Screenshots

Promoedya Ananta Toer (1925 - 2006)
Tahanan Politik (tapol) 007 under Soeharto's regime

OBITUARY: Investor Daily (Indonesia), May 1, 2006 Page 4

Poet from Yogyakarta, Joko Pinurbo, sent an ode via SMS when Pramoedya, passionately remembered as Pak Pram by his fans and friends in literature circle, passed on...

Selamat Jalan Pram
selamat jalan buku
selamat sampai di ibukata
ibunya rindu...

When I landed in Jakarta in the late evening of April 28, Pak Pram was already in coma. The next day, he regained consciousness, and demanded to be discharged from Rumah Sakit St Carolus in Jakarta, where he had been placed under ICU after a fall a week ago. Yesterday, April 30, he breathed his last at 09:15hr, West Indonesian time, in his spartan home along Jalan Multikarya II/26, Utan Kayu, East Jakarta. He was 81.

He was laid to rest in the TPU Karet Pejompongan cemetry, in accordance to Muslim rites. Among the hundreds of his friends who turned up for his funeral were author Goenawan Mohammad (of Tempo fame), writer Martin Aleida, cultural observer Mudji Sutrisno, Solahuddin Wahid, politician Budiman Sudjatmiko, journalist Fikri Jufri, Cultural and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik and fellow political prisoner Oey Hay Djoen, who is now 77.

They sang two songs for Pak Pram's last journey, Internationale and Darah Juang.

Internationale was a poem by Eugene Pottier, a proleteriat member of Paris Commune (1871), which became the march number for the proletriat and teh dictatorian proleteriat power which lasted 72 days during the revolt of labour against capital.

The version sung at Pak Pram's funeral was an Indonesian translation by Ki Hadjar Dewantara. It sympathises with the small man and labour...

Bangunlah kaum yang terhina
Bangunlah kaum yang lapar...

The second song, Darah Juang, was a song of struggle by the Indonesian university students during the final days of Soeharto's Order Baru (1997 - 1998). It was a piece by student activists John Sonny Tobing ofUniversitas Gajah Mada, Yogyakarta, Faculty of Philosophy.

Jailed

Pak Pram is remembered for his ideas, which once fuelled influence over the pro-democracy groundswell that toppled Suharto in 1998. However, this influence has largely been cast aside as Indonesia struggles to revive its economy, defeat Islamic extremists responsible for a string of deadly bombings, and put down separatist rebellions.

In an eulogy, Goenawan credited Pak Pram with putting his nation on the world map of literature and called him "an important example of how freedom of speech and creativity is needed."

Pak Pram was first jailed in 1947 by Dutch troops for being "anti-colonialist."

He was later accused of sympathising with Chinese communists and imprisoned again shortly after Soeharto came to power in the aftermath of the assassination of right-wing Indonesian generals in 1965.

Pak Pram left-leaning, outspoken style earned him enemies within Soeharto's regime and his works were banned from circulation. He was thrown in a cell without trial, first off the coast of mainland Java, and then in the penal colony of Buru, along with thousands of other opponents of the U.S.-backed regime.

All his life, Pak Pram advocated the removal of bureaucrats and politicians "tainted" by Soeharto-era abuses, but corruption remains rampant and some of the old dictator's cronies remain in office.

Pak Pram was released in 1998 but placed under domestic arrest until recently.

Last words

When he briefly regained consciousness on Saturday, his first utterance was: "Apakah sumpah dibakar?" (Has the rubbish been burned?)

We have to find out what he meant by "sampah" and "bakar".

I first read his book "Keluarga Guerilla" (original title: "Perburuan" [the Fugitive]), during my high school days, but I have yet to explore his famed Buru Quartet of four linked novels, translated into English by an Australian Max Lane, as Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind), Anak Semua Bangsa (Child of All Nations), Jejak Langkah (Footsteps) and Rumah Kaca (House of Glass).

Pak Pram was featured in the inaugural edition of Playboy Indoensia in April.