Obituary

Obituary

Gen. (ret) Yoga Sugama, the former head of the State Intelligence
Coordinating Board (Bakin), died on Wednesday at Pondok Indah
Hospital of complications from a number of illnesses. He was 78.

He was buried at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in South Jakarta
later in the day in a military ceremony.

The ceremony for Yoga was presided over by former vice
president Try Sutrisno and was attended by a number of government
officials, including the head of the National Intelligence Agency
AM Hendropriyono.

"We have lost someone who always stuck to his principles," Try
said of Yoga, adding that he was one of the country's best
citizens.

Yoga, who was born in the Central Java town of Tegal on May
12, 1925, worked as a translator for Allied troops serving in the
Criminal Investigations Division following World War II.

During the independence fight against the Dutch, he joined the
struggle as the first assistant to the Banyumas Military
Territorial Staff commander in Central Java between 1948 and
1949.

He continued his military career as the first assistant to the
Gunungjati Brigade commander (1949-1950) and the first assistant
to the Diponegoro Military commander overseeing Central Java
(1955-1959).

Between 1962 and 1965, Yoga served as a military attache at
the Indonesian Embassy in Yugoslavia. He was called back by Army
Headquarters during the political upheaval in 1965 to serve in
the Strategic Army Reserves Command (Kostrad), which was then
headed by Soeharto, who later became president.

Yoga served as the chief of Bakin between 1968 and 1969. His
position was crucial during a period marked by communist purges
by the military.

Yoga underwent another overseas stint as the deputy permanent
representative to the United Nations between 1971 and 1974.

He again served as Bakin chief between 1974 and 1989, and was
also appointed chief of staff of the Operational Command for the
Restoration of Security and Order under president Soeharto in
1978.

His education included studying at the Military Academy in
Tokyo between 1942 and 1945, an intelligence course in England
between 1949 and 1950, and stints at the Army Staff and Command
School between 1954 and 1955 and again from 1961 to 1962.

His service to the country earned him a number of medals and
honors, including the Adiprana Bintang Gerilya, Satya Lencana
Sapta Marga and five medals from foreign countries.

He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the Chinese
University in Taiwan.

Yoga was also a sports enthusiast. He was proficient in the
Korean martial art of tae kwon do and an avid golfer. He is
survived by a wife and eight children.