'I wish I could get married next year'<\/p>\n
Young and rebellious, Budiman Sudjatmiko, is the founder of
\nthe People's Democratic Party (PRD), a political party
\ncontroversially declared during Soeharto's authoritarian
\nadministration. The former student of Yogyakarta-based Gadjah
\nMada University, now 30, has paid for his daring dissenting
\nideology. He was sentenced to 13 years in jail in 1997 for
\nsubversion and rejected amnesty offered by former president B.J.
\nHabibie in 1998. He was released last year by President
\nAbdurrahman Wahid. He talked about his personal life with The
\nJakarta Post's Emmy F. Hastuti.<\/p>\n
Question: What would you like to change in yourself?<\/p>\n
A: I want to less shy. I'm a very shy person. I also want to
\nrelate to people on a more emotional and not rational basis. I
\nhave this ability but I think I need to use it more.<\/p>\n
Q: What do you wish in your personal life?<\/p>\n
A: I wish I could get married next year. People have been asking
\nme about it, like, \"I hear you are married already\" or \"When are
\nyou getting married?\". It's surely not a plan because a plan
\nmeans preparing resources. I'm still at the level of thinking
\nabout getting married.<\/p>\n
Q: What type of person would you choose as a soul mate?<\/p>\n
A: For sure she has to be mentally healthy. She doesn't need to
\ncognitively understand my struggles but she has to understand my
\nspirit and appreciate my efforts in all what I am doing right
\nnow.<\/p>\n
Q: Which trait do you most like about yourself?<\/p>\n
A: I like my loyalty to what I believe in and my sensitivity and
\nconcern toward my surroundings, these are maybe the two traits
\nthat have helped me a lot in enduring all the things that has
\nhappened to me.<\/p>\n
Q: And dislike?<\/p>\n
A: If I am in my routine, I sometimes become down. So I have to
\nrecharge myself and get busy with other activities. I often run
\nto my books to refresh myself or just talk to my girlfriend, that
\nis surely over a different aspect.<\/p>\n
Q: Whom do you admire?<\/p>\n
A: My grandfather maybe, and also my childhood playmates.<\/p>\n
Q: Do you believe in God?<\/p>\n
A: I believe in God, but He who works through people and not
\nthrough religious leaders. God has worked through the history of
\npeople, the nature of laws and also the people's restlessness.
\nGod also works as a voice for the mute.<\/p>\n
Q: What was the last book you read?<\/p>\n
A: Spanish Civil War by Huge Thomas. It is a book about the
\npeople of a nation who got their freedom and independence after a
\nlong period of oppression.<\/p>\n
Q: What is your favorite music?<\/p>\n
A: I didn't enjoy rock and pop music in my youth. I like
\nclassical music but I also like Eros (Djarot) and Chrisye.<\/p>\n
I enjoy listening to keroncong very much and my favorite songs
\nare Anggrek Bulan (Moon Orchid) and Di Tepinya Sungai Serayu (On
\nthe Serayu river bank). The latter is about a river (in Cilacap,
\nCentral Java) which gives life to farmers and the people. I like
\nthat very much, it always reminds me of my hometown in Cilacap.<\/p>\n
I also admire Victor Jara, a Chilean musician, who produced a
\nlot of folk songs about his people's struggle against the
\ndictatorship of Pinnochet. His music has inspired the young
\nrevolutionists.<\/p>\n
Q: What was the last movie you watched?<\/p>\n
A: It has the same theme as the last book I read. The film is
\ncalled The Spanish Girl. A very good film on the people who are
\nin political euphoria, confused people with euphoric norms. There
\nwas also a pair of lovers who wanted to get married but the
\npriest was found dead. He had committed suicide...but they decide
\nto marry themselves anyway.<\/p>\n
Q: What three things would you take with you to a desert island?<\/p>\n
A: My books, cassettes and letters from my girlfriend.<\/p>\n
Q: Do you ever think about changing your appearance?<\/p>\n
A: Absolutely not. The way I dress is always like this. I don't
\nneed a tie, even for official functions I prefer this look. I
\nenjoy how I look right now. Except if I am looked for (by
\nsecurity personnel) then I will let my hair grow and probably
\nsport a moustache.<\/p>\n
Q: What makes your life worth living?<\/p>\n
A: I have spent 15 years of my life now struggling for other
\npeople. I have planned, designed and arranged steps to make
\nchanges, not only to my life but also to my surroundings. I
\nreally want to get involved in and not only witness the changes.
\nYes, it is my spirit and my struggle that make it worth living.
\nSome (wishes) have been attained, including to topple Soeharto.
\nBut we still have to push hard for the better.<\/p>\n
Q: Which famous person, dead or alive, do you admire?<\/p>\n
A: A Filipino activist, Edgar Jopson. An activist in the 1970's,
\nhe was from a well-to-do family, religious and antiviolence. He
\nwas once the chairman of the Philippines People Council. During
\nFerdinand Marcos' era, he was chosen as the most outstanding
\nyoung man. He believed that a change could be attained peacefully
\nthrough gradual steps. His efforts failed though. Being a
\npolitical dissident, he was wanted by the regime, so he ran away
\nwith his wife to a mountain. He then organized labor and
\nstruggled as a guerrilla. He was shot near his hideout. He died
\nas a martyr.<\/p>\n
Q: What is your favorite food?<\/p>\n
A: Sayur asem and satay Padang<\/p>\n
Q: Is there anything you regret about your life?<\/p>\n
A: No, my life is a process of understanding circumstances and
\nsituations. In my childhood, I mingled with farmers and children
\nwhose parents worked in factories but later I moved to a bigger
\ncity in Bogor. There I got along with middle class children. I
\nrealized the social gap but I am able to live in both totally
\ndifferent situations. I wish I can bridge the two different
\nlives, so my experience will not be wasted as a personal
\nexperience as others can also learn from mine. From the books on
\ngeography, history and politics that I read at that time, I began
\nto understand this situation was a product of the injustices by
\nthe power holders.<\/p>\n
Q: What would you do if you have the power to change things for
\nothers?<\/p>\n
A: The first thing I will do is cut ties with the past, meaning
\nour predecessors who were corrupt and unjust. I'll bring them to
\njustice. I will also take sides with the victims, all victims of
\nthe past.<\/p>\n
Q: What are the qualities of a good friend?<\/p>\n
A: Genuine friendship is always followed by sharing common and
\nmutual concerns. My fellow jailed activists are those among the
\ncategory. It is a process, a long one.<\/p>\n
Q: How would you like to be remembered?<\/p>\n
A: I want to be remembered as a person who was loyal to the end.
\nAs a person who remained on his track to attain his dreams and
\nwishes. The dreams may not all come true, as some may fail.<\/p>",
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