'Hatta's positive legacy should be revived'

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After decades of living under and watching overindulgent and untrustworthy politicians, Indonesians seem to have forgotten that they once had a true gentleman leading this country.

The gentleman, who had indisputable integrity, was Mohammad Hatta, or Bung Hatta, who passed away on March 14, 1980.

When his political rift with Sukarno became more intense, he decided in 1957 to relinquish peacefully his position as vice president after 12 years of service to the country.

Politicians these days would have concocted a plan to overthrow their political rival instead of walking out as a gentleman.

"We don't want people to forget that Bung Hatta was also a founding father of the nation. We want to promote his legacy of good values to present generations," Asbon Budinan Haza, a chairman of Indonesian Artists Cooperative, said on Monday.

Asbon's cooperative initiated a stage performance in which prominent figures from Governor Sutiyoso to veteran journalist Rosihan Anwar recited poems and gave speeches.

"We are not forming a 'Hatta cult' here. We just want to revive his ideas and virtues, like his integrity with respect to people," Asbon added. "Besides, Hatta is the father of Indonesian cooperatives, so it is as a cooperative that we want to honor him."

In a five-minute speech, Rosihan told the audience that Hatta was a man of his word.

"When he was a university student in the Netherlands he always told his Indonesian compatriots not to drink alcohol and never to fool around with girls," Rosihan said.

"One day his friends tried to test him by asking a beautiful Polish student to have a date with him," he added.

The student reported the next day that nothing happened during the date, he added.

"That was Hatta. He did what he said," said Rosihan.

Afterwards, Sutiyoso took the stage and recited, in his words, "the shortest poem about Hatta that I could find."

Besides Rosihan and Sutiyoso, prominent figures like Hatta's daughter State Minister for Women's Empowerment Meutia Farida Hatta Swasono, veteran lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution, writer Remy Silado, and actor Deddy Mizwar took turns on the stage to recite poems and give short speeches.

The artist cooperative will also organize a poetry-reading contest for members of cooperatives in greater Jakarta.