Biography of human rights champion Siauw launched

JAKARTA (JP): A biography of former minister and pioneer of nation building -- the late Siauw Giok Tjhan -- was launched on Wednesday, following a discussion on the book at the National Library building in Central Jakarta.

Siauw Giok Tjhan -- The Struggle of a Patriot to Build the Indonesian Nation and a Plural Society was written by Siauw's youngest son Siauw Tiong Djin.

Siauw was State Minister for Ethnic Minority Affairs in 1947, and a champion for equality for Indonesian nationals, regardless of their origin.

He was imprisoned for 12 years without trial by former president Soeharto's New Order government for allegedly siding with the communists in the wake of the abortive coup by the Indonesian Communist Party in September 1965.

The organization which Siauw chaired, Baperki, was also banned.

Siauw was released in 1978 and, with the help of then Vice President Adam Malik, was allowed to undergo medical treatment in the Netherlands. He died of a heart attack in 1981, at the age of 67.

"Although Siauw was a socialist, he was never a communist and he befriended a lot of Indonesian politicians and freedom fighters from various political parties and backgrounds," said his biographer son.

Speakers at the book launch -- Karlina Leksono Supelli, Ferry Sonneville, Mohammad Sobary and publisher Hasyim Rachman -- said Siauw Giok Tjhan played an important part in shaping the modern Indonesian nation, but that his role had been neglected by the Soeharto administration.

They said his "nation building and antiracism concepts are important in a pluralistic country such as Indonesia, especially now that ethnic fighting and racial violence prevails in the country". (ego)