Paras Indonesia, May, 03 2006 @ 07:01 am
Government Plans Posthumous Honor For Pramoedya
By: Roy Tupai
Indonesia's internationally renowned author Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who died over
the weekend after enduring years of imprisonment, censorship and ostracism, will
eventually receive government recognition for his services to literature and culture.
Tourism and Culture Minister Jero Wacik said Pramoedya would be honored for his
"valuable works", which should serve as inspiration for future generations. He did not
mention whether the author would also receive a posthumous apology for being jailed
by former dictator Suharto's regime for 14 years without trial.
Pramoedya passed away at 8.55am Sunday (30/4/06) after suffering complications
brought on by diabetes, high blood pressure and respiratory problems. He was 81.
The outspoken government critic had been admitted to hospital last Thursday but
insisted on returning home on Saturday. His final hours were spent in the company of
family and friends at his house in Utan Kayu, East Jakarta.
He was buried in a simple grave at 1.50pm Sunday at Karet Bivak Cemetery. An
Indonesian version of the international socialism anthem, The Internationale, was sung
during the funeral procession. The song had in the past been adopted by the outlawed
Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which Pramoedya was linked to through his
involvement in the party's cultural wing LEKRA. Also sung at the funeral was Darah
Juang (Bloody Struggle) - the anthem of student protesters during demonstrations that
precipitated the fall of Suharto in 1998.
Among the mourners were former political prisoners Oey Hay Djoen and Budiman
Sudjatmiko, playwrights Ratna Sarumpaet and Putu Wijaya, poet Sitor Situmorang,
actors Nurul Arifin and Mayong Suryo Laksono, human rights activist Yenny Rosa
Damayanti, Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence coordinator
Usman Hamid, Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairman Erry
Riyana Hardjapamekas, journalists Fikri Jufri and Goenawan Mohamad, and Muslim
cleric Solahuddin 'Gus Solah' Wahid.
Also present was Minister Wacik, who was representing the government.
Despite winning international acclaim for his numerous books, Pramoedya never
received any formal appreciation from the Indonesian government. On the contrary, his
books were banned - ostensibly because they contained hidden references to
Marxism, but in reality because they illustrated parallels between the brutal
repression of the Dutch colonial era and the Suharto regime.
Wacik said the government is planning to honor Pramoedya with a posthumous
award. "We are now studying his works. Later we will award some of his valuable
works," he was quoted as saying by detikcom.
"We appreciate his works, we have studied them... and are united by his works. So
this cultural critic deserves our appreciation," he added.
The minister said future generations should build on Pramoedya's legacy by
developing the nation's culture and literature. "The generation that now follows Mr
Pram must work even better in expressing matters that are good for the nation. That's
what we must do," he said.
Pramoedya was born on February 6, 1925, during Dutch colonial rule. He was
arrested by the Dutch in 1947 and detained in a prison camp over the next two years.
He was next jailed in 1961 for criticizing founding president Sukarno's discriminatory
policies against the country's ethnic Chinese. In 1965 he was detained and brutally
beaten by Suharto's forces and spent the next 14 years in various jails, mostly on
remote Buru Island. It was during his incarceration that he composed much of his
best known work, the Buru Quartet - four novels set against the backdrop of
Indonesia's nascent independence struggle. After his release, he remained under
house arrest until 1992 and then under city arrest until the fall of Suharto.
Government officials and many mainstream intellectuals shunned Pramoedya,
regarding him as a misguided and unreasonably critical left-winger. His international
reputation grew after the Buru Quartet was translated into English by the Australian
Embassy's second secretary Max Lane, who was subsequently expelled from Jakarta
in 1981.
KPK deputy head Erry, who is Pramoedya's neighbor, said he would remember the
author's habit of smoking cigarettes while burning leaves and rubbish in his garden.
"As a neighbor, his habit was to always burn rubbish while shirtless and smoking.
Whatever the rubbish, it was always gathered and then burned. That's what I'll really
remember," he was quoted as saying by detikcom.
Pramoedya started smoking at the age of 15. He was still smoking 32 clove
cigarettes a day in his final years. Hours before his death he asked his family for
cigarettes.
He felt the pleasure of smoking outweighed the health risks and always performed
breathing exercises before sleeping. "I also always try to smile," he said when asked
about his health during a discussion at Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center to celebrate
his 81st birthday.
Erry said the government should restore Pramoedya's good name because he was
never charged with any crime or brought to court. "I think the government must pay
attention to this. A person can become a political prisoner through the courts. But
which court ever sentenced him? Political sins should not cause civil rights to be
withdrawn. His rights must be restored by the government and the nation for the sake
of reconciliation."
Several floral wreaths were delivered to Pramoedya's house, including from Vice
President Jusuf Kalla and the H.B. Jassin Center for Indonesian Literary
Documentation.
In addition to his prolific literary output, Pramoedya also translated some of the works
of Maxim Gorky, Leo Tolstoy. John Steinbeck and Lode Zielens into Indonesian.
Another of his translations was of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Terre des Homme
(Earth of Humanity), the title of which he used for his own famous novel Bumi Manusia
(This Earth of Mankind) - the first book in the Buru Quartet.
Ironically, Pramoedya was the subject of the main interview in the last's month's
inaugural edition of Playboy Indonesia magazine, which police and Islamic radicals
are seeking to have banned on the grounds that it could "destroy the nation's
morality". It seems Indonesia still wants to muzzle its most celebrated literary genius.
Booksellers are expecting Pramoedya's death will spark an increase in sales of his
books. His works have been translated into 43 languages.
Awards
Pramoedya has been honored with numerous international accolades, including:
- Nobel Prize for Literature nomination (1981);
- PEN Freedom-to-Write Award, US (1988);
- Fund for Free Expression Award, New York (1989);
- Deutschsweizeriches Zentrum PEN, Switzerland (honorary member, 1989);
- International PEN English Center Award, UK (1992);
- Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative
Communication Arts, the Philippines (1995);
- Stichting Wertheim Award, the Netherlands (1995);
- UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Award for promoting peace and tolerance
(honorable mention, 1996);
- Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Michigan (1999);
- Chancellor's Distinguished Honor Award, University of California (1999);
- 11th Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize (2000);
- Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France (2000);
- Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize (finalist, 2002);
- Norwegian Authors' Union Freedom of Expression Award (2004);
- Chilean Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda Centenary Award (2004).
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