Irwan Bajang and the Modern Literacy Movement

Irwan Bajang and the Modern Literacy Movement

JAKARTA: “Why did I open Independent School? I simply didn’t have any money,” said Irwan Bajang during a recent interview in Blok M, Jakarta, about his relentless efforts of promoting literacy.

Located in Yogyakarta, Independent School holds writing classes and where Bajang teaches is his vehicle to provide literacy education.

Bajang’s passion in literacy has made him a man of many hats. Aside from founding the Independent School, Bajang is also involved in the Indie Book Corner – an independent publishing, printing, and book consultancy company – and its independent bookstore, Toko Budi (short for ‘indie books’), which can be found in many e-commerce platforms. He is also one of the initiators of Patjar Merah – a niche literacy festival and pop-up book market held in several cities in Indonesia, such as Yogyakarta, Malang, Semarang, and Jakarta.

“The reading interest of Indonesians being very low is only a stigma. It isn’t easy for literacy enthusiasts to look for quality and diverse reading materials. Through Patjar Merah, we hope we can bring books to many corners of Indonesia,” said Bajang, an International Relations graduate from the Social and Political Sciences Faculty of Universitas Pembangunan Nasional (UPN) Veteran, Yogyakarta.

His persistence in keeping the literacy movement alive made Bajang, born in Aik Anyar of West Nusa Tenggara, a recipient of Astra’s 2014 SATU Indonesia Awards in the Education category.

“SATU Indonesia Awards from Astra was remarkably helpful for our work in Independent School, especially in terms of raising our public profile. As a recipient, I’ve been approached by many people with offers to collaborate,” he said.

Among many of Bajang’s endeavours, the Independent School is one that fosters a synergy between authors and publishers. To Bajang, the synergy is an important solution to many issues in the world of literacy.

Moreover, in the hands of Bajang, literacy education was no longer limited by form, namely writing. Visual, even musical works can be the tools for literacy education.

“Literacy education is not always about reading or writing. More than that, it is about human communication, capturing ideas, and articulating those ideas to others,” said the 33-year-old.

Modern Day Literacy Education

Bajang’s efforts to make literacy education more acceptable by the modern audience were met with similar enthusiasm. One example was his collaboration with the MocoSik Festival 2019 in Yogyakarta, the first ever event that combined reading (moco in Javanese) and music (shortened to sik) in a single platform. In a festival that blended indie and mainstream performers, a visitor had to purchase books – as substitute to the event’s ticket – to gain entry.

“Musicians won’t be able to be good lyricists without some quality reading. We want to marry music and books, and thereby promoting literacy to our mostly millennial visitors,” said Bajang, who himself is a published author, including a collection of poems titled Kepulangan Kelima.

The typical portrayal of millennials did not deter Bajang or dampen his creativity in literacy education. In fact, Bajang believed that the tech-savvy millennials would be able to get themselves exposed to literacy in a variety of ways.

Indeed, technology plays a pivotal part in literacy movement, including its commercialization. E-commerce platforms, for example, have removed the market boundary between independent and major publishers, which Bajang attributed to for the advancement of literacy promotion.

Bajang also felt that modern literacy had room to grow. From paper and ink, it could transcend to the silver screen. An example is the movie adaptation of the Earth of Mankind novel from the renown Pramoedya Ananta Tour that features young actors.

That kind of adaptation, Bajang said, could entice millennials to learn more about Indonesia’s prominent writers. More importantly, it helped breaking the stereotype of books as being dull and tedious.

“My belief is that we don’t see just one version of history. We may be learning it from the limitation of our textbooks during the New Order era, but the advent of digital technology has opened up infinitely new ways for us to learn about history. Foreign-language journals and e-books, to mention a couple. Let history be read in different ways by different readers. The millennials are smart and skilled learners of literacy,” he said.

Bajang also remarked about writing as a source of income. In this modern time, an author can promote and market his/her work in many different ways, either conventional through books, newspapers, and magazines or contemporary channels, such as social media and website. The wide array of options allows authors to choose what they need, to adapt, and to be more flexible in publishing their works. As Bajang, who has been dubbed as the carrier of the ‘writing virus’, said, reading and writing could be fun once we could see past the stereotypical image of thick, difficult books in a library.

Irwan Bajang’s persistence and passion in literacy is aligned with Astra’s mission of prospering with the nation.

For further information, please contact:

Boy Kelana Soebroto

Head of Corporate Communications

PT Astra International Tbk

Ph. 021-508-43-888

About Astra:

PT Astra International Tbk was established in 1957 in Jakarta as a general trading company under the name Astra International Inc. In 1990, for the purpose of the company’s initial public offering (IPO), the name of the company changed to PT Astra International Tbk, followed by listing its shares on the Indonesia Stock Exchange under the ticker code ASII.

Astra has developed its business by implementing a business model based on synergies and diversification within seven business segments, consisting of: 1) Automotive, 2) Financial Services, 3) Heavy Equipment, Mining, Construction & Energy, 4) Agribusiness, 5) Infrastructure and Logistics, 6) Information Technology and 7) Property.

Astra conducts business operations in all parts of Indonesia under the management of more than 235 subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates companies, and was supported by more than 216,000 employees, as of March 2020.

As one of the largest national business groups today, Astra has built a strong reputation through offering a range of quality products and services, taking into account the implementation of good corporate governance and environmental governance. Astra always aspires to be the pride of the nation that participates in efforts to improve the welfare of the Indonesian people.

Therefore, Astra's business activities strive to apply a balanced mix in the commercial aspects of business and non-business contributions through 9 foundations and a variety of sustainable social responsibility programmes Astra Untuk Indonesia Sehat, Astra Untuk Indonesia Cerdas, Astra Untuk Indonesia Hijau and Astra Untuk Indonesia Kreatif.

Astra initiated the Semangat Astra Terpadu Untuk (SATU) Indonesia Awards programme, which has entered a decade this year, and has given recognition awards to 305 young Indonesians, consisting of 59 national level recipients and 246 provincial level recipients in the fields of Health, Education, the Environment, Entrepreneurship and Technology, which are integrated with Astra’s wide range of community activities through 87 Kampung Berseri Astra and 645 Desa Sejahtera Astra initiated in 34 provinces throughout Indonesia.

For further information, please visit www.astra.co.id & www.satu-indonesia.com, and follow Astra through Instagram (@SATU_Indonesia), Youtube (SATU Indonesia), Facebook (Semangat Astra Terpadu) and Twitter (@SATU_Indonesia).