JP\/20\/OEI<\/p>\n
Maintaining a collection of rare and banned books<\/p>\n
ID Nugroho
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Surabaya<\/p>\n
The dimness inside the Room of Rarities at the library of
\nSurabaya's Medayu Agung Foundation gives way to brightness when
\nOei Hiem Hwie enters the room and turns on the main lights.<\/p>\n
Rows of neatly arranged books can be seen through the glass
\ndoors of a wooden cabinet ornamented with Jepara carving. \"You
\nwill soon find out why this room is called the Hall of Rare
\nCollection,\" Oei told The Jakarta Post<\/p>\n
Slowly, the 65-year-old, better known as Om Hwie (Uncle Hwie),
\nopened one of the glass doors to retrieve a book. \"This is our
\nmost valuable book,\" he said, pointing to a 1938 book titled
\nGeschiedenis van Nederlandsch.<\/p>\n
With a brick-red cover, this 1,000-page book, which relates
\nthe history of Indonesia as viewed through the eyes of the Dutch
\ngovernment, was printed in five editions.<\/p>\n
The Medayu Agung library possesses the original copies of the
\nfirst four editions plus one photocopy of the book's fifth
\nedition. \"This is the source of Indonesian history and was owned
\nonly by a select group. The Dutch government printed a relatively
\nsmall number of copies for those stationed in Indonesia,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
When the copies of the fifth edition were going to be taken to
\nIndonesia, he said, the vessel carrying them was bombed by Japan.
\nMost of the books on board the vessel were destroyed.<\/p>\n
\"Pramoedya Ananta Toer happened to possess a copy of this
\nfifth edition and he has given me the photocopied version of the
\nbook,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Oei Him Hwie is one of the few Indonesians who are deeply
\ncommitted to books. Born in Malang, East Java, 65 years ago, Oei
\nnow has in his collection some 8,000 titles plus newspaper
\nclippings, magazines and tabloids. \"I find it difficult to keep
\nthese books. Luckily my family does not complain to me although
\nthey have to sleep on piles of books,\" he observed.<\/p>\n
Exiled to Buru island<\/p>\n
In mid-1950 Oei, who showed a great interest in journalism,
\njoined Pro Patria Jogjakarta and Sumber Pengetahuan (Bandung) to
\nstudy journalism. A year later he joined Usaha Modern, a
\njournalistic training institution in Surabaya.<\/p>\n
\"I'd made up my mind to become a journalist and it so happened
\nthat Terompet Masyarakat daily recruited me to work as the
\nnewspaper's reporter in Malang,\" he reminisced. He found this
\nenvironment allowed him to practice his idealism through his
\nwork. \"I found the newspaper suited to me, especially because its
\nmotto was \"Defending the Small People to Make Them Free from Any
\nInfluences,\" he said.<\/p>\n
As his career as a journalist developed, Oei began to collect
\npolitical books that interested him as a reporter. He also
\nstarted to collect newspaper clippings. \"My grandfather and dad
\nwere also fond of reading. They gave me all their books, about
\n2,000 in all, as they knew I wanted to start my own library,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
His hopes of having his own library were dashed when the
\nbloody tragedy, usually referred to as the September 30 Movement,
\ntook place in 1965.<\/p>\n
Oei Him Hwie was then secretary of the Consultative Body for
\nIndonesian Citizens (Baperki), an organization considered to be
\nlinked to the Indonesian Communist Party, which allegedly
\nmasterminded the September 30 Movement.<\/p>\n
The house of Oei's parents in Malang was raided by locals and
\nsecurity officials.<\/p>\n
Thousands of books that Oei had collected were either
\nconfiscated or set alight. \"Luckily, some could be hidden below
\nthe roof, in the cellar and also in several other places,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Oei was arrested and imprisoned for 13 years, although he was
\nnever brought before a court. He was jailed and held in six
\nplaces: Batu and Lowokwaru (Malang), Kaliasin and Koblen
\n(Surabaya), on Nusakambangan island and then on Buru island,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
While exiled on Buru island, Oei became acquainted with the
\ngreat writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer. \"It was I that took home
\nthree bundles of Pram's manuscripts, which were written on rough
\npaper usually used for bagging cement, and were later known as
\nhis Bumi Manusia (Earth of Mankind) tetralogy,\" said Oei, who was
\nfreed in 1978.<\/p>\n
Developing a library<\/p>\n
A free man once more, Oei began to build his library. He
\ncollected all the books that had been \"saved\" when his house was
\nraided. \"Unfortunately, several good books, such as those on the
\nattempts on Bung Karno's life in Cikini or during the Idul Adha
\nobservance, the Maukar Incident, the DI\/TII rebellion, the Alan
\nPope incident (which involved a U.S. citizen alleged to have
\nabetted rebels) were all burned to ashes,\" said Oei.<\/p>\n
He was lucky, however, as the owner of Sariagung and Gunung
\nAgung bookshops, Haji Masagung, asked him to be his private
\nsecretary. Masagung allowed him to take one book for free from
\nhis bookshops every now and then.<\/p>\n
\"I was able to collect close to 7,000 books and clippings
\nduring the period when I was Haji Masagung's private secretary,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
These books became the backbone of the library managed by the
\nFoundation of Medayu Agung Surabaya in South Surabaya. The
\nfoundation was set up by seven intellectuals, including economist
\nKrenayana Yahya and sociologist Dede Oetomo.<\/p>\n
The seven founders also made available some Rp 600 million for
\nthe establishment of the library, which has three halls: the
\nspecial and rare collections and literature.<\/p>\n
The library has in its collection books on former president
\nSukarno, works by Pramoedya Ananta Toer and writings about the
\nassimilation process of Indonesian citizens of Chinese origin in
\nIndonesia. \"Most have been banned by the government,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The collection also includes ancient books published in 1800
\nto 1900 in foreign languages, such as the original copy of Adolf
\nHitler's Mein Kampf, Raffles' The Histories of Java and Officieel
\nGedenboek, which was published during the reign of Queen
\nWilhelmina of the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
In the library's guest book you can find many famous names
\nlike Daniel S. Lev of Washington University, Benedict Anderson
\nand the Singaporean chairman of the international committee on
\nthe commemoration of the 600th anniversary of Zeng He's Voyage.<\/p>\n
\"I feel a little embarrassed as many famous people have come
\nhere, yet I don't think my collection is large enough,\" he said,
\nmodestly.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for Oei, the funds to run the library have been
\ndeclining. In fact, to keep the library running, funds will be
\nneeded to pay six employees to take care of the books and the
\nprint media publications in the collection.<\/p>\n
\"Many professors and PhDs have made use of this library free
\nof charge, but to be honest, we are running out of money to take
\ncare of its thousands of books,\" he lamented.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp20oei-1447899208",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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