Pramoedya cherishes the simple life

By I. Christianto

JAKARTA (JP): To be a modest farmer in a rural area where life is far from being hectic has been a dream for the country's most internationally acclaimed writer, Pramoedya Ananta Toer. He has been cultivating another suited field, harvesting valuable reading material, which is edible for his fans and culture.

"As a child, I wanted to be a farmer, a modest one, perhaps owning a tractor. But this is my life now, living in a hectic situation in the capital. I can't write in this kind of situation. Everywhere I turn in my house, I just see the roof and walls. I plan to go to a rural area in Bojong Gede, where I have a secluded piece of property. I can enjoy the river and woods there. Perhaps I can write there," said the 75-year-old writer.

Pramoedya has been writing since he was a young child at elementary school. He said his father was a stern, tough man who was frequently undermining and humiliating him.

"I grew up lacking in confidence and it took me ten years to complete elementary school. I wrote as a way to get through it. I continued to feel the same, lacking confidence, until I was 20, particularly when I met friends who achieved higher education or spoke many foreign languages."

He recalls that he gained confidence when he met a Dutch girl who liked him.

"I wondered about that to myself when suddenly I gained confidence. This happened while I was in the Netherlands where I had a Dutch girlfriend. The Dutch were usually superior to most Indonesians at that time, but for me, I could sleep with a Dutch woman. It was just sex. I did not know what love was, until now. On my return to Indonesia, I began speaking at seminars."

Then he continued writing, but he never thought about it commercially.

He said between 1942 and 1945 during the Japanese occupation, no publishers were interested in publishing his writing, including the poems, short stories or romance stories.

"My first published work was Kerandji Bekasi in 1947. When I was jailed during the Dutch's first aggression in Indonesia, I also wrote. There was a library at the jail and everyone in hard labor got paid, so I could buy books. During the New Order regime under former president Soeharto, a prisoner would be found dead during the day after he was caught reading a piece of newspaper."

Pramoedya spent 17 years in jail. In the last 10 years before his release in 1979, he was exiled to Buru island after he was accused of communism. He wrote about the prison and prisoners in the Buru tetralogy, which comprises This Earth of Mankind, House of Glass, Foot Steps and Child of All Nations. He also wrote various fiction and nonfiction work, including The Mute's Soliloquy and the Chronicle of the Indonesian Revolution.

"Some 30 titles have been published. The books have also been translated into some 30 languages, including Chinese, Turkish, Spanish, French and Vietnamese."

When Soeharto was in power, all his books were banned, and the ban remains in effect until today.

Pramoedya said he does not have any hope or trust for the current government under President Abdurrahman Wahid.

"Indonesia will remain like this just like hundreds of years ago. The country never tries to value its culture. The intellectuals only lay down and live in hypocrisy. They live against their own inner voices. The era of Soeharto, Habibie and Abdurrahman have the same military, police and bureaucracy; the New Order system."

He said during the New Order regime, he earned a living by receiving income from abroad.

"It's strange, isn't it? As an Indonesian, I couldn't live in my own country. But life is somehow better now. Hasta Mitra, a publishing firm, has started to republish my books. I will receive my honorarium once the books are published."

He said the ban on his books was just the same as piracy. Pramoedya's pirated books are easily found with street vendors in Senen, Central Jakarta.

"Piracy is a crime and must be handled by the police. Although I didn't have any idea that my books were being pirated, I think those who are pirating them are just the same as those who banned my books. The ban was an attempt to cut my life as I only write to live," he said.

"It's weird that although the ban still exists my books are on the street. This reflects on the government. The government does not have any character. It's robbery, just like the Army soldiers who burned my documents when they annexed my house in Rawamangun or the soldier who wrecked my hearing."

He said when his house was set on fire, he lost everything: his childhood pictures, books, documents and other antiques from the last century. "I wondered how they could do that. Fortunately, they did not have any time to read my diary," he joked.

The house in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, was seized in 1965 by the Army. Although he holds legal documents to it, his family has always failed to get the house back in court.

Prize

Pramoedya has received various international awards. Five years ago he was awarded the Magsaysay award. In September this year, he will receive a prize at the ceremony of the 11th Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize. He has also been nominated as a Nobel laureate.

"I do not have any ambition to be a Nobel winner or to win any other awards. I just work and work. This includes writing or doing physical exercise, like gardening or burning my neighbors' waste."

This year, he plans to publish his correspondence with his friend, the late professor Wertheim, and his columns in Lentera -- a supplement in the defunct Bintang Timur newspaper during 1962 and 1965. He said the Cornell University would help him with the documents as he was unable to get them domestically.

"I still have a lot of other texts and documents. I have to select them one by one to be published. My consideration is for cultural improvement. Some of them are old letters or dairies when I was very productive. I wrote so much after my release from Buru. But now I have not begun to write again. I just do some clippings and documentation."

When he does write, he finishes without making any corrections.

"I never rewrite anything I have written. My same mood and frame of mind and spirit never return. That's why I also never correct or reread my texts."

About his books, he said he did not have any favorites. Each of them was his product and has its own history. "They are the children of my soul. People may condemn, appraise or harass them. It doesn't matter."

He said his health was in its best condition to write.

"Now I have some health problems, and I easily forget about things. I did not expect that about getting older," he joked.

He does physical exercise every day and takes vitamin C because he is a smoker. "I also do some breathing exercises as I have smoked since I was 17."

Pramoedya has eight children, the youngest one is his only son, 15 grandchildren and one great grandson. He said his children had grown up in hard times and lived in fear for some 14 years. "For me this is so dissatisfying."

Do his children also write?

"Talent is not inherited. My children are able to write, but due to the bad experience of their father, they are afraid to be writers. In one case, my children were threatened when I won the Magsaysay award," Pramoedya said.

"Writing is so enjoyable. I encourage my grandchildren to write dairies. It's good for them to know how to use language and how to describe something."

Pramoedya expressed his sadness about what is happening to Indonesia.

"The condition will get better with the role of the younger generation. This is about character. They have to build better character, starting with themselves. That's why I always remember what (first president) Soekarno said, 'nation building and character building'. He had a futuristic perspective, very outstanding, but I don't understand why so many people always condemned him."

Pramoedya believes character building must begin with self- drive. "There is no teacher for this. We have to start from the family and home. This is about self-teaching and resurrecting. The intellectuals would have started this. I don't mean to ignore those who are successful in self-educating, but I'm just saying this in general. Indonesia is lagging behind. It's so sad."

Pramoedya, who does not like the Internet, computers or television, said he likes having discussions with the younger generation.

"I like to chat with youths, and share ideas. But for myself, I just want to be a simple man, just as my logic is."