Solemn gathering to farewell Herbert Feith

Israr Ardiansyah, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Grief seemed to overwhelm everybody gathered at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) campus on Tuesday. Some shed tears when prayers were said and stories told to honor their dear friend, Herbert Feith.

It was a solemn gathering of more than 100 old friends in remembrance of the Australian Indonesianist who died on Nov. 15, 2001, in an accident in Melbourne.

The gathering brought together fellow academics and friends in Yogyakarta where he spent time lecturing at Gadjah Mada and working as a volunteer in rural areas during the 1950s.

Attending the gathering were Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Richard C. Smith and Australian Consortium for In- Country Indonesian Studies director Gerry van Klinken.

Gadjah Mada rector Ichlasul Amal was in Melbourne attending the funeral of Herb, as Feith was affectionately called.

Faustino Gomez, a lecturer at Dili University, East Timor, and a former student of Feith at UGM, remembered him as a compassionate man.

"He criticized human rights violations in East Timor during Indonesian rule. He also invited our family to stay in his house during the political turmoil following the 1999 referendum (which gave East Timor independence)," he said.

Subardiano, representing the Kromodihardjo family who accommodated Herb when he did his volunteer work in Kulonprogo, some 30 kilometers west of here, remembered him as a very modest man.

"We didn't even know that Pak Herb was in fact a renowned academic until we read about his death in the newspaper. He came to our grandfather's house as a student in the 1950s. Although our grandfather was dead, Pak Herb would still drop by anytime he visited Yogyakarta. We were like family," he said.

"Pak Herb's last visit to us was last October and he told us he still wanted to pay another five visits before he reached 80 years of age," he added.

"He stayed with us for two hours, wearing his favorite sarong," he said.

Herbert Feith was born on Nov. 3, 1930, in Vienna, Austria, to a Jewish family and moved to Australia with his parents in 1939 following the Nazi takeover of Austria.

He cofounded the Volunteer Graduate Scheme, currently known as Australian Volunteers International, and came to Indonesia twice as a volunteer for the Indonesian Ministry of Information, in 1953 and 1956.

He would visit villages in Indonesia to learn more about the country. In 1955, Herb married Betty, a friend during the volunteer programs in Indonesia.

Feith received his Ph.D in Indonesian studies from Cornell University in 1962. As a student of George T. Kahin, the pioneer of Indonesian studies at universities, he was a peer of Benedict R.O.G. Anderson, Ruth McVey and other Indonesianists.

His Ph.D research in Indonesia was published by Cornell University Press in 1962, titled The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. With Lance Castles, he also edited a book titled Indonesian Political Thinking 1945-1965, published by Cornell University Press in 1970.

Feith had become a peace activist since the 1980s until he died and was involved in many social movements to promote his views opposing violence and colonialism.

At the height of ethnic clashes in Indonesia, some Indonesian activist and intellectuals, including sociologist Imam B. Prasodjo, founded the Nurani Dunia (World Conscience) Foundation in 1999. Feith was named as one of the advisors.

Meanwhile, he also helped establish the Center for Peace and Security Studies in 1996, where he served as a member of the board of trustees.

Feith spent much of his last 10 years in Indonesia after retiring from Monash University in 1990, where he had been a professor since 1962. He served as a visiting professor at UGM from 1996 to 2000 where he gave lectures on international political analysis. He also gave lectures at Andalas University in Padang, West Sumatra, in 1995.

Feith's former students remembered him as a polite professor who loved riding his old dark-blue bicycle and walking around UGM's teacher housing complex with his wife, Betty.

They say he was always quick to greet friends and students with "Selamat pagi" or "Selamat siang".