Remembering Mohammad Hatta

Remembering Mohammad Hatta

A committee has been formed in Jakarta to commemorate the
100th anniversary of the birth of Mohammad Hatta, Indonesia's
first vice-president, who was born on Aug. 12, 1902. Together
with Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta, or Bung Hatta as he is more
popularly known, co-proclaimed Indonesia's independence on Aug.
17, 1945. Jakarta's international airport, which is named after
Sukarno and Hatta, vividly symbolizes the fusion between those
two contrasting personalities during the height of the Indonesian
revolution. Hatta died on March 14, 1980.

Mohammad Hatta was everything that Sukarno was not. Hatta's
method of working was based on meticulous planning. He carefully
prepared all that had to be done, including writing his speeches,
systematically working out all the problems at hand, then taking
concrete decisions. Before any important decisions were taken, he
would meticulously consult all the parties involved. Even when
full powers were bestowed on him during the critical moments of
the infant republic in 1948, he remained a democrat. But once a
decision was taken, he would stick to it and defend it against
all criticism.

Mohammad Hatta was a devout Muslim, yet at the same time he
was of the strong opinion that Indonesia should remain an open
society in which religious tolerance should prevail. Our hope is
that the preparatory committee to celebrate Mohammad Hatta's
100th birthday anniversary will be able, through its programs, to
highlight the noble character of our late first vice-president.
The entire program should be effective in inspiring the current
leadership, especially the younger generation, into recognizing
that Indonesia has known true leadership before. Our country has
experienced complex problems before, albeit in a different
historical context. Mohammad Hatta, however, has proven that
Indonesia is not destined to be a country lacking in true
leadership, a complaint that is often heard these days.

The preparatory committee should also be honest in summarizing
Mohammad Hatta's political biography because he had the sad
experience of not being appreciated and shunned by being elevated
to the position of a constitutional vice-president toward the end
of 1950. Thus, while Indonesia was in dire need of a strong head
of government, Mohammad Hatta, as a powerless vice-president,
would busy himself paying working visits to the provinces and
delivering pertinent speeches.

In 1957, when the country was on the eve of a civil war, in
which the United States was blatantly involved in giving aid to
regional rebels, Mohammad Hatta was pressured into joining the
government, but the political setting in Jakarta by that time had
changed. Hatta's pragmatism and rationalism as a leader of
untainted integrity was not to the liking of President Sukarno,
and the rest, as they say, is history.

In short, it is our keen hope that after completion of all the
plans designed by the preparatory committee to commemorate the
100th birthday of Mohammad Hatta, we will emerge a wiser nation,
capable of confronting our problems with greater courage inspired
by the impressive personality of the late Mohammad Hatta.