Keeping a collection of rare and banned books

Keeping a collection of rare and banned books

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post/Surabaya

The dimness inside the Room of Rarities at the library of
Surabaya's Medayu Agung Foundation gives way to brightness when
Oei Hiem Hwie enters the room and turns on the main lights.

Rows of neatly arranged books can be seen through the glass
doors of a wooden cabinet ornamented with Jepara carving. "You
will soon find out why this room is called the Hall of Rare
Collection," Oei told The Jakarta Post

Slowly, the 65-year-old, better known as Om Hwie (Uncle Hwie),
opened one of the glass doors to retrieve a book. "This is our
most valuable book," he said, pointing to a 1938 book titled
Geschiedenis van Nederlandsch.

With a brick-red cover, this 1,000-page book, which relates
the history of Indonesia as viewed through the eyes of the Dutch
government, was printed in five editions.

The Medayu Agung library possesses the original copies of the
first four editions plus one photocopy of the book's fifth
edition. "This is the source of Indonesian history and was owned
only by a select group. The Dutch government printed a relatively
small number of copies for those stationed in Indonesia," he
said.

When the copies of the fifth edition were going to be taken to
Indonesia, he said, the vessel carrying them was bombed by Japan.
Most of the books on board the vessel were destroyed.

"Pramoedya Ananta Toer happened to possess a copy of this
fifth edition and he has given me the photocopied version of the
book," he said.

Oei Him Hwie is one of the few Indonesians who are deeply
committed to books. Born in Malang, East Java, 65 years ago, Oei
now has in his collection some 8,000 titles plus newspaper
clippings, magazines and tabloids. "I find it difficult to keep
these books. Luckily my family does not complain to me although
they have to sleep on piles of books," he observed.

Exiled to Buru island

In mid-1950 Oei, who showed a great interest in journalism,
joined Pro Patria Jogjakarta and Sumber Pengetahuan (Bandung) to
study journalism. A year later he joined Usaha Modern, a
journalistic training institution in Surabaya.

"I'd made up my mind to become a journalist and it so happened
that Terompet Masyarakat daily recruited me to work as the
newspaper's reporter in Malang," he reminisced. He found this
environment allowed him to practice his idealism through his
work. "I found the newspaper suited to me, especially because its
motto was "Defending the Small People to Make Them Free from Any
Influences," he said.

As his career as a journalist developed, Oei began to collect
political books that interested him as a reporter. He also
started to collect newspaper clippings. "My grandfather and dad
were also fond of reading. They gave me all their books, about
2,000 in all, as they knew I wanted to start my own library," he
said.

His hopes of having his own library were dashed when the
bloody tragedy, usually referred to as the September 30 Movement,
took place in 1965.

Oei Him Hwie was then secretary of the Consultative Body for
Indonesian Citizens (Baperki), an organization considered to be
linked to the Indonesian Communist Party, which allegedly
masterminded the September 30 Movement.

The house of Oei's parents in Malang was raided by locals and
security officials.

Thousands of books that Oei had collected were either
confiscated or set alight. "Luckily, some could be hidden below
the roof, in the cellar and also in several other places," he
said.

Oei was arrested and imprisoned for 13 years, although he was
never brought before a court. He was jailed and held in six
places: Batu and Lowokwaru (Malang), Kaliasin and Koblen
(Surabaya), on Nusakambangan island and then on Buru island," he
said.

While exiled on Buru island, Oei became acquainted with the
great writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer. "It was I that took home
three bundles of Pram's manuscripts, which were written on rough
paper usually used for bagging cement, and were later known as
his Bumi Manusia (Earth of Mankind) tetralogy," said Oei, who was
freed in 1978.

Developing a library

A free man once more, Oei began to build his library. He
collected all the books that had been "saved" when his house was
raided. "Unfortunately, several good books, such as those on the
attempts on Bung Karno's life in Cikini or during the Idul Adha
observance, the Maukar Incident, the DI/TII rebellion, the Alan
Pope incident (which involved a U.S. citizen alleged to have
abetted rebels) were all burned to ashes," said Oei.

He was lucky, however, as the owner of Sariagung and Gunung
Agung bookshops, Haji Masagung, asked him to be his private
secretary. Masagung allowed him to take one book for free from
his bookshops every now and then.

"I was able to collect close to 7,000 books and clippings
during the period when I was Haji Masagung's private secretary,"
he said.

These books became the backbone of the library managed by the
Foundation of Medayu Agung Surabaya in South Surabaya. The
foundation was set up by seven intellectuals, including economist
Krenayana Yahya and sociologist Dede Oetomo.

The seven founders also made available some Rp 600 million for
the establishment of the library, which has three halls: the
special and rare collections and literature.

The library has in its collection books on former president
Sukarno, works by Pramoedya Ananta Toer and writings about the
assimilation process of Indonesian citizens of Chinese origin in
Indonesia. "Most have been banned by the government," he said.

The collection also includes ancient books published in 1800
to 1900 in foreign languages, such as the original copy of Adolf
Hitler's Mein Kampf, Raffles' The Histories of Java and Officieel
Gedenboek, which was published during the reign of Queen
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.

In the library's guest book you can find many famous names
like Daniel S. Lev of Washington University, Benedict Anderson
and the Singaporean chairman of the international committee on
the commemoration of the 600th anniversary of Zeng He's Voyage.

"I feel a little embarrassed as many famous people have come
here, yet I don't think my collection is large enough," he said,
modestly.

Unfortunately for Oei, the funds to run the library have been
declining. In fact, to keep the library running, funds will be
needed to pay six employees to take care of the books and the
print media publications in the collection.

"Many professors and PhDs have made use of this library free
of charge, but to be honest, we are running out of money to take
care of its thousands of books," he lamented.