Herb Feith, the 'Gandhi' who enriched others' lives

Dewi Anggraeni, Journalist, Novelist, Jakarta

Goenawan Mohamad the writer referred to him as a modern saint. Others called him an optimist in the best possible way. Nobody, in my years of consciousness -- and there have been many -- has ever attached any nasty attributes to him.

Herb Feith was a rare human being. Rare in the 'exemplary' sense. Except when I thought, and think, of Herb, I do not believe that people actually would and could, do everything they preach.

There again, was another unique quality of Herb's. He had so much to preach, yet he never did. Not verbally. He showed by example. And everyone noticed, though very few achieved the high standard he set.

There was no doubt his expressed or implied teachings were received, because in Herb's presence most people would try to "behave", that is, not to come across as extravagant and wasteful, not to be caught bad-mouthing other people; instead, strive to be modest, oozing of goodwill, and think before uttering anything meaningless.

People he taught have become noted academics throughout the world, yet Herb remained incredibly humble and down-to-earth. When a well known political observer or social scientist had been on the news, he rarely made a point of mentioning that the person had once been his student, except in a private conversation, and necessarily in context. However, his students were always proud to claim having had Herb as their teacher.

During the last moments of his 71 years Herb often had an aura of urgency about him. He attended talks, discussion groups, spoke at seminars, and was always alert at any political developments in any part of the world.

For this he had to travel many miles, and in Melbourne, he did most of the travels by riding his push-bike. Though he did not proclaim it, his friends understood that it was not only his adherence to a simple life that made him avoid driving a car, but because the bicyle was the least environmentally-polluting means of transport. For Herb was, a true environmentalist as well.

Interviewing Herb was an experience of its kind. He was very careful in choosing his words, because while wanting to make sure the words represented correctly what he meant, he was also mindful of how certain words could be interpreted by particular groups in society. Herb was no temperamental, self-centerd public personality, who would claim of being unfazed by hostile reactions of people offended by certain expression he or she used. Herb knew that offending people unnecessarily would only reduce the intended meaning contained in the words he used.

Listening to, and seeing how Herb presented his talk in a seminar was also a lesson for those who cared to learn from it. He would present his paper in a definite manner, his voice and body language almost ringing with authority, for he had no doubt thought and considered each word with care, and the whole presentation usually was hard-hitting and thought-provoking.

He was nonetheless, more hesitant when answering questions afterwards. He would listen carefully to the question, try to make out whether it was loaded, then answer accordingly.

In a seminar several months after Abdurrahman Wahid became president, in a university in Melbourne, Herb was asked whether Aburrahman was the right choice, and whether he was really capable of bringing in reform to Indonesia, Herb took nearly three minutes to answer the question. And in a typical Herb style, he made the person think again about what was actually meant by "the right choice" and "being capable".

Senior journalist Fikri Jufri described him as "our Gandhi", for the thrifty manner in which he lived. He kept his needs very small, never wasting anything. Curiously, had he been just a little more wasteful, he would have been driving a car on that afternoon, and would have stopped at the boom-gate, and might still be alive.

Herb Feith has lived a full life, and was extremely generous to everyone around him. In fact, those whose life he touched feel that much richer, and will never forget the valuable lessons they have received.