Novel tells tale of Jakarta's May riots

Novel tells tale of Jakarta's May riots

The Pathfinder of Love; By Richard Oh; Gamelan Press, Jakarta,
1999; 160 pages

JAKARTA (JP): The wounds caused by the economic crisis have
yet to heal, but we already have the first novel set against the
crisis to be written by an Indonesian in English.

The Pathfinders of Love is a tender tale by Richard Ho set in
the aftermath of the May 1998 riots in Jakarta. Even though it is
not a fabulous book, because it is so full of familiar facts and
faces it is interesting to read.

There is LeeAng, or uncle Ang, the head of the giant
GrupAstrix business group, who emigrated from a small province in
Guangzhou. While still in his teens, he helped his uncle
establish the family as dominant players in the commodity trade.
Eventually the shrewd and big-hearted LeeAng branches out into
property development and telecommunications. He builds his wealth
not at the expense of indigenous Indonesians, but through his
perseverance and thrift, and above all because of his close ties
with farmers.

His daughter MayLin, who chooses to educate herself locally,
is determined to bring to the public's notice all the charitable
work done by Chinese-Indonesians. She is greatly troubled by the
absence of ethnic Chinese in running the day-to-day affairs of
the country.

She feels her family shies away from speaking out not due to a
lack of a conscience, but from fear of being exposed and
misunderstood by the public.

MayLin's friend and colleague is Rafida, an ardent social
worker who often wonders in her most vulnerable moments why she
weeps and wastes sleep over raped Chinese women instead of doing
something about the illiterate indigenous children she sees on
the streets of Jakarta.

The pages of this book crawl with strange men in beards and
white flowing tunics, their heads wrapped in elaborate white
turbans, who shadow the pious Rizal everywhere, like ominous
bearers of ill tidings. Sheryl is also there from a foreign land
and culture, yet she proves to be the soul mate of Jailudin, the
book's protagonist.

The most interesting parts of the narration are those which
describe how the lives of the common people are disturbed and
destroyed by a handful of mercenaries who think nothing of
starting a religious riot, creating terror and causing death at
fairs and festivals where innocent people have gathered to
celebrate life.

Through Syafudin, the cigar-chewing, crazy-about-golf, retired
soldier, the reader is introduced to the way the military
hierarchy operates.

Syafudin leads readers by the hand deep into the bowels of the
Indonesian Military Headquarters, where they encounter an
overwhelming bureaucracy and a labyrinth of dark places teeming
with, "riffraff, hustlers, crooks and go-betweens, plying the
offices for the prized rubber-stamp, for a permit or for the
precious letter of recommendation that would open up doors to the
corridors of ingratiating power and fortune".

It is here that Syafudin, the career soldier, meets a young
cadet who accidentally helps him discover the whereabouts of the
missing Jailudin. "He had seen droves of these young men, mostly
peasant boys fresh out of high school paying their way into the
armed forces and then later paying their way up into the ranks.
They found refuge in the institution, took pride in the spanking
uniforms, the rigmarole of the routine, the fear they inspired on
common people, and the potent power in their command. All the
wrong reasons, Syafudin thought, to be recruited into the ranks
of offices."

Despite some jarring use of the English language and poor
editing, the book is precious for being timely and also for
making deafeningly clear that Indonesia is home to a plethora of
people, from ethnic Chinese to pribumi (natives), Muslims and
Christians, tycoons and tribespeople, of every hue and color. And
no one dare say to any of them that Indonesia is not their home.

-- Mehru Jaffer