Hatta: A quiet thinker with bright ideas

Hatta: A quiet thinker with bright ideas

By T. Sima Gunawan

JAKARTA (JP): There was a contrast between Indonesia's two founding fathers, president Sukarno and vice president Mohammad Hatta. Sukarno was a remarkable orator who could keep the audience in a trance with his compelling and passionate speeches. Hatta, though, was a quiet person who talked more through his eyes.

"Father did not talk much. He was a thinker," Hatta's second daughter, Gemala Hatta, said Tuesday at a gathering in remembrance of her father, who died on March 14, 1980 at the age of 78.

As a father, Hatta never forced his children to do anything. He saved his breath and just did what he wanted his children to do, setting the example instead of giving instructions.

"That was what I liked best in father," Gemala, a medical record administrator, said.

Sukarno and Hatta seemed to be inseparable as they worked shoulder to shoulder to face the Dutch colonial government and build the nation. Dwitunggal, or two in one, was the word people used to describe how good the team was. Sukarno and Hatta were the ones who signed the proclamation text of Indonesian independence, which was read out loudly by Sukarno on Aug. 17, 1945.

Hatta was strongly disciplined, one who was consistent with his principles of life and never stepped out of the line.

He is one of the few Indonesians to resign from a top administration position -- a courageous thing which is unlikely to occur in Indonesia's political arena today.

In his 1956 letter of resignation, Hatta said it was time he quit because the House of Representatives and the Constituency had been set up. This, however, was not the real reason for his resignation.

Political analyst Deliar Noer, the author of Mohammad Hatta's political biography, said Hatta decided to quit because the position of vice president didn't give him the authority to curb irregularities in government, such as rife corruption. Hatta was upset because he did not have the power to challenge the disorder.

The anguish was added to by Hatta's aversion to Sukarno's private life: his polygamy.

Apart from that, he also disagreed with some of Sukarno's ideas, such as the dismissal of some high-level officials which was carried out without consulting him.

Hatta was not a "'yes man" following wherever the leader went. A man with firm principles, he preferred to give up his position in the government rather than betraying his own faith.

"I know that many people felt sorry about the resignation. But, my father was not a person who was crazy about positions. He gave his opinions but they (Sukarno and his other aides) would not listen. He therefore preferred to be a layman," Gemala explained.

Commenting on the resignation, Sukarno's eldest son Guntur Sukarno said that Hatta's decision reflected his wisdom as a leader.

"How can an airplane land safely in an emergency if the pilot and the copilot as well as the passengers argue about where to land?" Guntur asked.

"It would be better if the plane didn't have a copilot and the passengers fasten their seat belts," he concluded.

He did not meet Hatta very often, but as Guntur grew up and learned of Hatta's ideas, he felt close to him.

"Basically, the essence of his ideas and philosophy did not differ much (from Sukarno's)," he said.

Guntur said he admired Hatta because he was not only a political and economics thinker, but also a wise statesman.

Despite his resignation, the two families maintained good relations. Guntur and his wife were among dozens of guests of Tuesday's gathering in memory of Hatta, which was held at Rahmi Hatta's house.

A religious ritual was performed at the beginning of the gathering, while later in the evening a documentary film produced by Hatta's foster son, Des Alwi, was shown.

Islam influenced Hatta strongly. He was raised in a devout Moslem family and educated in the Netherlands. Even though Islam is the majority religion in Indonesia, Hatta fully respected other religions. He took the initiative to shorten the first principle of the state ideology Pancasila when some Christians objected to it, according to Deliar Noor.

Pancasila, introduced by Sukarno on June 1, 1945, has five principles: Believe in God, Humanity, Unity, Democracy and Social Justice.

The original wording of the first principle was: "Believe in God with the obligation to the Moslem congregation to perform Islamic worship."

A brilliant scholar, Hatta introduced many ideas for the betterment of Indonesians, like the establishment of cooperatives. Hatta believed this would not only improve the economic life of villagers and avoid capitalism, but also speed up the process of democracy.

Hatta was later given the title Indonesia's Father of Cooperatives.

Not all of his ideas, however, could be realized. Deliar Noor said that Hatta had underlined the need to abolish the right of political parties' executive board to recall members in the House of Representatives. He said such a right was only suitable for communist and fascist states. Fifteen years after his death, there has been no change.

"It's tragic Hatta was not able to implement his good ideas. But father had given all he could give," Gemala said.

"Father served the country and its people as he considered it God's word," she added.

Even in his golden days, Hatta was never an ivory tower. He was down-to-earth who was very close to the people, related his eldest daughter Meutia Hatta.

"When we were very young, my father always took us for a walk in tea plantations on the mountain. He made me close to (common) people and I think that is why I did not have any problem at all being a (social) researcher," Meutia said.

She always remembers with pride her father's honesty.

"Father was really honest. What he said is what he did," she explained.

Hatta was more than honest. "He was a very civilized person," recalled his youngest daughter Halida Jusuf-Hatta, a social research officer at the public affairs department of a foreign oil firm.

"He was a man who had control of himself. When he was angry, he never yelled," Halida said, adding that his father was very patient and not prejudice in any way.

Hatta, who was very careful in his choice of words, both spoken an written, and mastered Dutch, French, Germany, English and Latin.

"Father learned French when he was in the fifth grade of elementary school. It was the foreign language he spoke first when he was in Europe," said Halida.

Hatta spoke French when his ship stopped in Marseille on the way to the Netherlands, where he pursued his education.

In his leisure time, Hatta listened to classical music and read good books. Mozart was his favorite. He told jokes sometimes.

"Even though father was quite, he was not a cold man. He was warm and he had a good sense of humor," Halida said.