Living Dangerously: the Year, the Book & the Movie

Living Dangerously: the Year, the Book & the Movie

Tomorrow is September 30th. Like Malaysia's May 13th 1969, September 30th 1965 is a pivotal moment in Indonesia's history. Not many of the younger generation of Indonesians are fully acquainted with the events that happened then. Perhaps the more recent May 13 riots in Jakarta 1998, triggered by the collapse of the rupiah holds more significance to them.

But all of them would have heard and studied about the "Gestapu"--short for "Gerakan September Tiga Puluh". It is often referred to as an "abortive" coup d'état by Indonesia's Communist party, the PKI. But events that triggered the coup is still unclear and remains a hot subject of debate among many academics still.

The mood and atmosphere leading to the coup that ultimately caused the downfall of Sukarno and paved the way for an insignificant army general called Suharto to rise to power has been milked to the maximum in the fiction book, The Year of Living Dangerously, by Christopher Koch. (I was lucky to have my own personal copy autographed by the author here in Jakarta recently).

This was romanticized further by Peter Weir's movie adaptation of the book, starring a very young Mel Gibson and a surprisingly seductive Sigourney Weaver. The movie and the book were banned in Indonesia during the Suharto years and only in the last couple of years were they released in here. I enjoyed both the book and the movie. In fact I've even taken the trouble to visit many of the places that make the backdrop for the events in the book such as Hotel Indonesia. (that will be the subject of another blog entry).

"The Year of Living Dangerously" has become a cliche phrase for journalists writing about Indonesia. How did it originate? It actually came from Sukarno himself. Sukarno was a dramatic orator; every year during Independence Day, he would designate a "theme" for the coming year: On August 17, 1964, he declared it the start of the Year of Living Dangerously. Well he did not exactly use those words: Sukarno was a master of many languages and had a fondness for sprinkling his speeches with foreign phrases. He called  the coming year "Tahun Vivere Pericoloso" ("live dangerous" in Italian) or "TAVIP".

Why was the coming year a "dangerous" one? Firstly, it was the time of Konfrontasi: Sukarno protested against the formation of Malaysia and considered it a plot by so-called Neo-colonial Imperialists (referred to as Nekolim) to maintain control in the region. Sukarno actually pulled Indonesia out of the United Nations because he protested against the election of Malaysia into the Security Council that year. The battle-cry then was "Ganyang Malaysia" (Crush Malaysia). Konfrontasi was actually a euphemism for an all-out war against Malaysia.

And then there was the Partai Komunis Indonesia or PKI--which was then a legitimate political party--among the largest in the world after the Soviet's and the Chinese Communist Party. They were gaining prominence and influence, and almost protected by Sukarno, who wanted a form of "Guided Democracy" where the forces of Nationalism, Religion and Communism are all played against one another in a political balancing act with him as the Supreme Dalang (shadow puppet master). Of course he has a label for it: Nasakom (Nasionalisme, Agama, Komunisme).

It was a heady year, filled with economic turmoil (inflation was a few hundred percent), questionable foreign adventures (the pullout from UN, the Confrontation against Malaysia and the close alignment with Communist China) and growing disillusionment among the younger generation who did not grow up during Indonesia's bloody struggle for independence against the Dutch in the 1940s.

The students did not see Sukarno as the national hero who united a nation of 17,000 islands (from Sabang to Marauke). They only saw economic decline, joblessness and hunger. They felt disillusionment towards a President who womanized and squandered the nation's scant reserves on grandiose nationalistic projects such as Monas, Hotel Indonesia and Sarinah.

And then there were rumours that Beijing was going to supply arms to the communist-led "Fifth Force"----the people's army to "complement" the existing army, naval, air and police forces--with the blessing of Sukarno.

It was a year of living dangerously indeed. And Guy Hamilton (played by Mel Gibson), arrives in Jakarta as a rookie Australian foreign correspondent, ready to savour the excitement and exoticism that is Indonesia and in the process, falling in love with a staff of the British embassy (Sigourney Weaver). I often watch the movie again and again whenever I'm back in KL, to re-experience the colourful chaos that is Jakarta (but I must say, my own personal experience living here has not been as exciting as Mel Gibson's).

The Year of Living Dangerously culminated in the September 30th coup in 1965, where the communist-led faction of the army, seized control of key installations in the city, cruelly murdered six high-ranking army generals and dumped their bodies in an old well, in Lubang Buaya (Crocodile Hole). (Henceforth, the event was referred to as Peristiwa Lubang Buaya).

What happened next were fierce reprisals from the regular army against the communists, leading to a nationwide witchhunt and slaughter of which there are still no reliable figures for the number of people that were actually killed. (Mel Gibson managed to hop on the last flight out of Jakarta, into the embracing arms of Sigourney Weaver).

It was the beginning of the fall of Sukarno and the slow ascendency of a quiet army general called Suharto, who easily crushed the abortive coup. Some say the CIA was behind it. But that is another story for another blog entry.