Midah, lovely lady with golden teeth.

Midah, lovely lady with golden teeth. Author : Pramoedya Ananta Toer In this book Pramoedya described woman' sorrow because of bad treatment of man. The main character is Midah, daughter of Haji Abdul, a wealthy entrepreneur from Cibatok village, who lived in Jakarta, Indonesia. Haji Abdul treated Midah improperly. One day he was angry when he heard Midah listened to kroncong music (Indonesian music) because he thought that kroncong was unlawful for moslem. So he beat Midah. Midah was forced to marry Haji Terbus. He was wealthy and good - looking man. When she was pregnant she realized that Haji Terbus had many wives. Midah was very disappointed then she left her husband. She did not dare to see her parents. She met and then joined a group of street musician. Midah was called si manis (the lovely one). Midah gave birth to a baby boy without husband so she was treated badly. When she wanted to leave the hospital they did not give the baby any proper clothing. When she got back to the street musicians they reluctantly received her. One day when she fed her son Riah, her former maid, saw her. Riah asked her to come home but Midah refused. Riah saw her singing in the streets and in restaurants. To win rivalry with other singer Midah had her teeth covered with gold. Consequently conflict escalated so she had to leave the group. The news about Midah finally reached Haji Abdul whose business declined. He was shocked. He searched for her eveywhere but his efforts was in vain. He was so depressed that he was sick. Midah was singing in Jatinegara when she met Ahmad, a young policeman. He could sing so he trained her to sing. Soon Midah fell in love with him and they went too far. One day Midah told Ahmad that she was pregnant but Ahmad refused to take responsibility because he thought that Midah had many boy friends. She had to come home to her parent and admit the situation. After several days in her parent's home she dicided to leave again. She left Rodjali. Her beauty and her voice were her commodity. She broke all the rules her parent had told her. She became a singer, a movie star and more. Midah was a victim of men. His father's attitude was too hard to her. Her husband never really took care of her. Ahmad just wanted comfort from her. The others just wanted her beauty.

Endless road, a novel by an Indonesian author.

Book title : Jalan Tak Ada Ujung (Endless road). Author : Mohtar Lubis

Now I want to present you a review of an Indonesian novel written by another Indonesian writer - Mohtar Lubis. The setting is Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, in mid 1940's. It was in August 1945 when Sukarno and Hatta proclaimed Indonesia's independence from the Dutch colonialism. But the Dutch government would not give up their colony and soon sent troops to Indonesia. The young republic fought back. The novel tells about the stormy days in the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta. The main character is Isa, a modest school teacher. Life is hard for Isa since he got very little salary and he lives in a conflict area. One morning when he went to his school he saw a skirmish between guerilla fighters versus the famous Gurkha soldiers who were under British command. Isa has a tender heart. He did not like fighting. His heart deeply hurts and he was upset when he saw someboby hurt. But he had to join the guerilla fighters otherwise he would be their enemy. He had no choice. Then he knew Hazil, a young guerilla commander who appointed Isa as a treasurer for guerilla unit. His job is to manage the unit's fund and ammunition. Their duty make them get closer. Hazil came to see Isa a frequently. Meanwhile Isa had a beautiful wife who was unhappy with her marriage with Isa. Fatimah was disappointed because Isa was not a real man. He could not accomplish his duty on bed. They adopted a boy since they did not have any childen. When Hazil met Fatimah a forbidden love grew. Then they went too far. For several months they could hide their sins. But one day Isa found Hazil's pipe in his bedroom. He was upset, suspicious, jealous, angry and disappointed. In 1947 Hazil planned an attack on Ducth army. He told the plan in detail to Isa. He told that Isa's duty is just as a watchman. He was assigned to watch and report the attack. One night Isa watched carefully outside a cinema in Senen area. Among spectators who came out of the cinema there were several Dutch soldier. As they approached the street a loud explosion was heard. He saw a Dutch soldier was wounded. Then he ran as fast as he could and hid. But Isa could not hide long. One day Dutch soldiers arrested him. Then he was jailed at the same cell with Hazil. They both were tortured everyday. They suffered a lot from the wounds. Hazil was so severely injured that he could not stand it. His wounds was so serious that he finally died. Having undergone the peak of pain and fear, Isa could overcome the horror of torture. Finally he was ready to face the fiercest torture from the Dutch soldiers. When he heard their shoe step coming he was very calm. He was free from fear. He reached freedom. In my opinion Mohtar Lubis tried to describe the horror of the revolution among many young fighters. Some of them are real fighters but some of them are not. It was really a difficult time for most Indonesians. Their economy, family, were destroyed by colonialist. Many people died and wounded but after internal mental struggle people could overcome their fear and sorrow. My father who was a freedom fighter often told me the bittter years he had gone through under the Dutch and Japanese occupation. Once he was arrested by the Dutch army and jailed for about three months. Now he's gone in glory. Mohtar Lubis is a journalist and novelist. He was born in Padang, west Sumatra in March 7, 1922. He was active in journalism since colonial era. He established Antara News Agency and then Indonesia Raya daily and Horizon magazine. In the Sukarno era he was jailed for nine months. He wrote several novels and short story. His short story antology are Si Jamal, (Someone's name) and Perempuan (Woman). His novels : Tidak Ada Esok (There is no tomorrow), Senja di Jakarta (Twilight in Jakarta), Harimau! Harimau ! (Tiger! Tiger!) Maut dan Cinta (Death and love).

Indonesian thriller novel

Rahasia Meede, Misteri harta Karun VOC (The Secret of Meede, mystery of the treasure of the Dutch East Indies). Author : ES Ito. Treasure hunt no doubt is not a new genre in literature, but in Indonesian writers who write this kind of adventure can be counted with fingers of a hand. So this novel is unique. In addition the way the writer writes this novel is also new in Indonesia. ES Ito is influenced by Dan Brown. Scenes are told from many perspectives in short narration. The story started with the round table conference in November 1949 when the Indonesian delegates met the Dutch delegates to negotiate about Indonesian claim for independence. The heated debate was so intense that the delegates almost reached a deadlock. Suddenly a mysterious man came to see the Indonesian delegates. He talked to Hatta, the first Indonesian vice president and gave him an old map. He suggested the Indonesian delegates to accept the Dutch terms because Indonesia would not lose anything. Then a series of mysterious murder took place in many places. Mysteriously all of the victims were found in a place whose initials were B. Saleh Sukira, an Islamic clergy was found in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra. Santosa Wanadjaya, a businessman was found dead in Brussel, Belgium. Nursinta Tegarwati, a member of parliament was found dead in Bangka, south Sumatra. Then Joko Prianto Surono, a bureaucrat was found dead in Boven Digoel, Papua. A team of researcher was assigned by Oud Batavie foundation in Amsterdam, to conduct reaearch in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia. The leader of the team is Rafael, an expert in colonial history. Erick is an expert in planology and mapping. Robert is an expert in old building architecture. They are assigned to map the surface of Oud Batavie or old Batavia, the name of Jakarta during colonial era. Their real assignment, however, is to find the underground city. They believe that the Dutch colonial ruler had built underground construction to save their treasure. Now it is their duty to find it. Their office while in Jakarta is the Fatahillah museum. Once it was the headquarter of the Dutch ruler. As a cover up to their activites, the Fatahillah museum is renovated and closed. After months of hard work finally they find something. Another character is introduced to make the story complicated. His nick name is Pak Guru Uban. He is a history teacher in a high school. Later he received mysterious assignments. In a train station he recived everything that he needs. He had to go far on a mission. Then there is another Dutch researcher came to Jakarta. Catherine Zwinckel is a Dutch expert of colonial history who comes from the prestigious Leiden University. Professor Huygens assigned her to do research in Indonesia. She works with Center for Strategic Affairs, a prominent think tank in Jakarta. The Dutch team finally found what they were searching for. They found an underground tunnel. But when they went inside someone shot them. Eric and Rafael were killed, only Robert survived but he was seriously wounded. When he woke up in custody, someone ordered him to draw the underground city. Parada Gultom is a journalist who works for Indonesia Raya daily newspaper. In a taxi he met with a young driver from his hometown who has the same family name with him. Soon they became close friend. Batu Gultom, the young driver then worked for him. When he worked there he found some mysterious pictures of tattoos. He also found the journal of Attar Malaka, a mysterious activist. AM was the leader of Anarki Nusantara, a political group that created riot in North Jakarta and then wiped out several years earlier. Their members were found dead and AM was said to have been killed in an accident in west Sumatra. Lusi is an beautiful and cheerful Indonesian girl. She likes the night life in Jakarta. Soon she became Cathleen's best friend. She accompanied Cathleen to go Sion church in central Jakarta. She was very helpful to find information about Pieter Erberveld, a wealthy businessman who lived in Batavia hundreds of years ago. After that she took Cathleen to Sunda Kelapa harbor, the old harbor of Jakarta. Lusi talked to someone then they went aboard a ship. But when they were inside, suddenly the ship sailed. They were kidnapped ! Batu Gultom, the young journalist went to see a police officer to try to find out about Attar Malaka and his activities. But the officer did not give much information. Instead he give a someone's name who knows much about tattos from Mentawai islands. This is important as AM's subordinates were people who had strange tattoos. Then Batu went to Mentawai to see him. There he got some useful informations about young men who went to Jakarta but never returned. He saw for himself the Mentawai tattoo. At midnight Parada Gultom went home. As usual he went home by his old motor cycle. Suddenly at a crossroad two jeeps stopped him. Muscular men came out of the jeeps and kidnapped him. They took him to an unknown place and tortured him to find informations about Attar Malaka. He kept telling them that AM had died but they did not believe him. The torture went on so that Parada was seriously wounded. The disappearance of Lusi and Cathleen attracted the attention of government officials. Lalat Merah, a military officer, interrogated many people including officials from the think tank. Lalat Merah also went to Makassar to ask Andi Hakim Munta, a wealthy businessman who owned many traditional ships. Meanwhile Cathleen was arrested in Banda, east Indonesia. She was seperated from Lusi. It is a fertile land rich with spices. For hundreds of years the place was exploited by colonialist rulers. There she met Kalek, a mysterious intelligent man. He asked Cathleen about her mission, colonial history and the treasure. Roni Damhuri came to Banda Neira and stayed at a nice hotel there. He came to Banda to do business. He was searching for pearl. But one night helicopters came with many armed men. Roni was an officer from the army special forces. That night he would capture someone. When Roni came to the place soon he ordered his unit to storm. But they were very surprised to the warm welcome from their enemy. Roni and his unit were surrounded. They had no choice but to surrender to Roni's best friend in high school - Kalek or Attar Malaka! After bargaining Kalek released him and Cathleen. In Jakarta Cathleen stayed at the house of Major General Darmoko Wiratno, Professor Huygen's contact. Meanwhile Lusi was also released and then interrogated by government officials. Back in Jakarta Roni met Kalek again. Kalek told Roni that he was just a puppet. There is someone more powerful above him. He told Roni that it was just a beginning of a big game. Cathlen had an appointment with Suhadi, the chairman of Arsip Nasional or National Archief. When she got to his office she found that Suhadi was just killed. She smelled a strong aroma of tobacco. When she met kalek in a church they kept discussing about the treasure of the dutch east Indies. There were so much mysteries. Kalek knew Cathleen's secret. He knew that her family name Zwicnkel derived from the name of Singkel, a village in Aceh, in the island of Sumatra. Lieutenant colonel JJ Roeps who won the battle in Singkel, Aceh in 1840 then changed his name into Zwinckel. Catheleen went to Indonesia not only for reasearch. Meanwhile Roni alias Batu kept communicating with Kalek. Batu was an officer from the special forces commando unit who hunt Attar Malaka or Kalek, his high school mate. so was Guru Uban. He used to be posted in Aceh. When he was there he opened a small shop. He got along well with the local people. He told them that he came from Padang, west Sumatra. He got their trust. But finally they knew their identity when many spies of the ebel movement died. Parada's body was found in Bogor, West Java. He was seriously wounded. Shortly after that he died. By the end of the book, scenes of thrilling events took place. General Darmoko with the help of Cathleen finally found the location of the treasure. It was in the small island of Onrust, in the bay of Jakarta. Batu or Roni followed them. Major General Darmoko was preparing a coup when he found the gold. They found the Dutch East Indies treasure buried deep inside an old ruins. But the skirmishes with roni danaged everything. They died when the powder keg explode. But Cahtleen survived. Back to the Netherland, Professor Huygens was killed not far from the Royal Palace. Kalek's wife, Lusi was survived. The writer, ES Ito, is as mysterious as his characters in the story. At the end of the book, it is only written that his father was a trader and his mother is a farmer.

Sorrow of Javanese woman under feudalism.

The Girl from the Coast, 2002. Author : Pramoedya Ananta Toer. This story is a portrayal of the poor fate of a village girl under Javanese feudalism for hundreds of years even up to 20th century. The main character is just called Gadis pantai (the girl from the coast), who represents girls from poor and uneducated families in villages. She came from a poor fisherman village in the regency of Rembang in north coast of Java, Indonesia in early 20th century. At the age of fourteen, a local government official that she did not know married her. What she knew was that she had to obey and respect her husband whom she addressed Bendoro (an honorific title for Javanese nobility). She never had any personal relationship with her husband. In her husband's house there were parts that she never set foot. Even there were rooms where she never saw forever. Her husband had married several women before but he had divorced them. She knew it when she saw several babies who had no mother. Their mothers had been divorced so the maid took care of them. Pramoedya described class discrimination. Mardinah, a new maid, came. She was a daughter of a low rank official. She was arrogant. Her attitude to the girl from the coast was very impolite. Eventually when she accompanied the girl from the coast came home to village, people revealed that she had a mission. She was sent by regent's wife of from Demak to persuade bendoro to marry her daughter. If Mardinah succeeded she would be married as the fifth wife. Besides disappointment, the girl from the coast enjoyed financial and social advancement. she became a respected membr of village society. When she came home to see her parents everybody in the village warmly welcomed her. She held a party and gave presents to the elderly people. Until one day she was pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl. The gender made bendoro disappointed. When her parents came to see them, Bendoro called her father to get in his house. When he got out from the house he was downhearted. His daughter was divorced ! Bondoro gave him some money but he had to take her daughter home immediately, while the baby must stay. Maids would take care of her. As she got home she did not want to stay. She immediately left because she could not bear the humiliation.

Pramudya's top novel.

Title : Bumi manusia (This earth of mandkind) Author : Pramudya Ananta Tour. This novel is the first of the famous Buru Quartet. In this novel Pramoedya told nicely the sorrow of native people under Dutch colonialism in late 19th century and early 20th century Java, Indonesia. The setting is Wonokromo, a small town close to Surabaya, East Java. The main character is Minke a student of HBS, a prestigious Dutch highschool at the time. I believe Minke is the metaphor for young educataed Indonesian native people in the early 20th century. They will become the spearhead in the struggle for independence. His life represents the struggle for independence. He fought against discrimination, injustice and exploitation. Hermann Mellema represents the cruel colonialist. Herman Mellema once was the boss of a sugar factory in Tulangan. Later he ran a ranch in Wonokromo. He married Sanikem. Although she was born in a village, Sanikem was so smart that she could manage her husband's ranch, Boerderij Buitenzorg, to become a prosperous company. I am sure Sanikem is also a symbol of Indonesian nationalist movement. Maybe Pramoedya wanted to describe that there were elements from the Netherlands that helped Indonesian movement. This part is the metaphor. After graduating from HBS, Minke married with Annelies Mellema, the daughter of Hermann Mellema and Sanikem. The injustices is described by Pram when Maurits Mellema came to Java. Maurits is the son of Hermann with his first wife in the Netherlands. He was angry and claimed his rights. He sued Nyai Ontosoroh aka Sanikem. The Amsterdam trial did not admit Nyai Ontosoroh as as Herman Mellema's legal wife and decided to take over Herman Mellema's asset. They also did not admit Minke's marriage to Annelies and ordered Annelies in Maurits Mellema's custody. Annelies Mellema must move to the Netherlands. Those cruelty, injustices, exploitation are evil of colonialism. The consequence is riot. In reality there was a revolution in Indonesia following waorld war II. Pramoedya succesfully described in this novel the evil of colonialism like racial discrimination, injustice and ferocious law, which is blind to social reality, selfish and immoral. Monogamy is not always better than polygamy. Monogamy make Nyai Ontosoroh's rights are oppressed. If they were polygamist, their rights would have been protected. At least Nyai Ontosoroh would be admitted as a wife.

Story of a fighter in Java war.

Title        : Glonggong 

Author    : Junaedi Setiyono

   

 The setting of the novel is Java in the 19th century. At the time Java was a Dutch colony. The main character lived in Tegalrejo, a small village in the outskirt of Yogyakarta. He was a son of a nobleman named Suwanda. Later he knew that Suwanda was his step father. Although he was born as a step son of a nobleman, he grew up in a village. He barely could read and write. He learned Javanese and Arabic characters from his neighbor Kyai Ngali, an Islamic clergyman. 

As a village boy he used to play with other village boys. He would play fighting games with his friends using papaya leaves as sword. In Javanese language it is called Glonggong. He was really good at fighting with it that he was addressed as Glonggong. One day when he fought with his friend in a village road, someone watched him attentively. He was Antawirya a.ka. Diponegoro, a prince from Yogyakarta palace who would lead Java war. 

Glonggong realized that his mother was ill. She never got out of her house. She always stayed inside her room. She would sing Javanese songs all day long. She was never cheerful and she looked depressed. When his servants told him that he and his mother should move to another house he realized that his mother was divorced. This time he lived in a smaller house in the same village. He would bring his mother everyday to a river to take a bath. Then Glongggong knew that Suwanda, his step father, had a new wife. When he passed by Suwanda's house he saw a nice girl named Endang. Surya, his childhood friend had a crush on her but Endang would soon marry to Prayitna. Prayitna was very jealous to Glonggong and Surya. When an opportunity came Prayitna fought Glonggong. It was a fierce fight but Prayitna lose. After the fight Kyai Ngali, his teacher, warned Glonggong that what he did was wrong. He also warned him that a great war would soon break and that Glonggong should choose a good side. He meant prince Diponogoro's side. Since he won the fight with Prayitna, Glonggong got a reputation as as a good fighter, although he made a living by selling chicken to local market. Meanwhile Endang often met his mother in the river. This action made Prayitna even more jealous. Then second fight broke. Prayitna attacked him when brought his mother back from the river. His attack also injured Glonggong's mother. Glonggong was really mad and he fought back. This time Prayitna was badly injured. Not long after that Glonggong's house was on fire and he could not save his mother. At the age of seventeen he lose his beloved mother. Desperate Glonggong was known as a good fighter by the time. Then Surya offered him a job at a noble house. St first he worked as a servant but later he realized that his real job was as a bodyguard. There he met Danar, another maid, who helped him learn Latin character. He also learned that his real father was Ki Sena. Then he would work as a bodyguard for court officials who traveled far. He often guard them to Magelang, a small town about 40 km to the north of Yogyakarta, to play gambling. Surya told him that Ki Sena was in prison because he rebelled the Dutch colonial government but he failed. Surya also told him that Danar could lead to him. But Danar just gave him little information that Ki Sena was in Wirogunan jail.

When he guarded his boss Pringga to prince Diponegoro's residence in Tegalrejo, he saw mob. There were many soldiers and workers working on a project. They were building a road trespassing prince Diponegoro's land. Three days later the road project was ruined by the prince's followers. Soon hostility escalated. Several fights followed. One afternoon he went to pick up his master at prince Diponegoro's residence. As he approached Tegalrejo he the mob again. Suddenly sounds of cannon were heard. It was the day when the Dutch army attacked prince Diponegoro's residence. People ran in panic. The situation was chaotic. From a distant he saw black smoke. He was sure that prince Diponegoro's residence was burned. He ran everywhere to find his master. Finally he found his master who escaped with the prince. He saw the prince wearing white cloth and talked to his followers. He gave oration to raise their fighting spirit. It was July 20, 1825, the day when Java war broke. 

 One day Glonggong and Danar guarded someone to Semarang. Glonggong was curious because his father, who had been released from jail, lived there. At night he went out to find out about Danti, his sister, and Ki Sena, his father. When he asked a man about Danti his reaction was discouraging. The man recommended him to go to a place. He found that Danti his sister was a comfort woman there. So he went to to find Danti. He did not find her but a woman told her that Danti was smart and lucky. One night suddenly Glonggong was arrested by Danar and his boss and then he was jailed in the middle of a forest for he was suspected to have contact with a spy from the Yogyakarta palace. But then one day he was released and soon asked to join Jayengan unit. This was an army unit under Diponegoro who rebelled the Dutch colonial ruler. later he was told that his boss Pringga had betrayed the prince and joined the Yogyakarta palace. He also realized that his father Ki Sena once was a follower of prince Diponegoro and that his duty was to guard the logistics of the Diponegoro army. Then the unit commander assigned him the same duty. It was a hard and dangerous job because the army was always on the move since they used guerilla tactics and became enemy's target. Surya, his childhood friend, did the job before him but he failed. He reported that his stuff was robbed twice. So he lost the job. Then Suta, also his childhood friend, failed to do the job. He was badly wounded in a battle. 

Since that time on Glonggong did his new job dutifully. He roamed from one area to another, supplying the Diponegoro army with arms and food secretly. One day he had to guard some stuff to Ungaran, a dangerous place whre his father and Surya were killed. The danger proved to be true when he got to a forest just outside of Ungaran. Some people stood on his way. They immediately attacked him. Since he was a good fighter he could beat them easily. Then someone came. It was Danar, his friend. Danar was not a great problem for him. Glonggong could finish him easily. As he would continue his trip suddenly he heard a loud bang and he felt severe pain in his back and soon he lost consciousness. When he recovered, he was in a small village. He lost contact with his army unit.

Then he tried to see Danti but when they met Danti did not trust him. After that he got back to his village. He got in touch with his former servants in the Suwanda's house again. Not long after that he got a clue that Suwanda, his former step father, hid a secret. He found a wheel of the coach that he guarded to Ungaran on his last duty. He was suspicious to Suwanda so he decided to spy on him. later he found out that it was Suwanda who shot him at the back and robbed him. He found the jewelry that he lost in the attack. Then he managed to seize the jewelry and ran with it. He decided to give it back to prince Diponegoro. Unfortunately he did not have opportunity to see Diponegoro. He heard that the prince would go to Magelang to negotiate with the Dutch so he went there. But it was too late. As he got to the negotiating venue in Magelang the guard did not allowed him to see the prince. Then Diponegoro was arrested during the negotiation and then he was exiled. Up to now the story of Java war is still very popular among the Javanese especially those who live in central Java and Yogyakarta. I come from Magelang so I am familiar with the story. In my family the story was handed down from generation to generation. 

The story is told proudly in my family because my great great grandfather was a unit commander in the Diponegoro army. When the prince was arrested in Magelang, he was forced to run, changed his identity and settled in a vilage outside Magelang. He did not dare to come home to Yogyakarta because he was a fugitive. Following the arrest the remaining army of Diponegoro was hunted by the Dutch army and there were mass murder. The Javanese people were beheaded then their heads were attached on bamboo sticks along the roads. Perhaps it is a way of terrorizing the Javanese people and to give them lesson not to rebel the colonial ruler again. The village is now called Sindas, which mean head in Javanese language. Outside of Magelang there was a village named Geger, which means torso. It was told in my family that the village used to be a mass grave for Javanese people who were beheaded by the Dutch army. It was a bitter memory in my family but we are proud of it.