Paul Tedja, seasoned snapper of world events

Paul Tedja, seasoned snapper of world events

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post/Bandung

One of Paul Tedja Surya's dreams at the age of 75 is to enter the
Merdeka Building on Jl. Asia Afrika, Bandung, on April 24 and
watch rows of Asian and African heads of state being photographed
at a historic event -- the golden jubilee of the first Asian-
African Conference (AAC 1).

To Paul, the nostalgic moment will enable him to reminisce
over the time that he and fellow photographers, 50 years ago,
snapped VIPs from both regions, including Indian president
Jawaharlal Nehru, Chinese premier Chou En-lai, Egyptian president
Gamal Abdel Nasser and, of course, first Indonesian president
Sukarno.

Sadly, he may be the only one to cherish the memory as some of
his peers covering the first AAC have died. "Among those assigned
to the conference were Koo Kian Giap and Johan Beng from Antara,
and AS James and Lan Ke Tung from the PAF agency," Paul told newsmen
at a display of 50 of his works opened by West Java Governor
Nu'man Abdul Hakim in the media center on Jl. Asia Afrika on
Monday.

Paul is perhaps less than familiar even to citizens of Bandung.
"Who is he?" asked a national TV journalist as several newspaper
reporters interviewed him.

Only after he was told that Paul might be the only surviving
AAC photographer did he hurriedly direct his camera toward the
slim, bespectacled, modest, yet neatly dressed elderly gentleman.

It took three weeks to arrange a special interview with the
father of two and grandfather of six, who shuns publicity.
Several initial requests, even through his closest aide, still
failed.

"I'm a nobody. It's enough to talk to Bandung's Pikiran Rakyat
(newspaper). I don't think I deserve the publicity," he said to
some of the city's more persistent journalists.

Paul's close circle later revealed that he was greatly
disappointed at the way his pictures were used during the 1955
AAC, with some retained by the West Java provincial
administration and never returned.

Consequently, Paul, whose juniors in Pikiran Rakyat call him
Oom (uncle) Paul, has since grown allergic to exposure.

Born in Surabaya, the provincial capital of East Java, on
August 19, 1930, Paul decided to move to Bandung when he was 21.
Without saying why, he claimed it was the right thing to do,
although he had to leave his job, in which he had already worked
for two years, in Surabaya's social affairs office.

In the cool West Java capital, well-known for its smooth-
skinned women, he won the heart of one. The girl, whose name he
still declines to reveal, became his faithful wife. It was
through her that Paul first became acquainted with her father,
Oom Nyoo, an employee in the provincial information office.

"I was impressed by Oom Nyoo's photography. In Surabaya, I had
been interested in my friends' snapping and film processing
work," he said.

After four years of work, Paul and his fellow freelancers in
Preanger Foto, which also served as a news agency, finally got
the opportunity to take pictures of an international event.

The first order came from Oom Nyoo to assist the West Java
provincial information office in producing a visual record of the
"Bandung Spirit" of the AAC.

"I was very enthusiastic about being entrusted with the task of
photographing top government leaders who were so famous and about
whom I had only heard over the radio," he said.

The atmosphere leading up to the arrival of the state guests
at that time, according to Paul, was almost the same as that on
the eve of the present jubilee. Three months ahead of the
meeting, the city was tidied up and sidewalks were repaired. The
Merdeka and Dwi Warna buildings (the latter on Jl. Diponegoro)
were official venues so they were cleaned and painted white,"
said Paul.

Nowadays, security is handled very differently. Paul, who also
collects stamps as a hobby, described today's security measures
as too tight. An ID card, for instance, takes almost 1.5 months
to get while it was ready within only two weeks in the past.
Local and non-Bandung residents could also stroll along at their
ease to watch the meeting and its participants.

"Road block were set up on Jl. Braga Raya Timur (now Asia
Afrika, the location of the Merdeka Building), and Jl. Naripan
only to prevent the entry of cars, motorcycles and bicycles.
Pedestrians were still allowed to watch the VIPs and their
entourages walking from the Preanger and Savoy Homann hotels to
the Merdeka Building for the conference," he added.

Commercial activities on Jl. Braga, Bandung's best-known
shopping center, continued; even the rattan furniture shop
opposite the Merdeka Building was open as usual, busily serving
delegates who bought a variety of items there.

The conference took place at two locations: the main events
were in the Merdeka Building and minor sessions were held in the
Dwi Warna Building on Jl. Diponegoro, some five kilometers from
the Merdeka Building.

Heads of state were transported in luxury Plymouth Belvedere,
Impala and Mercury sedans.

"I went to the building on my Jawa, a big 250cc motorcycle.
When I arrived at 7 a.m., hundreds of people were crowded along
Jl. Asia Afrika," he recalled. He had to carry his 18-kilogram
camera and accessories himself. A 1.5-kilogram Leica III M was
the smallest camera that could be used.

"It's difficult to be a photographer those days. Lighting is
highly dependent on the sun. Our gut feelings, assessment of
lighting conditions and the right distance were important in
taking a picture. Fortunately it was bright enough, but any
miscalculation of distance would produce an unfocused picture. So
with no zoom lenses, we had to keep adjusting the distance,
snapping with our hearts racing, wondering if the outcome would
be good or bad," said Paul laughingly.

On April 18, 1955, an hour after photographing the waiting
crowds of people, Paul, then 25, aimed his Leica -- a gift from
his prospective father-in-law -- at the delegates, who were
walking from the direction of the Preanger on the corner of Jl.
Asia Afrika-Tamblong and the Savoy Homann hotel at 8 a.m.

Police officers from all over Indonesia were in position as
the DI/TII rebellion was still going on at the outskirts of
Bandung.

President Sukarno and Vice President Mohammad Hatta arrived at
around 10 a.m. after all the state guests had entered the Merdeka
Building. They came from the Pakuan Building in a 1945 Buick. Not
all the heads of state stayed at the Homann and Preanger; some, like
Chinese prime minister Chou En-lai, preferred the Villa Merah on
Jl. Tamansari, near the campus of the Bandung Institute of
Technology.

During the opening, the radio and newspaper journalists
occupied a special balcony before the podium in the Merdeka's
assembly hall.

"As we had to observe the rules, it was very hard to take
photos of the VIPs in the room because of the long distances
involved and limited camera capacity," he said, explaining why
most of his photos were taken outside.

The ceremony ended at 1 p.m., as the sun was shifting to the
west. Paul rushed to the darkroom in his home on Jl. Naripan (now
Bank Jabar). "I had to send my pictures to Pikiran Rakyat (then
Fikiran Rakyat, the only local paper), which needed them before 4
p.m. for immediate printing," he recounted, adding that after
half an hour's processing he took the photos to the paper's
offices, only 25 meters from the Merdeka Building, captioning
them before proceeding to the Dwi Warna Building.

Paul did the same thing daily until the conference ended on
April 24, 1955. "Events in different parts of the city had to be
covered although only one picture could appear the next day owing
to limited space," he pointed out. He could not remember the fee
he received for his first photos published in the paper. His
documentation of the conference comprised about 300 negatives,
which he still keeps.

In spite of the considerable use of his photos by Pikiran
Rakyat, Paul, only officially joined the daily as a full-time
employee in 1985, 30 years after he began working for the paper.

Pikiran Rakyat later assigned him to photograph other
international meetings, such as the Asian-African Students
Congress in 1956, the Asian-African Islamic Conference in 1960,
the Asian-African Conference in 1962 and the first Asian Games in
Jakarta in 1962.

"But AAC 1 was the most impressive moment for me because it
was the first world event I covered and the conference became an
important historical milestone that inspired colonized countries
in Asia and Africa to fight for freedom," he stressed.

Paul said he felt lucky to be able to witness the gathering of
heads of state for the commemoration of the original historic
meeting.

The latest word from the local committee is that Paul will be
permitted to participate as a jubilee guest, but his involvement
will be limited to an exhibition of 30 of his 1955 photographs at
the Savoy Homann, where the heads of state and delegates will be
staying before the anniversary is commemorated.