The Memory of Marhaen

The Memory of Marhaen

My fascination with Sukarno, sometimes borders on the extreme. Sukarno's autobiography, as told to American journalist, Cindy Adams and published in English in 1965 provides the best account of his life. It was later translated into Indonesian, as Bung Karno, Penyambung Lidah Rakyat. (Bung Karno, Mouthpiece of the People).

In the book, Sukarno narrated the famous incident when he first met the poor farmer Marhaen while cycling around South Bandung one day. Sukarno then was still a student at the Dutch Technical High School (forerunner of the now famous Institut Teknologi Bandung, ITB).

A conversation ensued between Sukarno and Marhaen who was then toiling on his small plot of land. Sukarno found out that Marhaen and his family survived on what he could grow on that tiny piece of land that he himself owned. Everything that Marhaen used was his own. He made his own living using his own tools, labour and land.

That encounter with Marhaen made Sukarno realise that the typical common Indonesian is unlike Marx's proletarian whose labour were exploited by capitalists who own the means of production. Marhaen owned everything himself but yet he was still poor.

Sukarno then formulated his own brand of political ideology based on this piece of inspiration and called it "Marhaenism". Over the decades scholars have argued over the academic significance of Sukarno's Marhaenism to the existing body of political ideology. But Sukarno himself emphasized more on symbolic value of Marhaen as representative of the average common Indonesian, struggling to eke out a living under Dutch colonialism.

Most Indonesians today are somewhat familiar with Marhaen and its connection to Sukarno. Not many however know that Marhaen lived and died in obscurity in 1943 and his grave is located at Kampung Cipagalo south of Bandung.

Based on an old Kompas newspaper report, I managed to trace the grave. There I talked to one of Marhaen's grandaughters, Ibu Ayit and his great-grandson Pak Maman. Their ramshackle home and Marhaen's grave are located on the edge of the new middleclass housing complex of Nusa Tunggal Indah. The developer of the estate was kind enough to construct a proper shed to preserve the historic remains of Marhaen and his wife. An inscription stone at the head of the grave carries the following words:

DISINI TEMPAT PERISTIRAHATAN TERAKHIR BAPAK MARHAEN, WAFAT TH. 1943. MARHAEN SUMBER KARYA MULYA YANG UTAMA P.Y.M. IR SOEKARNO MERUPAKAN JEMBATAN EMAS MENUJU PINTU GERBANG KEMERDEKAAN BANGSANYA. BUNG KARNO PENYAMBUNG LIDAH RAKYAT.

(Loosely translated: Here is the final resting place of Marhaen who died in 1943. Marhaen is the inspiration for Sukarno, the golden bridge that led to the gates of the nation's independence. Bung Karno, Mouthpiece of the People).

Pak Maman laments that the government has yet to do anything to help preserve this historic monument even though the authenticity of this grave was verified in the 1980s. I asked Pak Maman, what he does for a living; he replied that he was jobless.

I suppose nothing much has changed in the lives of these poor rural folks since the days of Sukarno. It looks like the fourth generation of Marhaen still lives in poverty.

On my way back to the city center, the traffic was bad. I took the time to observe the vagrants, beggars and street vendors who thronged the sidewalks along the way. And everywhere I looked, I saw Marhaens.