Guess What? Jusuf Ronodipuro

Guess What? Jusuf Ronodipuro

"I am not a hero, I am only a player," said Jusuf Ronodipuro.

He was referring to his role in spreading the news of the
nation's independence as the first Indonesian to broadcast the
text of Indonesia's Independence Proclamation through the
Japanese radio station Hosokyoku on the evening of Aug. 17,
1945.

Jusuf, who was born in 1919 but looked 10 years younger, was
sharing his unforgettable experience in a bimonthly coffee
meeting of employees of PT Datascript at Daichi Hotel, Central
Jakarta, recently.

Jusuf, who later became head of state-owned radio RRI, a post
which he held until 1947, said 50 years ago on Aug. 17, he and
his colleagues, including journalist/writer Mochtar Lubis, were
in the strictly-monitored radio station. They were not informed
that Indonesia had proclaimed its independence in the morning.

In the afternoon, an Indonesian man sneaked into the station
and informed them about the proclamation. They decided then to
broadcast the news from a special studio, which was used to
broadcast news abroad, but which was closed by the Japanese at
the time.

It was Jusuf who was then chosen to air the Independence
Proclamation text during the 7 p.m. news period. The Japanese,
who later found out about it, beat Jusuf and his colleagues.
Fortunately, a higher-ranking Japanese officer, who obviously had
known about the proclamation, came and let them go home, said
Jusuf, who is now head of political affairs of the National '45
Generation Council.

But he did not go home.

"That night, in my torn shirt, I couldn't go home, so I went
to the late painter Basuki Abdullah's house instead to have a
shower and a meal there," Jusuf recalled. (als)