THE CICAK.com

An obituary, Pramoedya Ananta Toer

By KEITH LEONG

I write this in memory of Pramoedya Ananta Toer, the Indonesian writer and revolutionary who died on 30 April 2006. His passing is a terrible blow not only to literary world but to humanity at large, for he was more than just a man of letters.

Pramoedya was a staunch defender of the freedom of thought and expression. His works were more than just political polemics. They were celebrations of the human spirit.

Pramoedya, in short was a giant among insects, a great and good man. I know the last sentence is over-used these days, but that is probably the only description that can do justice (and only a poor one at that) to such a remarkable life.

Pramoedya was born on 6 February 1925 in the Indonesian town of Blora. His father was a nationalistic headmaster and his mother a Javanese aristocrat turned rice-trader. From his father he gained a love for Indonesia, its people and their struggle for true freedom which was never put out. He learnt a similar love from his mother, albeit one that extended to the whole of humanity in all its glory and frailness.

He was a hero in the 1945 Indonesian Revolution who was jailed by the Dutch imperial powers for his beliefs. This was only the first of many incarcerations, as a result of his stand against the Indonesian government’s abuse of power. The second was due to his defence of Indonesia’s ethnic Chinese and their place in its national polity against the virulent racism of the “supposedly” free and independent post-Merdeka government.

These frequent imprisonments did not, however, prevent Pramoedya from marrying twice and raising a large family. It did not stop him from writing novels such as The Fugitive (Pemburuan), which made him one of Indonesia’s leading literary writers. His early writing, however, would be eclipsed by the works inspired by his third detention.

Shortly after the 1965 coup that toppled the authoritarian President Sukarno and ushered in the kleptocratic rule of President Suharto, unknown figures attacked Pramoedya’s Jakarta home. He was then taken into custody by army officers, who destroyed his library and several unpublished manuscripts. He was held incommunicado for at least 14 years on a steady diet of torture, neglect and abuse.

Pramoedya was never charged for any crime or brought to trial during that period. He never knew the reason for his detention.

My, my, doesn’t that sound familiar, dear fellow rakyat?

Pramoedya was sent into exile along with hundreds of other political prisoners (or tapols as they were called) to the Moluccan island of Buru. While being forced to do menial labour under the brutal supervision of his military captors, Pramoedya found time to write. Risking possible execution if caught, Pramoedya wrote secretly or told his stories orally to his fellow inmates, who kept his tales alive.

The fruits of this labour were several remarkable books. Chief among them is the autobiographical journal, The Mute’s Soliloquy (Nyanyian Seorang Bisu), which details life in the prison colony. The most heart-breaking part of the book is “The Dead and the Missing,” a list of political prisoners who died of suicide, old age or at the hands of their captors and other prisoners.

Most famous was the Buru Quartet, comprising of four novels namely, This Earth of Mankind, Child of All Nations, Footsteps and The House of Glass. This magnificent saga traces the birth of Indonesian nationalism through the eyes of Minke, who is transformed from a aimless young aristocrat into a selfless freedom fighter. Even more remarkable is his mother-in-law, Nyai Ontosoroh. She is a woman, similar to Pramoedya’s mother, full of love and courage in the face of crushing odds.

Most of these works were banned by President Suharto’s New Order regime as “Marxist propaganda.” To this day, it is difficult to acquire Pramoedya’s work in Indonesia.

Pramoedya was released in 1979 after an international campaign to free him. He was one of the last Buru political prisoners to be freed, and even so had to live under house arrest until 1992.

Pramoedya’s life and work brought him worldwide acclaim. He received the PEN Freedom to Write Award in 1988 and the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1995, among others. He was also frequently touted as a potential Nobel Laureate in Literature for Asia.

Pramoedya’s style of writing was simple and direct. It was notably free of the ideological and bureaucratic cadences that plague South-East Asian literature. Pramoedya never resorted to caricatures or stereotypes of any kind. All his characters, be they his heroes or villains have their dark sides, but are also very human. Reading his work makes one feel and think of Pramoedya as an intimate confidant, regardless of how demographically remote the reader is from him. It has been reported that there are plans to turn This Earth of Mankind into a movie. I hope that it can live up to his vision and message.

Pramoedya’s death is a blow to everyone who loves books and reading. He has made reading a moving, changing experience. The cause of freedom and human dignity has lost a powerful defender. Pramoedya remained outspoken on Indonesian and international affairs till the end. In a region chained in the darkness of fear and sycophancy, his words were a bright light of courage and independence.

We can only hope that there will be more like him. But the truth is that his very existence gives us just that - hope.

My condolences go out to his family and loved ones. Requiescat in pace, Pak Pram.

—
KEITH LEONG is a contributing writer for theCICAK.

He was born in Melaka, grew up in Damansara Jaya and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New South Wales, Sydney. He enjoys baroque music, grand epic movies and long walks. He still lives and works in Damansara Jaya.