Tan Malaka, Forgotten Founding Father

By Yos Rizal Suriaji et al.

He was too unbending a person to compromise. Wanted by the Dutch, British, American and Japanese secret police, he was hunted down across 11 countries because of his dream: Indonesian independence.

He is Tan Malaka, the first man to conceive the idea of a Republic of Indonesia. Muhammad Yamin named him the real “Father of the Republic of Indonesia.” Sukarno called him “an expert at waging a revolution.” But his was a tragic life, which ended by the guns of an army of the republic he helped create.
HE was a man who set Indonesian revolution in motion: Ibrahim Datuk Tan Malaka, simply known as Tan Malaka. Today, two or three generations of Indonesians might have forgotten this man, who was rich in political ideas and good at organizing.
The New Order tried to erase his name and his role in Indonesian history. But in the eyes of young Indonesians Tan possesses an irresistible attraction. When Suharto was in power delving into Tan’s political thinking was tantamount to reading Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s novels. Books that he wrote were distributed through a clandestine network, his ideas discussed in whispers. Although he clashed with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), Tan was frequently associated with the PKI, the mortal enemy of the New Order.

Sukarno also treated him in a similar way. For two years he was imprisoned by Sukarno, through the Sjahrir government, without any charges. His conflict with the PKI leadership led to his ouster from the circle of power. When PKI was close to those in power, Sukarno chose Muso, who vowed to hang him for challenging the leadership, over Tan. Dipa Negara Aidit beat the bush trying to find a political testament said to have been written by Sukarno and given to Tan, which transferred leadership of the nation to four people named in the document, including Tan, in the event of Sukarno’s and Hatta’s death or capture by the enemy.

Ironically, Sukarno later burnt the testament which read: “In the event of my death, leadership of the revolution is to be transferred to Tan Malaka, an expert at waging a revolution.”

Politics eventually erased Tan from memory. In Bukittinggi, his birthplace, his name is known vaguely to most of the people there. When Harry Albert Poeze, a Dutch historian researching Tan for the past 36 years, visited Senior High School No. 2 in Bukittinggi last February, teachers there were surprised to learn that Tan studied from 1908-1913 at what was then known as Kweekschool, a teacher training institution. They knew about it only from their students, who browsed the Internet for information. The teachers were not entirely sure until a search of the records carried out after the arrival of Poeze, found in the school cupboard, an inscription bearing the name of one Engku Nawawi Sutan Makmur as a teacher at the time Tan was a student at the school.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tempo Publishing
• Release date: Aug 21, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301282807

Book preview

TAN MALAKA, FORGOTTEN FOUNDING FATHER

By Yos Rizal Suriaji [et.al]

Published by Tempo Publishing at Smashwords

Copyrights Tempo 2013

ISBN: 9781301282807

Illustration on Cover: Kendra Paramita

INDEPENDENCE DAY SPECIAL EDITION TEAM OF TEMPO, AUGUST 18, 2008:

Project Leader: Yos Rizal Suriaji Project Heads: Yandhrie Arvian, Philipus Parera, Kurie Suditomo Editors: Idrus F. Shahab, Hermien Y. Kleden, Leila S. Chudori, Arief Zulkifli, M. Taufiqurrohman,Yos Rizal Suriaji, Amarzan Loebis, Bina Bektiati, Budi Setyarso, L.R. Baskoro, Mardiyah Chamim, Putu Setia, Toriq Hadad, Yosep Suprayogi Writers: Yandhrie Arvian, Philipus Parera, KurieSuditomo, Yos Rizal Suriaji, Bagja Hidayat, Yandi M. Rofi yandi, Sunudyantoro, Sapto Pradityo, Adek Media Roza, Untung Widyanto, Anne L. Handayani, Muhammad Nafi , Yudono Yanuar,Asmayani Kusrini, Yosep Suprayogi, Budi Riza, Nunuy Nurhayati Reporters: Asmayani Kusrini (Holland), Aris Andrianto (Purwokerto), Febrianti (Padang), Dwijo Maksum (Kediri), Kukuh S.Wibowo (Surabaya), Rina Widiastuti, Bunga Manggiasih, Yugha Erlangga (Jakarta) Language Editors: Dewi Kartika Teguh W., Sapto Nugroho, Uu Suhardi Photos: Mazmur A. Sembiring, Bismo Agung, Nurharyanto, Novi Kartika Reference Reseach: Hendriyanto, Endang Ishak, Indria Sari S. Visual Design: Gilang Rahadian, Kendra H. Paramita, Kiagus Auliansyah, Danendro Adi, FitraMoerat R., Hendy Prakasa Layout: Agus Darmawan Setiadi, Aji Yuliarto, Tri W. Widodo.

***

Table of Content

The Expert Revolutionary

The End at Wilis Mountain

The Lonely Traveler From Bayah

Disputed Heir to the Obor Revolution

Wide-Eyed Wonder at the Societeit

Guerrillas of a Feather

The Kindhearted Clerk

The Manuscript from Rawajati

An Expelled Communist

The Hammer & Sickle, the Crescent & Star and Tan

The Coolie Children’s Piper

Meeting Old Bolsheviks

Support for the Pan-Islamic Movement

A Guerrilla in Sun Man’s Land

The Republic’s Original Thinker

No Le Toques, Java!

My Blood in a Book

The Tiger from Suliki Valley

The Rogue from Pandan Gadang

From Haarlem with a Call for Revolution

Your Friend Always, Ibrahim

The Minang Muskateers

From Beyond the Grave

Tan’s Books and his Last Sojourn

Mystery of the Psycho Major

Sidelines: Tan Malaka, from that August on

The Expert Revolutionary

He was too unbending a person to compromise. Wanted by the Dutch, British, American and Japanese secret police, he was hunted down across 11 countries because of his dream: Indonesian independence.

He is Tan Malaka, the first man to conceive the idea of a Republic of Indonesia. Muhammad Yamin named him the real Father of the Republic of Indonesia. Sukarno called him an expert at waging a revolution. But his was a tragic life, which ended by the guns of an army of the republic he helped create.

HE was a man who set Indonesian revolution in motion: Ibrahim Datuk Tan Malaka, simply known as Tan Malaka. Today, two or three generations of Indonesians might have forgotten this man, who was rich in political ideas and good at organizing.

The New Order tried to erase his name and his role in Indonesian history. But in the eyes of young Indonesians Tan possesses an irresistible attraction. When Suharto was in power delving into Tan’s political thinking was tantamount to reading Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s novels. Books that he wrote were distributed through a clandestine network, his ideas discussed in whispers. Although he clashed with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), Tan was frequently associated with the PKI, the mortal enemy of the New Order.

Sukarno also treated him in a similar way. For two years he was imprisoned by Sukarno, through the Sjahrir government, without any charges. His conflict with the PKI leadership led to his ouster from the circle of power. When PKI was close to those in power, Sukarno chose Muso, who vowed to hang him for challenging the leadership, over Tan. Dipa Negara Aidit beat the bush trying to find a political testament said to have been written by Sukarno and given to Tan, which transferred leadership of the nation to four people named in the document, including Tan, in the event of Sukarno’s and Hatta’s death or capture by the enemy.

Ironically, Sukarno later burnt the testament which read: In the event of my death, leadership of the revolution is to be transferred to Tan Malaka, an expert at waging a revolution.

Politics eventually erased Tan from memory. In Bukittinggi, his birthplace, his name is known vaguely to most of the people there. When Harry Albert Poeze, a Dutch historian researching Tan for the past 36 years, visited Senior High School No. 2 in Bukittinggi last February, teachers there were surprised to learn that Tan studied from 1908-1913 at what was then known as Kweekschool, a teacher training institution. They knew about it only from their students, who browsed the Internet for information. The teachers were not entirely sure until a search of the records carried out after the arrival of Poeze, found in the school cupboard, an inscription bearing the name of one Engku Nawawi Sutan Makmur as a teacher at the time Tan was a student at the school.

In his life Tan went through many turning points in history: World War I, the Bolshevik Revolution and World War II. Tan, who was born in Pandan Gadang, Suliki, West Sumatra, on June 2, 1897 was the first person who conceived in writing the idea of a Republic of Indonesia. He wrote Naarde Republiek Indonesia (Toward the Republic of Indonesia) in 1925, long before Mohammad Hatta penned Indonesia Vrije (Independent Indonesia), a plea he read before a Dutch court in The Hague in 1928and Sukarno did Menuju Indonesia Merdeka (Toward an Independent Indonesia) in 1933.

Naarde Republiek and Massa Actie, the latter written by Tan in 1926, then in exile in The Netherlands, inspired leaders of the Indonesian independence movement. Sayuti Melik, leader of a radical youth group, for instance, recalled how Sukarno and Anwari brought copies of Massa Actie with scribbles on important passages to a debating club in Bandung. One of the charges against Sukarno when he was tried in the Bandung district court in 1931 was illegal possession of the book. In his plea titled Indonesia Menggugat (Indonesia Accuses) Sukarno quoted copiously from Massa Actie.

W.R. Supratman, composer of the national anthem, Indonesia Raya, inserted the words "Indonesia tanah tumpah darahku" in the Indonesian national anthem taken partly from the final pages of Massa Actie under the chapter Khayal Seorang Revolusioner (The Dream of a Revolutionary). Tan wrote: "In the forefront of the army of the people you should stand, aware of your duty and obligations as a son of tumpah darahnya, of a country where you shed your blood."

Tan was the man who could mobilize people to a mass rally at the Ikada Square in Jakarta on September 19, 1945 in a show of support for the newly proclaimed Republic of Indonesia, at the time existing more on a piece of paper than a reality on the ground. Tan described the rally as a test of strength separating friend from foe.

Tan’s presence or absence at the Ikada rally makes an interesting story. For years Poeze had sought to crack the mystery. Tan’s comrades in arms Sayuti Melik, one-time Foreign Minister Ahmad Subardjo, and former Vice President Adam Malik had all vouched for Tan’s presence. But their testimonies must be confirmed by visual evidence. Little photographic documents were available, although there was a short film produced by Berita Film Indonesia of the rally. But locating Tan amid an estimated 200,000 people attending the rally wasn’t an easy matter.

Poeze took a roundabout way. He collected images of Tan’s special traits in documents kept in police records in eight of 11 countries Tan went to while on the run. Poeze found that Tan, for instance, always wore a pith helmet since he escaped capture in the Philippines where he went into hiding from 1925 to 1927, living on only two sets of clothing. Since his involvement in a labor action in Bayah, Banten, in the 1940s, Tan always dressed in knee-length shorts. He also always placed himself looking out a window each time he visited a house to guard against the sudden appearance of Dutch, Japanese, British, or American secret police out to capture him. Tan, who carried 23 false names, was on the run over two continents covering a total distance of 89,000 kilometers—twice the length covered by Che Guevara in Latin America.

Another clue was to determine Tan’s height. How tall was the man? In his book Dari Penjara ke Penjara II (From Prison to Prison II) Tan wrote that British Police who detained him in Hong Kong took a picture of him before shaving off his hair. Suddenly three men held my hands tightly as they forced my thumbs down for fingerprinting. Poeze went to Hong Kong to see Tan’s files with the police in the British crown colony. Eureka! The files Poeze looked at put Tan’s height at 165 centimeters, shorter than Sukarno’s 172 centimeters. A picture taken at the Ikada rally of a man walking besides Sukarno fit the description

Reviews for Tan Malaka, Forgotten Founding Father

[Eko Budi Nurdianto · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

muatan buku yang dalam dan penuh dengan wawasan pencerahan !