Pramoedya still going strong at 80<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
"I don't know what to say," novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer,
\noverwhelmed by the moment, finally uttered at his 80th birthday
\nparty with family and friends on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n
After giving a brief thank you to all the people who came to
\nhis birthday, he sat down and wiped the tears from his eyes.<\/p>\n
The frail writer has to walk with the aid of a stick. He also
\nhas difficulty hearing. But in the 80th year of his rich and
\nvenerable life, he looked quite strong, healthy and happy. "Oh,
\nI've been taking a break from writing, except for signing my pay
\nreceipts," Pramoedya said jokingly, during the function held at
\nthe lounge of the luxury Pakubuwono Residence in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The birthday party, in large part arranged by Indonesian
\nauthor Eka Budianta, was attended by a wide range of people, from
\nuniversity professor Apsanti Djokosujatno, entrepreneur Bob
\nSadino in his usual short pants, veteran singer Titiek Puspa, to
\ntelevision soap opera actress Cornelia Agatha.<\/p>\n
After being the symbol of the oppressed for the duration of
\nthe authoritarian New Order era, Pramoedya is still cast as a
\nliterary icon.<\/p>\n
Pram, as he is often called, born in Blora in Central Java on
\nFeb. 6, 1925, was jailed for 14 years without trial by Soeharto's
\nNew Order regime due to his links to the literary wing of the
\nIndonesian Communist Party (PKI).<\/p>\n
The years he spent in prisons, in particular the 10 years in a
\nprison camp on Buru Island in Central Maluku, were his most
\nproductive years when he created his internationally acclaimed
\nquartet novels -- The Earth of Mankind, Child of All Nations,
\nFootsteps, and House of Glass. They were published
\nsurreptitiously in the 1980s by Hasta Mitra, which was managed by
\nPram's friend Joesoef Isaak.<\/p>\n
During the New Order government, the four books became a
\nreference and a kind of "bible" for progressive students and
\nvictims of injustice.<\/p>\n
Pram, whose works have been translated into 20 languages, won
\nthe 1995 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and
\nCreative Communication Arts. He rose to prominence after he was
\nnominated several times for the Nobel Prize for Literature.<\/p>",
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