In memory of Sir Laurens -- A man of noble ideas

In memory of Sir Laurens -- A man of noble ideas

By Tamalia Alisjahbana

JAKARTA (JP): Sir Laurens van der Post, writer, philosopher,
spiritual adviser to Prince Charles and Margaret Thatcher and
godfather to Prince William, is primarily known for his books on
the Bushmen of Africa, as well as his advocacy of spiritual
values in an increasingly materialistic world.

What is perhaps less well-known are his years of being a
prisoner of war in Java and his later role in Indonesia's
struggles for independence.

Sir Laurens, who was born in South Africa in 1906, died on
Dec. 16. A selamatan (prayer) was held recently at his former
residence, Jl. Imam Bonjol 2 -- now the residence of the deputy
head of the mission of the British Embassy -- to commemorate the
40th day of his death.

Sir Laurens, who was an early and outspoken opponent of
apartheid, left South Africa in the 1920s. He settled in England
as a writer and dairy farmer in Gloucestershire. There he struck
up the first of his many famous friendships with John Maynerd
Keynes, Virginia Woolf and other leading Bloomsbury
personalities. Although he was successful in his works, he later
described this period of success as the unhappiest part of his
life because he was oppressed by a sense of impending doom which
later took the form of World War II.

It was during this time that Sir Laurence traveled to Japan,
where he learned Japanese and made some lasting friendships.
Later, when he enlisted in the British army and ended up as a
prisoner of war in Java, this put him in the unique position of
being one of the few prisoners of war able to speak Japanese.
That apparently helped save his life because when he walked into
a Japanese patrol in the jungle readying their guns to shoot him,
an inner voice led him to call out in the highest and politest
form of Japanese -- such as one would use in addressing the
(Japanese) Emperor -- "Excuse me gentlemen, please wait one
moment."

The startled soldiers did not shoot at him and he ascribed his
action to "that other person within". The incident was an
important step in his journey of self-discovery and his deep
interest in the intuitive and nonrational aspects of the human
psyche, which he felt modern man needed to express in order not
only to remain psychologically healthy but to survive.

All of Sir Laurens' books reflect a Jungian psychology and a
concern with the collective unconscious. "Without myth, the life
of a people lacks direction and meaning," and he felt that "the
great need of our time was to recapture our myths."

Sir Laurens' experience as a prisoner of war in Indonesia can
be read in his book The Night of the New Moon. The book was
written to explain why Sir Laurens felt that the bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary. In explaining this, he told
the story of his imprisonment in Java and the surrender of the
Japanese.

Based on his experiences in Java, he also wrote The Sower and
the Seed, which was later successfully adapted into the film
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, starring David Bowie and the
Japanese pop idol Ryuichi Sakamoto.

The Allied victory was made known to Sir Laurens in a very
stirring fashion at the end of the war. One day, he was removed
from his camp and driven out into the night without any
explanation.

He assumed that he was to be shot but instead, he was taken to
a large house with many military cars in the driveway. Inside
were the Japanese high command officials in Java, all gathered
around a table in full uniform. He was led to the table and an
adjutant arrived with wine glasses. The leading general then
raised his glass and said: "We sincerely drink to your victory."

The first Allied troops to arrive in Indonesia were British
troops, who were given the task of disarming the Japanese and
releasing the prisoners of war. The Japanese asked Sir Laurens to
accompany them in a small boat to meet the H.M.S. Cumberland
which brought in the first British troops and a number of Dutch
members of the colonial administration. The Japanese asked Sir
Laurens to try to inform the British and the Dutch of the true
situation in Indonesia.

The Netherlands Indies colonial government, which had
withdrawn to Australia at the time of the Japanese invasion, was
now broadcasting from Australia that they would soon be returning
and that they intended to hang nationalist leaders Sukarno and
Mohammad Hatta as collaborators. They had no idea of the real
situation and expected the Indonesians to greet their return with
open arms. According to Sir Laurens, "They thought Java was ready
for tourism when in fact the Indonesians had declared their
independence and did not want them back."

On the Cumberland, Sir Laurens briefed Admiral Patterson of
the nature of events in Indonesia and for a time, he and the
admiral were in charge of managing the situation in Java. Sir
Laurens was then sent on to Sri Lanka to speak to Lord
Mountbatten, who was in charge of Allied forces in Southeast Asia
and later he was sent on to Europe to speak to the British prime
minister and the Dutch cabinet.

Sir Laurens was one of the few people who strongly urged the
British to recognize Indonesian nationalist leaders and negotiate
with them. As he expressed it later, "I felt that we had all
suffered so much, having gone through years of war and surely we
deserved something better now than more fighting."

Mountbatten apparently agreed with him and he returned as
Mountbatten's special envoy, He worked tirelessly to get the
Dutch, the Indonesians and the British to sit down at a
negotiating table. He did not want to see the British drawn into
a colonial war on Holland's behalf when Britain was itself in the
process of giving India and Burma (now Myanmar) independence.

During the Battle of Surabaya, Sir Laurens was in Europe
arguing his case and he looked back with regret at a battle he
felt should never have been fought. He advocated an independent
Indonesia within a Dutch Commonwealth much like the British model
later for Malaya (now Malaysia).

For his efforts, he was ostracized by most of the Dutch
colonial administration and by many British officers, who
sympathized with the Dutch. Among the many Indonesian nationalist
leaders that he knew were Sutan Syahrir, Hatta, Sukarno, Amir
Syarifuddin, Haji Agus Salim, A.K. Gani and Maria Ulfah. Many of
these became his personal friends.

In 1994, journalist Aristides Katoppo and I went to interview
Sir Laurens in London. As we climbed the stairs to his apartment,
I mentioned that we ought to ask him to write a book about his
experiences in Indonesia during the struggle for independence
because he was in the unique position of having witnessed behind-
the-scene struggles of the Indonesians. His account would be of
great value to anyone interested in modern Indonesian history.

As Sir Laurens opened the door to us, his first words were,
"Have you ever heard of synchronicity?"

We said that we had and he then told us, "Two weeks ago I just
finished a book about my experiences in Indonesia after the
Japanese surrender. In 50 years, no Indonesian journalist has
ever asked me for an interview and now my book is ready. I have
not yet announced it when two Indonesian journalists asked me for
an interview. I consider this a good moment."

In my interview with him, what struck me most in his stories
about our leaders at that time was not only the idealism of the
young men and women who led our nation to independence, but also
their unconquerable sense of humor at a time of great stress and
danger. I have often heard that our first prime minister, Sutan
Syahrir, had a fine sense of humor but Sir Laurens was the first
person I met who actually remembered one of Syahrir's jokes.

Apparently, when Britain pulled out its troops, Syahrir held a
farewell party for them and it was a great success. He told them
that although they had met on the battlefield, the Indonesians
had found many qualities in them to respect, such as their innate
courtesy, their sense of fair play and so forth. When the Dutch
heard of this, they were furious because it was not in their
interest to see the British and the Indonesians getting on well
together.

Later, when Syahrir met Lt. Gov. Van Mook he reassured him,
"You must not be angry. I promise you, when the Dutch leave
Indonesia we will make an even bigger party. In fact we'll make
one every year!"

Another story was when A.K. Gani met the notorious Westerling,
who committed mass murder in Sulawesi. One day while Gani was in
his office, Westerling came suddenly barging in. He slammed his
fist on the table and shouted, "Do you know who I am? I am
Westerling."

Gani, a small man compared to Westerling, apparently looked up
and responded mildly, "And I am A.K. Gani ... Osterling (a pun on
Westerling's name)."

Perhaps such gallant humor is the exclusive domain of the
young and idealistic, but whatever the reason, it is sorely
missed in our present political situation. All our officials seem
to take themselves very seriously. How refreshing it would be to
have a politician who could occasionally make us laugh.

At the end of an operation, the commander in chief usually
writes a report, but Mountbatten never wrote one on Indonesia.
The only report ever written was by Sir Laurens. However, for
fear that its contents might offend the Dutch foreign office, the
British foreign office kept it closed. It is only now, 50 years
later, that this report is open to the public. It appears as
probably the most interesting item in Sir Laurens' recently
published book The Admiral's Baby.

The book will be published in Indonesia this year, both in
English and in Indonesian as a joint publication of Pustaka Sinar
Harapan and Dian Rakyat.