Nyak Sandang, Donor for Indonesia's First Aircraft, Passes Away

Nyak Sandang, one of the donors who contributed to the purchase of Indonesia’s first aircraft, Seulawah R-001, has passed away at her home in Lhuet Village, Jaya Subdistrict, Aceh Jaya Regency, on Tuesday (7/4) at 12:20 WIB.

Nyak Sandang’s granddaughter, Attahilah, confirmed the sad news. The deceased passed away exactly at the age of 100 at her residence.

“It is true, the deceased passed away earlier at 12:00 WIB,” she said when contacted.

It is known that Nyak Sandang received an award from President Prabowo last year, namely the Bintang Jasa Utama, for her great service in donating land and gold for the purchase of Indonesia’s first aircraft, Seulawah RI-001, during the independence era.

At that time, Nyak Sandang was 23 years old and donated a plot of land containing 40 coconut trees, which was sold for Rp 100 perak, and a donation of 10 grams of gold in 1950.

The proceeds from the sale were given as proof of a debt statement or bond. Nyak Sandang still kept neatly the receipt of the money she gave to the Indonesian government, which stated that the donation was in the form of a debt from the Indonesian government to the people of Aceh.

The receipt contained the type of debt, amount, name of the registrant, year, and signature of the recipient. All the information was written in the old spelling. The writing is still clearly legible.

She became the first person from Aceh to prove history through that letter, that the people of Aceh did indeed contribute to the purchase of aircraft for the country through the bond she owned.

The bond letter was first known to the public in 2018, which made Nyak Sandang’s name soar.

At that time, President Jokowi directly met Nyak Sandang and granted her requests, namely cataract surgery, Umrah pilgrimage, and building a mosque in her home village. The mosque now stands firmly not far from Nyak Sandang’s house.