The Wisdom of Pak Pram

Last Tuesday night at the book launching event held at Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Centre, we listened intently to the wisdom, humour and bitterness of a man who had spent 14 years of imprisonment and 10 years of forced labour on the penal island of Buru. Every word that Pramoedya Ananta Toer uttered was tinged with an emotionally depth and an intellectual intensity that reverberated in one's mind.

Commenting on the theme of women in his books, he said that he prefers the word "wanita" to "perempuan" because "perempuan" reminds him of "perampokan" which means "robbery" (in Malaysia we use "perompakan" which strangely is only used in Indonesia to refer specifically to acts of piracy at sea) whereas "wanita" reminds him of the word "berani", meaning "brave".

Bravery is a virtue which he learnt through the examples of two women whom he revered--his grandmother and mother. Despite the poverty and the hardship of living under colonial rule, these women always tried to fend for themselves and never sought help from anyone. He remembered when his grandmother fell sick, she did not want to trouble her children or grandchildren and insisted on going back to her kampung. She died on her way home.

Pramoedya's mother, which he also recounted so affectionately in his memoir, The Mute's Soliloquy, was a woman who always had high hopes for him, even at a time when they could hardly feed themselves. She told Pramoedya that one day he will go overseas to Holland to earn himself a degree.

Pramoedya himself never got a formal education beyond the equivalent of our lower secondary school. But he was proud to mention that he finally fulfilled his mother's wishes when he was honoured with a doctorate degree by the University of Michigan in the United States at the ripe old age of 74.

The example of both his grandmother and mother fortitied his character and had become the source of inspiration for many of his books. These women were both individualists in a society that until today still practises subservience and blind loyalty to authorities. He offered an advice to many of the young students who were gathered there that night: All successful people are essential self-taught. Formal education is not the key nor the necessary factor.

On a lighter note, Pak Pram said, even someone like Inul Daratista should he applauded for having the courage to stand up to her rights. Inul is the controversial dangdut singer and dancer who has been grabbing the headlines this year because of her sexy brand of hip-gyrating moves which drew the ire of many religious groups.

The tragedy of Indonesia is the adherence of its people to what he called "Javanisme"--the traditional Javanese culture of blind obedience to elders and authorities. It is this "Javanisme" that resulted in 2 million people being slaughtered for suspected involvement with the Communists in a nationwide killing frenzy after Suharto's so-called Orde Baru regime took over control from Sukarno in 1965.

Pramoedya's bitterness against the Suharto regime runs deep. His house was seized from him and his books and writings burnt during the cathartic events following the failed Communist coup of September 30, 1965. The Indonesians refer to the event by the sinister sounding term "Gestapu", which is a contraction of "Gerakan September Tiga Puluh".

Even though Pramoedya has been released from prison in 1979, his house has until today still not been returned to him. He said that he has been unfairly accused of being sympathetic to the Communists when all he was concerned about was the welfare of his fellow citizens. "Saya bukan Komunis atau Kapitalis. Saya Pram-is", referring to the belief in his own individual conscience--"Pram-is"

He also see the present Megawati government's handling of the Aceh situation high-handed. The Aceh people too have suffered many atrocities under the hands of the Indonesian army. He praised the Acehnese spirit as to be emulated and reminded everyone that Aceh was still standing proudly as an independent kingdom long after the rest of the Malay archipelago had fallen into the hands of Western colonialists.

When asked what he personally thought about President Megawati Sukarnoputri, he said, "Megawati bukan Sukarno". He still respects Indonesia's founding father as a brave man who had the courage to fight the Dutch and almost single-handedly united the 15,000 islands of the Malay archipelago into one single nation. Megawati, Pak Pram noted sadly, does not possess the qualities of her father, Sukarno.

Pramoedya also took many questions from the floor. His hearing problem prevented him from listening to his audience directly--he had to have the questions repeated loudly into his ear by the moderator or written down on paper.

It wasn't all a sombre and serious night filled with political exhortations. There were some lighter moments when one of his fellow writers asked why certain supposedly erotic passages in his books sounded rather weak and insipid.

Pak Pram sportingly answered: "Seks itu aneh bagi saya. Saya tidak punya kesempatan mempelajarinya". (Sex is still a strange thing to me because I never really had the opportunity to learn it). His childhood and youth was filled with the preoccupations of survival and overcoming poverty. Sex was a luxury.

That night I felt myself fortunate to have the opportunity to listen to this great soul. Pramoedya Ananta Toer is not only the living conscience of Indonesia but also a voice of sanity for a world that sometimes forgets that the simple virtues of hardwork, courage, kindness and humility are what makes a great man and ultimately, a great nation.