Jakarta Globe, Sie Yoe Lien, Jun 07, 2015
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| Leila S. Chudori speaking with historian Martijn Eickhoff, left, and Aboeprijadi Santoso of the International People’s Tribunal 1965, in The Hague. (Photo courtesy of Tong Tong Foundation) |
The music
and happy chatter next door seem to be a world away as Indonesian author and
Tempo journalist Leila S. Chudori speaks about her novel “Pulang” (“Going
Home”). In front of a hushed audience, Leila recalls that she had only heard
that there was such a thing as Indonesian political exiles when she visited
Paris in the 1980s.
“There are
thousands of Indonesian exiles in Europe, many in the Netherlands. And that’s
not even counting their families,” Leila said. “That’s why I felt I should
write about those exiled abroad and the political prisoners in Indonesia. They
are closely related to one another.”
Her
bestseller Pulang tells the story of Dimas, who was stranded in Paris and
unable to return to Indonesia after the failed coup of September 1965, blamed
on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). In the months following the coup attempt,
hundreds of thousands of people — some say over a million — accused of being
communists were brutally tortured and killed, while many others were jailed
without trial.
Dimas’
character, Leila said, was based on real exiles in Paris who could not obtain
Indonesian passports until after the fall of Suharto’s New Order regime, more
than three decades later.
Cisca
Pattipilohy, 89, who was in the audience that afternoon, was emotional when she
said that the 1965 events “have wounded our whole nation, not just those
directly victimized.” Cisca, a former journalist, had to leave Indonesia with
her four young children after her husband, also a journalist, was arrested
following the failed coup. He died in jail without ever seeing his family
again.
‘1965’ at
the Tong Tong Fair
Literature,
history and social issues have always been an integral part of the Tong Tong
Fair, says programmer Leslie Boon. “While the Fair is a celebration, it should
also be a venue where heavier subjects can be discussed,” says Boon, who is
also the granddaughter of Tong Tong founder Jan Boon, better known under his
pseudonym Tjalie Robinson.
This year’s
main themes include ‘1945’ and ‘1965,’ to commemorate the 70th and 50th
anniversaries of key events in Indonesian history.
The fair is
held from May 27 till June 7 this year.
“Each
country has dark pages in its history,” Boon says. “For the Netherlands, 1945
marked not only the end of World War II but also the imminent loss of its
biggest colony, and the wars it fought there. For Indonesia, meanwhile, it was
1965.”
The issue
of 1965 is presented at the Fair through different perspectives, as Boon
explains: “From the literary side we have Leila, and from the activists’ side
we have IPT 1965 [International People’s Tribunal]. We also have an academic
from NIOD [the Dutch Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies].”
Boon tried
to get US filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer to speak, “but unfortunately he already
had an engagement in Japan.” Oppenheimer’s controversial documentaries “The Act
of Killing” and “The Look of Silence” show how, decades after 1965, the
perpetrators of the killings still walk free while many of the victims live in
anger and fear.
Decades of
silence
Leila, who
took part in three discussions during the 12-day festival, spoke of how
effectively the New Order regime presented its version of what happened in 1965
as the only truth. “My father [Muhammad Buchori] was a journalist, but even I
grew up largely uninformed about 1965,” she said. “Traveling and studying
abroad has given me new glasses to look at my country.”
Even after
the fall of Suharto in 1998, the silence about 1965 has been far from broken.
In 2005, Leila recalls, Tempo magazine founder Goenawan Mohamad urged the
weekly to do a special edition to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the
tragedy. “At first I thought: why do this old story? But then I started
interviewing the families of the victims, and was stunned at all the untold
stories that came out. Since then, we’ve decided to do a special edition on the
subject every year.”
People’s
Tribunal
Leiden
University lecturer Ratna Saptari also shared the Tong Tong podium as part of
the Holland-based IPT 1965, which was formed in 2012 by a group of human rights
activists, artists, intellectuals and academics in Europe and Indonesia. “It is
so important that 1965 is discussed in a platform with a general audience like
the Tong Tong,” she said.
IPT 1965
plans to organize a people’s tribunal in The Hague later this year for the
atrocities of 1965, based on similar tribunals held in countries like Japan or
the former Yugoslavia. The charges prepared for the tribunal range from torture
and deportation to mass murder. While the court’s outcome would not be legally
binding, Saptari explains, the tribunal would be able to hear witnesses and
examine evidence. “We have been gathering evidence, and we have collected data
from some 13 provinces in Indonesia.”
Breaking
the silence
NIOD
historian Martijn Eickhoff, who has done research in Indonesia, is optimistic
that the frozen subject is slowly thawing. “I have seen changes in the past few
years. The younger generation, especially university students, are getting
curious about their past, and are starting to look more critically at the
state’s official version of the country’s history.”
Eickhoff
spoke of the so-called Oppenheimer effect: that the documentaries have sparked
many Indonesians, including those who did not grow up under Suharto’s rule, to
seriously question what really happened in 1965. “And books like Pulang also
contribute to this. Maybe we can now also mention the Chudori effect.”
But the
author — whose book has been translated into English, French, German and Dutch
— remains somewhat pessimistic about the future.
“Take the
novel Bumi Manusia [The Earth of Mankind],” she said, referring to the classic
work of literature by writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who was jailed for 14 years
following the failed coup. “For years, Indonesian filmmakers have been trying
to adapt this novel to the screen. But every time the investors hear the name
of the author, they back out. Even now.”
About the
Tong Tong Fair:
During the
colonial rule in Indonesia, many Dutch civil servants and merchants ended up
living in the archipelago, marrying locals and raising families. After
Indonesia became independent, hundreds of thousands of Indos – those of mixed
Indonesian and Dutch heritage — migrated to the Netherlands.
In the
1950s, Indo writer and intellectual Tjalie Robinson set up a group to organize
events to celebrate Indo culture and make it wider known in the Netherlands.
In order to
raise money, they organized the first Pasar Malam. It was held in The Hague’s
city zoo for three days and attracted some 3,000 visitors.
Since then
the Pasar Malam — renamed the Tong Tong Fair in 2009 — has grown into a
two-week event with over 100,000 visitors. The festival is one of the largest
annual fairs in the Netherlands, and features cultural events such as music,
dance, theater and literary discussions. And, very importantly for most
visitors: an abundance of Indonesian and Asian food.
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