Writer Umar Kayam dead at 69<\/p>\n
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Glaring sun could not hide the grief felt by hundreds of
\nfriends and relatives at the Karet Bivak cemetery in Central
\nJakarta who came to pay their last respects to one of the
\ncountry's most prolific writers Umar Kayam who passed away early
\non Saturday morning due to intestinal bleeding and a liver
\ndisorder.<\/p>\n
The prominent writer, novelist, columnist, academician, actor
\nand most of all, an educator, is survived by his wife Roosliana
\nHanoum, and two daughters, Sita Aripurnami and Wulan Anggraeni.<\/p>\n
Born on April 30, 1932, from a long line of teachers, he
\nstayed true to this path until his retirement from the Gadjah
\nMada University School of Letters in 1997. But even after he
\nretired, Umar could never resist the urge to debate about
\nIndonesia's education system.<\/p>\n
His impressive career included becoming head of the Jakarta
\nArts Council, Rector of the Jakarta Arts Institute (1969-1972)
\nand Director General of Radio, TV and Film (RTF) at the then
\ninformation ministry between 1966 and 1969.<\/p>\n
But the Cornell University graduate did not stay long at the
\nministry. He told The Jakarta Post in 1999, shortly after
\nrecovering from a mild stroke, that when he proposed to the
\ngovernment to model electronic media after the BBC and become
\nindependent, he was fired.<\/p>\n
He even tried a career in movies when he played Indonesia's
\nfirst president Sukarno in the 1980s' film The Treachery of the
\nIndonesian Communist Party\/September 30 Movement.<\/p>\n
His Seribu Kunang-kunang di Manhattan (A Thousand Fireflies in
\nManhattan) was named best short story by Horison cultural
\nmagazine in 1968.<\/p>\n
His other noted works include Sri Sumarah dan Bawuk (Sri
\nSumarah and Bawuk, the names of two female heroines; 1975) -- two
\nshort stories which revolve around the 1965 attempted coup
\nd'etat, its terrifying aftermath and the lives of those families
\naffected by it; academic literature Seni, Tradisi, dan Masyarakat
\n(Art, Tradition and the Community; 1981).<\/p>\n
His weekly columns from the local newspaper Kedaulatan Rakyat
\nYogyakarta were compiled into the trilogy Mangan Ora Mangan
\nKumpul (Sticking Together Through Thick and Thin), Sugih Tanpa
\nBanda (Rich without Riches), and Madhep Ngalor Sugih-Madhep
\nNgidul Sugih (Rich However You Look at It).<\/p>\n
Asked which he preferred, teaching or research, the man who
\nfelt unimpressed by much of today's literary criticism told the
\nPost that, "The one thing I like most is writing. Writing short
\nstories and novels.<\/p>\n
"I write every day, but I don't have any routine; it's
\nwhenever I choose. I'm not that kind of writer. That is the way
\nof a government worker or a bureaucrat. Writers write whenever
\nthey please."<\/p>\n
Umar's latest works include Para Priyayi (The Javanese Elite)
\nseries, of which the Jalan Menikung: Para Priyayi 2 (Crooked
\nRoad: the Elite 2) was published in 1999.<\/p>\n
He wrote all of his stories with a conventional typewriter,
\nand Umar once remarked that, "it's only a matter of (eating) with
\na spoon or with your hands, isn't it better like this (eating
\nwith the hands)".<\/p>",
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