Bung Hatta, a paragon

Bung Hatta, a paragon

One hundred years ago to this day, a child was born in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, to a proud, Muslim intellectual father, Muhammad Djamil, and a modernist, business-minded mother, Saleha. He was named Hatta, and later known as Mohammad Hatta, or the more popular Bung Hatta.

He was more than just the first vice president of the Republic of Indonesia. Together with Sukarno, the first president, Bung Hatta was the embodiment of the whole independence movement that on Aug. 17, 1945, proclaimed the independence of a huge and diverse country named Indonesia.

He passed away on March 14, 1980 and was buried in a relatively simple, public cemetery on the outskirts of Jakarta, far away from the renowned National Heroes Cemetery.

Bung Hatta started his political career at the age of 20 by joining the Indonesische Vereniging (Indonesian Society) which later became Perhimpunan Indonesia (Indonesian Association) while studying at the Trade University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. During those student years in Europe, he simultaneously refined his writing skills by joining the editorial board of Indonesia Merdeka (Free Indonesia), which published political articles promoting a Free Indonesia.

Unlike Bung Karno, he was not an inspiring or provoking political orator who could arouse mass audiences. He was more of a shy and gentle person, but highly disciplined. Bung Hatta was, however, undeniably a young activist who wholeheartedly committed himself to an independent Indonesia. He swore he would not marry until Indonesia proclaimed its independence. In fact he was 43 years old when he married Rahmi in Megamendung, West Java, on Nov. 18, 1945, exactly three months after he was elected as the first vice president of the young republic.

For many of Indonesia's later generations, he is probably better known as the father of the Indonesian cooperative movement. Indeed, during his student years in Europe, he spent some time in Scandinavian countries to learn more about cooperatives. He wrote many articles about the movement and what it could do for the development of Indonesia. He was instrumental in the formulation of the Indonesian 1945 Constitution which includes articles on the basic philosophy of an economy where cooperatives were the most ideal way to improve people's welfare.

However, Bung Hatta was more than just the father of cooperatives. He was probably the epitome of Indonesian democracy who truly believed in the delicate, balanced combination of people's sovereignty and people's welfare. His writings -- he probably wrote much more than anybody else in Indonesian history -- clearly proved that.

Unfortunately, he fell victim to his most favorite quote from a Schiller poem: Eine grosse Epoche hat das Jahrhundert geboren. Aber der grosse Moment findet ein kleines Geschlecht. (A great era is born by the century. A great moment, however, finds only petty persons).

One could ask many hypothetical questions about Bung Hatta. What would have happened to Indonesia if he had not insisted on the removal of the seven words concerning sharia from the 1945 Constitution? What would have happened if he stood up to and challenged Bung Karno publicly when the first president issued a decree on July 5, 1959 that started the era of authoritarianism -- which was later developed into a much more sophisticated version by Soeharto -- in Indonesia? What would have been his reaction to the Indonesian military's statement referring to the possibility of reviving Bung Karno's 1959 decree just before the beginning of this latest People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)? Could he have survived the kleines Geschlect of current Indonesian legislators wasting people's money for narrow political interests?

Bung Hatta is a paragon in Indonesian history. His only mistake probably was his early withdrawal from the arena. Otherwise he would probably have been capable of showing to Indonesia's current self-proclaimed politicians that politics as an art of the possible should not be too distinctly differentiated from the art of upholding principles.