of writers in a magazine, Avi tried
to get more and more writers and contributors from
everywhere. Some of them are friends and others are those
they just met in different places.

The contributors have offered stories from Aceh, Bali, Medan
and Yogyakarta. Some others offered photographs.

In its latest edition, the magazine published a photo essay
on sarongs. It features men in sarongs with different
designs from different regions in the country.

"We have a desire to take something very traditional. We
want to bring awareness of sarongs in a different way," Jan
said.

In previous editions, the magazine published photo essays on
Jakarta Metromini buses, bajaj (pedicabs) and West Java's
resort area, Lembang.

It plans to publish photo essays on the breathtaking view of
Mount Ijen in East Java and photo essays on Jamu Gendong,
Javanese women who sell herbal drinks door-to-door.

In an effort to stimulate people to write and to read as
well, KABAR magazine will organize an English writing
contest that will be divided in three groups: children under
nine years old, children aged between nine to 14 years old
and for the general public.

The contest is open to Indonesians and expatriates, and
requires participants to write about Indonesia.

Avi emphasized that Indonesia needs to harness the skill of
speaking to an international audience whether through
writing or photographs.

"This country has a great deal to offer to the world beyond
what is currently understood. People see an Indonesia that
is rich in gas, oil and natural resource. They rarely think
that Indonesia also has rich culture and art," Avi said,
adding that the magazine is committed to informing the world
about Indonesia.

On the Net: www.kabarmag.com

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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