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)