Politician and publisher Soegeng given a hero's burial
Politician and publisher Soegeng given a hero's burial
JAKARTA (JP): The late Soegeng Widjaja, a retired Army brigadier general who went on to become a politician and newspaper publisher, was given a military burial at the Kalibata heroes' cemetery in South Jakarta yesterday afternoon.
Soegeng, whose was a member of the House of Representatives and the chief editor and publisher of the Army's Berita Yudha newspaper and chairman of the association of newspaper publishers, died at his Jakarta home on Friday night.
According to relatives, Soegeng collapsed after complaining of a headache. He was hosting a post-Idul Fitri gathering with his family at his residence in Cipinang, East Jakarta.
Soegeng is survived by his wife, Sri Kasiani, nine children and seven grandchildren. He was 67 years old.
Yesterday morning, his body lay in state at the House of Representatives building to allow his colleagues in the House to pay their last respects. From there, the body was driven to Kalibata for the burial.
Soegeng served in the House from 1982 representing Golkar, the ruling faction.
He was active in the House to the last day of his life, a day which his colleagues are sure to remember for a long time.
On Friday morning, he stole the limelight during a hearing between the House's Commission I, to which he belonged, and senior officials of the Ministry of Defense and Security.
During the hearing, Soegeng made an impassioned plea for the government to pay greater attention to the fate of military veterans.
He was particularly critical of the recent report that dozens of veterans had been forced to leave their homes to make way for a golf course in south Jakarta. The veterans concerned were members of a militia unit that took part in the independence struggle in the late 1940s.
Soegeng called for a review of the 1967 law on veterans, especially as pertaining to their financial circumstances, to enable former servicemen to lead a decent life.
As chief editor of Berita Yudha, Soegeng chaired the Association of Indonesian Journalists (PWI) between 1989 and 1994.
Born in Malang, East Java, on Oct. 23, 1928, Soegeng joined the Japanese-founded PETA militia in 1943. The militia was later one of the forces that led the independence struggle against the Dutch, who tried to reimpose their rule after the war.
After independence, Soegeng opted for a military career. He took part in the operations to quash, first a communist rebellion, in 1948, and then a rebellion by separatist Permesta in North Sulawesi, in the late 1950s.
His last position before retiring from active service in 1982 was as director of the Armed Forces' Center for Mental Guidance.
Soegeng received the Guerrilla Star, Kartika Eka Paksi from the military and the Yudha Dharma Nararya from the government for, respectively, meritorious service and dedication to the nation. (rms)