Rosihan Anwar born to write

Rosihan Anwar born to write

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Having experienced press history for over three generations,
veteran journalist Rosihan Anwar found himself finally relieved
when the reform era had really brought the dark ages of the
country's suppression of the media to an end.

According to Rosihan, whose mind is quite sharp despite having
recently celebrated his 80th birthday, last Friday (May 10),
press liberties in the country have indeed ridden a
rollercoaster.

Censorship was common during the Dutch colonialist time and
the Japanese occupation in the 1940s. Repression of journalists
and curbing of publications were rampant during the Sukarno and
Soeharto regimes.

Relative freedoms of the press have been achieved since the
reform movement in 1998, and it should be maintained, said
Rosihan.

In that light, Rosihan warned the public about the recent
developments in which the current administration of Megawati
Soekarnoputri was seen to be "allergic to the press", which could
signal a return to curbing of press freedoms in the near future.

"The President and the House members have recently been
expressing opinions that the freedom of the press was out of
proportion," Rosihan told The Jakarta Post with an angry
expression while at his modest, old house in Menteng, Central
Jakarta on Saturday.

Their accusations are not true, he said, as the media is
generally well-mannered, with the few exceptions being a bit of
sensationalizing.

"Therefore, the press should always be alert that their
freedoms could easily be taken away by the authorities," he said.

Rosihan Anwar was born on May 10, 1922 in Kubang Nan Dua, West
Sumatra. He is the son of a prominent local figure Asisten Demang
Anwar, also of West Sumatra, and had the privilege of studying in
Dutch schools while growing up.

He continued his study at the prestigious senior high school
AMS in Yogyakarta, and excelled in the Western Classics
department. His distinguished education background paved his way
to get several fellowships and scholarships abroad later on,
including to Yale University and the Columbia University School
of Journalism in the United States.

He began his journalism career with the Asia Raya newspaper in
1943, and later was the editor of several newspapers including
Siasat and Merdeka.

Rosihan established the prominent Pedoman daily in 1948,
before it was axed by Sukarno in 1961 for being too critical of
the regime.

Pedoman resumed publication in 1967, but it was curbed again
in 1974 after the Malari chaos in Jakarta.

He once served as a member of the People's Consultative
Assembly from 1973 to 1978 representing the journalist
profession.

Rosihan is a productive writer. He has written 27 books -- not
to mention hundreds of his journalistic and essay works. After
retiring from formal positions in newspapers in 1974, he became a
columnist for many publications including Kompas, The Age in
Melbourne, Australia and The Strait Times from Singapore.

In addition to writing, Rosihan has also been involved in
other artistic endeavors. He performed as an actor in several
films, and he was even one of the founders of the Indonesian Film
Company (Perfini), along with noted filmmaker Usmar Ismail.

He was given the Golden Pen award from the Indonesian
Journalist Association (PWI) in 1978 and was the recipient of
other honorary awards from Tunisia and the Philippines to name
two.

He said he was happy he made the choice to become a journalist
as it always kept him in touch with events and people making the
news. "I like to interview people and to report events," said
Rosihan, in fluent English.

However, this does not mean that he has not been tempted to
take up another profession.

His former editor at Asia Raya, Cokroaminoto, who was hired by
the Indonesian Military in 1946 as head of their Communications
Department and given the rank of colonel, once offered him a
position in the department.

"I was promised a rank as captain, but I turned down the offer
since as an AMS graduate, I deserved a rank of at least a major.
Had I accepted, I would have probably went on to become a
lieutenant general," said Rosihan with a laugh.

According to Rosihan, he regrets that his love of journalism
did not get passed on to his children.

His two daughters are doctors, and his only son is a finance
director at private television station ANteve.

But Rosihan keeps on writing, including his regular column in
the Cek & Ricek weekly tabloid.

"Keeping busy with my writing prevents senility," he said.

Now at 80, he says he has no more ambition, including to
restart Pedoman. "I am too old, and that requires a lot of
money," he said.

But he will never be too old to give advice to younger
journalists, and he wants to impress upon them how important
their job is to the nation. He said "the fighting soul of the
press" should be revived even though the media of today were
fighting for different things than those of his era.

"In the early part of my career, the responsibility of the
press was to fight for freedom from the Dutch and Japanese
colonizers. Similarly, today's press should fight for the
interests of the oppressed people -- to free them from poverty --
and should fight against corruption."