Hundreds see Yun Hap to his final resting place

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of students, activists and relatives attended the burial of University of Indonesia student Yap Yun Hap at Pondok Ranggon Cemetery in Cibubur, East Jakarta, at noon on Sunday.

Cars, buses and motorcycles in a funeral procession stretching about one kilometer escorted the ambulance carrying the body of the 22-year-old student, who was shot on Friday night in the final hours of the two days of street battles between protesters and troops.

The third-year student in the Department of Electrical Engineering of the School of Technology was one of six people shot dead during mass street protests against the state security bill on the city's main thoroughfare of Jl. Sudirman.

Burials of the others who died have not attracted as much media and public interest.

Yun Hap's journey to his final resting place started at Abadi Chinese funeral home on Jl. Daan Mogot in West Jakarta. In Grogol, toll gate operators and security personnel waived payment for the funeral procession, including motorbikes.

Toll road rules restrict their use to vehicles with at least four wheels.

Other motorists on the toll road raised clenched fists as the ambulance passed by.

Antara reported that a number of police officers at Semanggi cloverleaf and some deployed at points along the toll road from Grogol to Cibubur saluted the convoy.

Yun Hap was dressed for burial in his university's yellow jacket.

The spirit of reform continued amid the grief, with banners around the cemetery demanding an end to violence by the military.

After the burial, a student speaking on behalf of her colleagues stood before Yun Hap's grave and said: "Our struggle does not end here ... never quit fighting as long as justice is on our side."

Some of Yun Hap's fellow students placed their university's flag on the grave as they sang their school's marching song.

A white cloth also was laid on the grave with the message: "Thank You, Yun!"

Universities, non-governmental organizations and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) were among those who sent delegations and wreaths.

Hundreds of students from other universities, wearing their respective institutions' jackets, and members of other student organizations also were present.

Other mourners included the general secretary of the National Mandate Party (PAN), Faisal Basri, and political observer Hermawan Sulistyo, who witnessed the shooting of Yun Hap.

Askar Triwiyanto, chairman of the University of Indonesia's School of Technology student senate, vowed to continue Yun Hap's struggle.

"We believe that change can only come from below, from the people and not from the politicians," Asker told a media briefing in the cemetery's parking lot.

Yun Hap's father Yap Pit Sing is an employee of a paint store on Jl. Gajah Mada in West Jakarta and his mother Ho Kim Ngo is a housewife. Yun Hap was the eldest of three children.

"I saw him for the last time on Thursday morning before he left for his campus," Pit Sing said.

Yun Hap called his father twice on Thursday to tell him he was unhurt during the rallies, in which thousands of students and members of the public took to the streets to protest the state security bill approved the same day by the House of Representatives.

The protest escalated into a clash between demonstrators and security personnel.

Yun Hap returned to his home in Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta, on Friday to eat lunch. He met his mother and called his father before returning to campus.

Pit Sing thought his son was back in class. He did not know that Yun Hap and 40 other students from the university took a train to Atma Jaya University to support the protesters.

Pit Sing said he never imagined that his son would be shot while eating dinner on the sidewalk on Jl. Sudirman.

"On Friday night his friends said that he was dead and I'd never see him again."

He said he tried to stop Yun Hap -- who he described as stubborn but clever -- from participating in street rallies because he feared he would be harmed.

"I always told him to stay away from the rallies but he always argued that he had to fight for the good of the people because his school fee (at the state university) was paid by the people."

"I put a sign on his room saying that 'even a bird remembers its nest' to remind him to come home," he said with tears rolling down his cheek.

"But I'm proud of him." (03/04/bsr)