Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh
Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen.
We are so glad to have you all here today. We know that you have got many things to do but you decided to join us in the opening of the book fair this morning. We appreciate your presence.
Izinkan kami menyampaikan ucapan selamat datang kepada dua tokoh penting dari Kementerian Pariwisata dan Ekonomi Kreatif:
- Ibu Ni Made Ayu Marthini, MSc, Deputy of Marketing at Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia, and
- Bapak Neil El Himam, MSc, Deputy of Digital Economy and Creative Products at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia,
Beliau berdua yang membuka jalan agar IIBF 2024 berjalan. Allow us to express our gratitude to you, Ibu Made and Bapak Neil.
It is a great honor too to have with us:
-
- His Excellency Abdulla Salem Obaid Salem Al Dhaheri, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the Republic of Indonesia,
- His Excellency Ahmed Abdulla Alharmasi Alhajeri, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the Republic of Indonesia,
- His Excellency Sudqi Atallah Abdel Qader Al Omoush, Ambassador of Jordan to Indonesia
And we are also so excited to have all of you here:
- Dr. Mohammed Al Ali, CEO of Trends Research and Advisory, the United Arab Emirates,
- Bapak Supriyatno, MA, Head of the Book Center at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia,
- Bapak Firmansyah, MPd, Head of Jakarta Provincial Library and Archive Office,
- My colleagues at the Board of Ikapi, the Advisory Board of Ikapi, and the committee of the IIBF 2024,
- and last but not least; officials, publishers, booksellers, writers, illustrators, producers, lecturers, students, and all dear guests.
Welcome to the 44th Indonesia International Book Fair.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me begin this speech by reminding you about the importance of reading habits by sharing some research results. In general, reading activities can build family bonds, increase empathy, encourage brain growth, and increase vocabulary, all of which lead to a person’s success in the future. Reading habits can also build communication skills and knowledge and foster a love of learning.
People who like to read have advantages personally, professionally, and socially. Meanwhile, people who don’t read enough have a high risk of failure in all three areas. Reading is not only related to academic and economic success but also correlates with positive behavior in the personal and social spheres.
The habit of reading has a greater impact on a child’s educational success than the socioeconomic status or academic degrees of their parents. People who like to read have also been shown to contribute more to society than non-readers. They are recorded as going to museums, attending concerts, or making art three times more often. They are also twice as likely to volunteer and give to charity.
Don’t forget, reading books can be a wonderful escape from the stress of everyday life. Reading can relax your body by lowering your heart rate and easing the tension in your muscles. It works even better than drinking a cup of coffee. Don’t get me wrong. I am a coffee snob. Coffee and reading go together like characters and plot twists. It’s a match made in heaven.
Now let me quote Rita Carter. She is a writer and journalist—like me—who specializes in the working of the human brain: “There is one thing you could all do which would make you more imaginative, make your memory better, probably improve your personal relationships, and make you a nicer person. “
Yes, it’s reading. It’s reading stories.
Ladies and Gentlemen, when people say that athletics is the mother of sports, we can say that books are the queen of the creative industry. Books with the power of words and visuals are the source of various creative works, as well as connecting creative platforms. From the intellectual work of books, for example, many box office films have emerged; and from the same womb, various musicalization projects were born.
Books in the digital era have become a bridge between chatter in cyberspace and series on the screen. Books become a way for still images to reach the audience of cartoons in cinemas. Some books end up in the form of an experience industry or grow as action figures and cosplay characters. In fact, books in Indonesia have even grown the tourism industry, as happened in the novel Laskar Pelangi in Belitung.
With the awareness of the relationship between books and various other creative industries, starting from its 44th event this year, IIBF is trying to make books the hub of the spokes of various other creative works around it. We hope, for example, from the Story Market agenda, books can find a way to be transferred to other creative industries. This complements IIBF’s efforts so far through the Indonesia Rights Fair (IRF) agenda which bridges the translation efforts for Indonesian books into foreign languages and vice versa.
Everyone, let’s celebrate reading…
… and let’s celebrate all of creativity beyond reading.
Thank you.
Arys Hilman Nugraha
Baca juga: Peraih Ikapi Awards 2024
Baca juga: Press Release Indonesia International Book Fair 2024
