Sukarno: 'Ende first, Jakarta next'<\/p>\n
By Wahyuni Kamah<\/p>\n
ENDE, Flores, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): \"After clearing up the
\ngrass in the garden and chatting with my wife and child, my other
\npastime is simply reading...,\" wrote the future president Sukarno
\nfrom Ende.<\/p>\n
Sukarno revealed this in his letter dated July 17, 1935, to
\nT.A. Hasan, his correspondent, who lived in Bandung, West Java.
\nHis exchanges with T.A. Hasan, the founder of Persatuan Islam,
\ndisclosed that Sukarno was a voracious reader and serious
\nlearner. He killed the time when he was in exile by reading books
\nabout Islam that Hasan sent.<\/p>\n
Some of Sukarno's missives from Ende, are compiled in a
\nchapter of Di Bawah Bendera Revolusi (Under the Revolutionary
\nFlag) Part I. And the house on Perwira Street in Ende (some
\npeople used to call it Endeh) would not have had a historical
\nmeaning unless Sukarno, the first Indonesia's President (1945-
\n1965), had lived in it during his exile from 1934 to 1938. He
\nrented this house from Haji Abdul Amburawuh. In the 12x8 house,
\nwhich was renovated in 1984, Bung (Brother) Karno, as he is
\naffectionately known, lived with his devoted, faithful second
\nwife, Ibu Inggit; his sick mother-in-law, Ibu Amsi, who then died
\nin Ende; and his adopted daughter, Ratna Djuami.<\/p>\n
\"At the time, the roof was made of tin and the wall was made
\nof plaited bamboo,\" explained Haji Pua Ita Abubakar, 51, the
\nguide to Sukarno's house. \"There was no electricity either. They
\nused kerosene lamps for lighting,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The main house that Bung Karno called Jaya Jakti Pandagara
\n(the philosophy of a triumph) has five rooms: a living room, Bung
\nKarno's work room, two bedrooms, and a visitors room. Now the
\nliving room has become a visitors registration room. A big teak
\ncupboard which stores a private collection of Sukarno's
\nbelongings, a chair, a table, and an extraordinary painting of
\nSukarno's are placed in this room.<\/p>\n
Among his private collection were a violin and a 12-carat
\nplatinum ball-point which Bung Karno used to write the Pancasila
\nconcept. In the work room some photographs portraying Bung
\nKarno's activities in Ende hang on the wall.<\/p>\n
In Bung Karno's bedroom, there was only one big teak cupboard
\nand an old-style iron-framed bed, equipped with a mosquito net.
\nThe bed and the cupboard were brought from his wife's home in
\nBandung.<\/p>\n
Kitchen, toilet, warehouse, and WC, which are separated from
\nthe main house, were constructed one year after he began living
\nthere. In the backyard there is a well whose water source always
\nsprings even in a long drought.<\/p>\n
\"Visitors often take water from this well as a souvenir,\" said
\nthe guide of Flores-Bugis descent.<\/p>\n
\"The Dutch colonial government wanted actually to exile
\nSukarno, the young, energetic political activist at the time, to
\nBejawa, another town in the west of Ende, but Sukarno rejected
\nthis. He only wanted to stay in Ende, the capital of Flores,\"
\nsaid Abubakar, who has been the guide since 1982.<\/p>\n
His life in Ende was gloomy. During his first months in exile,
\nBung Karno did not feel secure. Because of his reputation as a
\npolitical prisoner, the local people did not want to make friends
\nwith him nor talk to him, \"It were as if he had an infectious
\ndisease,\" said Ibu Inggit in the book Kuantar ke Gerbang. Kisah
\nCinta Ibu Inggit dengan Bung Karno (I Take You to the Gate. A
\nLove Story of Ibu Inggit and Bung Karno). Moreover, the days that
\nSukarno had to endure during his exile were difficult ones.<\/p>\n
\"He was lonely and confused,\" she said in the book that was
\nwritten by Ramadhan K.H. It was his wife's strong support and
\nassistance that kept Sukarno fighting. Therefore, Bung Karno
\nthought that he had to find friends among the local people.<\/p>\n
Later, the man that was called Indonesia's greatest orator
\nfound his world in art. He was active in theater. With his
\nfriends, Bung Karno founded a theater group called Keli Mutu
\nwhere he played the violin.<\/p>\n
At a young 34 years of age, Bung Karno was also a talented
\nartist.<\/p>\n
From 1935 to 1938, he wrote some 27 drama scripts, one of them
\nentitled 1945. The main theme of his scripts was Indonesia's
\nindependence and patriotism.<\/p>\n
He also did a painting, which portrayed his brilliant ideas
\nabout Indonesia's future. The painting itself was set in Bali. It
\npictured four men sitting in four different religious costumes
\nwhich symbolized four religions in Indonesia at the time, namely
\nIslam, Catholicism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, as they worshiped One
\nGod. The painting also depicted a bull, a rice field, a banyan
\ntree and a cotton plant. These became symbols of the now accepted
\nIndonesian ideology, Pancasila. The painting still hangs on the
\nwall in the living room.<\/p>\n
The future leader's ideas about Indonesia's independence were
\nmostly born in this house. Sukarno formulated his ideas about
\nPancasila, the state ideology, in Ende. \"Endeh first, Jakarta
\nnext,\" he declared. He wrote the Pancasila concept under the
\nsukun (artocarpus) tree, which was situated about 500 meters from
\nhis house.<\/p>\n
Sukarno was also a spiritual man. He had his own prayer room
\nnear the backyard for meditation. This activity led him to be an
\nintuitive man. The traces of his two palms, chin, and soles are
\nslightly imprinted on a small, cement-floored room.<\/p>\n
\"Bung Karno could spend hours when he was praying. He did not
\nwant to be bothered by anybody even by important visitors,\"
\nexplained Abubakar.<\/p>\n
During his \"given freedom\", which allowed him to have
\nvisitors, to read books, and to correspond with his friends and
\nassociates in other towns and lands, the Dutch colonial
\ngovernment thought that Bung Karno's movement was starting to
\njeopardize the state. Then he was exiled to Bengkulu, Sumatra.
\nThe news of this was first heard from a radio news broadcast in a
\nChinese merchant's shop and it was delivered to him by his
\ntailor, Darham.<\/p>\n
Bung Karno and his family left the house on October 1938. The
\nhouse was then returned to the owner and his belongings there
\nwere shared among his friends.<\/p>\n
After having been inaugurated as Indonesia's President in
\n1945, Bung Karno revisited \"his\" house three times, in 1951,
\n1954, and 1957. He declared the house a museum in 1954.<\/p>\n
When asked about the house's visitors, Abubakar, who only
\nearns a Rp 40,000 monthly honorarium, said that most of Sukarno's
\nchildren with Fatmawati, his third wife, have already visited the
\nhouse. There were also some former Cabinet ministers, as well as
\ndomestic and local tourists.<\/p>\n
Sukarno had five children with Fatmawati: Guntur
\nSoekarnoputra, Megawati Soekarnoputri, Rahmawati Soekarnoputri,
\nSukmawati Soekarnoputri, and Guruh Soekarnoputra. His other
\nchildren were Taufan Soekarnoputra (with his fourth wife Hartini)
\nand Kartika Soekarnoputri (with his fifth wife Dewi Soekarno). He
\nhad no children from his marriages with Inggit and his first wife
\nSiti Utari, the latter union lasting only a year.<\/p>\n
When a big earthquake struck Flores in 1992, many houses in
\nand around Ende were damaged and ruined. However, the decent old
\narchitecture of Bung Karno's exile house stood firm. According to
\nAbubakar, it was because the house was blessed by Bung Karno's
\nspirit.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sukarno-ende-first-jakarta-next-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}