The Faces of ‘65

When I think of it, there is no direct connection between my family and the tragedy of ‘65. My late father’s only story was of how, one day, he passed by a place where the political prisoners of ‘65 were forced to work by the military. An officer stopped him and...
Recipes

Recipes

On my 25th birthday, my family gave me a notepad with recipes of dishes we enjoy in our family. My father contributed four recipes. The first is for fried rice as he made it when I was small, the other are “Three Menus of Political Prisoners”.They are “head...
Buru’s First Harvest

Buru’s First Harvest

Here is an artefact from Buru Island; my older brother Tedjabayu sent this to Mother. It is the “padi kemanten” (first harvest) from the island of Buru, Unit 1, Wanapura, in 1976. The commander of this unit was Sri Murtonoputro, First Lieutenant of the Military...

Breaking the Chains of Silence

Good afternoon, and good wishes to all.The esteemed Dr. Erwan Agus Purwanto, Dean of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.The esteemed Dr. Hilmar Farid, Director General of Culture at the Ministry of Education and...
Coming out

Coming out

I remember the first time I “came out”. It was in 2003, I think, five years after Soeharto’s messy step-down. I was still keeping all my family’s 1965 secrets to myself.  It was a habit nailed down at birth, my only roots. That day, I had lunch with ten of my friends...