R.I.P. x 3
1.
Marlon Brando is the one in the news worldwide.
2.
Mochtar Lubis died on Friday aged 72. The noted writer-journalist, who was born on March 7, 1922, in Padang, West Sumatra, was a celebrated novelist and respected journalist who co-founded the Indonesia Raya daily in 1949.
Mochtar was jailed for nine years, from 1957 to 1966, due to his critical writing as the daily's chief editor, in Madiun, East Java, along with other nationalist figures, including Sjahrir, Mohammad Roem and Soebadio Sastrosatomo, who were also critical of the first president Sukarno.
The regime backed by the military then led by Gen. AH Nasution banned the daily six times after 1957. The daily's reports that caused the government's anger included the affair of Sukarno with Hartini, whom he eventually married. The reports led to his earlier wife, Fatmawati, leaving the presidential palace. The daily also reported a case of suspected bribery involving former Prime Minister Roeslan Abdulgani and some businessmen.
Under the New Order, President Soeharto permitted Indonesia Raya to resume publication in 1968 but banned it in 1974 following the daily's report on corruption in state oil and gas company Pertamina. The newspaper was not published again.
Mochtar joined Antara state news agency as a journalist in 1945 and cofounded the Horison literary magazine. He received the Ramon Magsasay Award from the Philippines for his work in journalism and literature in 1974.
He wrote several novels, including his
Harimau, Harimau! (Tiger, Tiger!),
Senja di Jakarta (Twilight in Jakarta) and
Jalan Tak Ada Ujung (Endless Road).
(These were not available in bookshops here until after the downfall of Soeharto. My copies were bought in Singapore and London.)
3.
Subandrio was almost a forgotten man when he died yesterday of natural causes aged 90, yet he only lived because of the intervention of Britain's Queen Elizabeth and the then U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson.
A former Indonesian foreign minister who also served as deputy prime minister during the Sukarno presidency, he was sentenced to death in 1966 for his alleged involvement in the Sept. 30, 1965 coup, which was blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). His sentence was commuted, thanks in part to HRH Liz and LBJ, to life imprisonment and Subandrio was released in 1995.
The coup attempt eventually led Sukarno to hand power to strategic reserve commander General Soeharto, who had taken steps to crush the communists. There is widespread belief among educated Indonesians that Soeharto was the guiding force behind the coup.
Subandrio denied involvement in the coup attempt and in 2000 appealed to then president Abdurrahman Wahid to clear his name. To my knowledge, this has yet to be resolved.
Unlike Jamal Saleh who provided my posting yesterday, their graves will be marked and visited. Marlon Brando's funeral will probably be televised and attended by George Bush. Mochtar Lubis was buried this afternoon at the Jeruk Purut cemetery in South Jakarta. I somehow doubt that Subandrio has a plot in the Heroes Cemetery in Kalibata, but he will be remembered.
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