Pramoedya's wife to accept award

JAKARTA (JP): The wife of writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer flew out of Jakarta for Manila yesterday to collect the Magsasay Award for literature on his behalf.

Maemunah Thamrin, accompanied by her daughter Astuti Ananta and novelist Marianne Katoppo, flew out of Soekarno-Hatta airport on board a Singapore Airlines flight.

The debate about whether Pramoedya is barred from leaving the country became purely academical because the writer has decided to stay at home due to his age and failing health.

The government has given conflicting signals on the issue, with one official saying that Pramoedya could not leave the country, while another says that the travel ban had been lifted.

There has also been controversy over the Magsasay Foundation's decision to give the award to Pramoedya, Indonesia's most renowned writer but most of whose works have been barred in his home country because of what the authorities considered to be their Marxism/communism teachings.

A group of top figures in Indonesia's art and literary community criticized the granting of the award to Pramoedya in view of his own past record in clamping down against fellow writers in the 1960s.

The award presentation is planned for tomorrow in Manila and Marianne will read a statement prepared by Pramoedya.

His wife will also be received by Mrs. Luz Magsasay, wife of former Philippine president Ramon Magsasay, after whom the award is named, and will pay her respects at Magsasay's grave in Quezon City.

Marianne said that given the controversy the award for Pramoedya has spawned in Indonesia and the Philippines, there are now uncertainties whether or not the award would be presented by Philippine President Fidel Ramos, as has been the tradition.

"To this day, we've not heard from the committee whether President Ramos will present the Magsasay," she said. (aks)