Mattalatta, 'rooster from the east'<\/p>\n
Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Makassar<\/p>\n
The screen of a 21-inch television displayed a number of water-
\nski athletes riding the waves, individually or otherwise, with a
\ncheering crowd watching them from the beach. Indonesia's first
\npresident Sukarno was seen among the crowd.<\/p>\n
The same video recording has been played over and over again
\nin the living room of Andi Mattalatta, one of the athletes who
\ntook part in the 1957 water ski event at Makassar beach.<\/p>\n
Born on Sept. 1, 1920, Mattalatta's name is synonymous with
\nwater sports in Indonesia. Brought up by a Dutch family, he had
\nexcelled at several sports as a youth, such as swimming, horse
\nriding, aerobics, shooting and martial arts.<\/p>\n
During the Dutch colonial period, he won several first prizes
\nin these sports. Building his career in the military, Mattalatta
\nwas the founder of the Indonesian Association of Motorized Vessel
\nSports and Water Skiing (POPSA).<\/p>\n
The recording which was played when The Jakarta Post visited
\nhim at his house in downtown Makassar, the capital of South
\nSulawesi, showed not only the performance of local water skiers,
\nbut also Mattalatta's skill as a lassoer.<\/p>\n
With a pistol at his waist, he moved about, donning the
\ncostume of a cowboy. The rope came alive in his hands. He played
\nthe Crinoline (rope) agilely.<\/p>\n
\"I could at that time catch a horse with a rope while I was
\nriding another horse. I could also make some acrobatic movements
\nwhile on the saddle, just like what you see in cowboy and rodeo
\nfilms,\" he said, showing a photograph taken in the 1930s
\ndepicting him doing the steunstand on a bike.<\/p>\n
Mattalatta always plays his video recordings or looks at his
\nalbums of photographs when he misses sports or his late wife. He
\nwill take out other photographs -- all nicely framed -- to the
\nbadminton court at the back of his house.<\/p>\n
Then he will display these photographs around the badminton
\ncourt and closely observe each of them.<\/p>\n
These photographs, the video recording and the citations hung
\non the wall are all testimony that Mattalatta has been an
\nathlete, a fighter and a community figure. Such achievements are
\nindeed worthy of commendation.<\/p>\n
As a Bugis who loves his motherland, he is aptly called \"the
\nrooster of the east\". When the capital city of the young Republic
\nof Indonesia was moved to Yogyakarta, he was there, fiercely
\nfighting against the Dutch colonial troops both in South Sulawesi
\nand in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
Mattalatta has written a 642-page memoir called Meniti Siri
\ndan Harga Diri (Going along the path of self-dignity), in which
\nhe dwells on his early life as the son of a king in Barru and his
\nexperiences living with a Dutch family. The book also tells of
\nhis experiences as a guerrilla fighter.<\/p>\n
As a Bugis, he holds the principle of moving forward in life
\nwithout fear.<\/p>\n
\"The Bugis people are noted for their courage and great
\ndetermination. That's why I always pushed for the construction of
\na sports stadium in Makassar. We, Bugis people, prefer death to
\nshame. For this very reason, I also fought hard to have the
\nnational sports weeks held in South Sulawesi in 1957,\" he told
\nThe Post.<\/p>\n
In 1957, he was a lieutenant colonel and was in charge of the
\nSouth and Southeast Sulawesi military region commands. At that
\ntime, many young people who used to defend Indonesia rebelled
\nagainst the republic. They went to the forest areas and joined
\nthe rebels because they could not join the Indonesian Military.<\/p>\n
Mattalatta approached these wayward youngsters not by
\nconfrontation, but through friendship. He intensified sports
\nactivities among the community.<\/p>\n
\"One of the ways to win the hearts and minds of the people was
\nto have the fourth national sports week held in Makassar.
\nProblems arose because there was neither a sports stadium nor a
\nsports halls in this city\" he said.<\/p>\n
With the strong determination of the Bugis, he went to Jakarta
\nwith this proposal. Unfortunately, he said, some officials of the
\ncentral government laughed at this proposal, saying that it would
\nnot be possible to have a stadium and other sports facilities
\nestablished for the national sports week within just half a year.<\/p>\n
They also said that even if the money was there, it would take
\nabout four years to build the facilities.<\/p>\n
\"Nevertheless, I met Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX, then the
\ngeneral chairman of the Indonesian Olympics Committee to ask him
\nfor approval to hold the sports week in Makassar. The sultan
\nagreed right away. 'I have never known any other Indonesian like
\nAndi Mattalatta,' he said. 'He fought against the Dutch in South
\nSulawesi and did so on Java island. Without his struggle, we
\nwould perhaps be under the Dutch rule,'\" said Mattalatta, a
\nretired major general of the army, quoting the sultan.<\/p>\n
With approval in hand, he returned to South Sulawesi and had a
\nstadium as well as other sports facilities built within six
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
\"One battalion of soldiers worked a full twenty-four hours in
\nbuilding an imposing stadium and other sports facilities. I
\nfunded the construction myself,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Because of his old age, his children do not allow him all the
\nfreedom to carry out his sports activities, especially because he
\nwas recently admitted to hospital. But in fact, he is strong
\nenough to walk on the beach for two hours in the sun.<\/p>\n
\"Now I'm just 157 cm, 10 cm less than when I was younger.
\nWhat's the matter with me?\" queried Mattalatta, who is a great
\nfan of broad-chested Johnny Weissmuller, the Tarzan of the 1930s
\nfilms.<\/p>",
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