The Policies of Balai Pustaka as the Dutch Colonial Government’s Publishing Agency in 1917-1942

The Ethical Policy (1901) generated many intellectuals who were able to express their ideas and opinion of nationalism and opposition through written media. The colonial government felt restless and needed a sensor agency for the intellectual’s works. In 1908 the colonial government started to establish the Commission for People’s Reading which in 1917 changed to Balai Pustaka. This was the Dutch Colonial Government’s first publishing agency with privileged rights in the monopoly on the publishing and printing industries. Balai Pustaka also created a policy supporting a sensor function. This s... Mehr ...