The legacy of Maeda's residence

The legacy of Maeda's residence

By Ida Indawati Khouw

The former official residence of Rear. Adm. Tadashi Maeda, a
senior naval officer during the Japanese occupation here, on Jl.
Imam Bonjol No. 1 in Central Jakarta has been turned into an
historical building since it was the place where the text for the
Indonesian declaration of independence was drafted. This is the 59th
article on the old and protected buildings of Jakarta.

JAKARTA (JP): Once located in Weltevreden, one of the more
prestigious areas of old Batavia (former name of Jakarta), the
two-story building on Jl. Imam Bonjol is now known as the Museum
Perumusan Naskah Proklamasi, the Museum of the Drafting of the
Proclamation Text, for its important role in the country's
independence.

The building's art deco architectural style with few ornaments
but plenty of doors and windows does not look particularly
spectacular compared to nearby buildings, most of which have a
similar style.

There is no precise data about when the building was first
constructed. However, some people believe that it was around
1920.

Literature mentions that the building was initially designed
as the residence for an official from a certain Dutch private
company. Documents show that in 1931 it was owned by insurance
company PT Asuransi Jiwasraya Nilmy (Nederlands Levenzekerring
Maatschappij) and at that time had a total width of 4,380 square
meters.

The building has changed owners several times. Once, when the
street was called Oranje Nassauboulevard, the house was occupied
by the British Council General until the Japanese occupation
here. The Japanese later changed the name of the street to
Myakoodoori street.

For Indonesians, the building became important when it was the
official residence of Rear. Adm. Tadashi Maeda, head of the
Japanese naval liaison office in Batavia.

The senior naval officer's name is familiar to most
Indonesians since it often appears in books on Indonesian history
both for students and the general public.

Maeda, who lived in the house right after the Japanese
military occupied the country in 1942, was a military figure who
had sympathy toward the Indonesians' struggle for independence.
He had a principle that "all nations should gain their
independence". As a consequence he volunteered his house to be
used as the place to draft the text for Indonesian independence.

The naval officer told the magazine Media Joang 45 that he was
happy when the Japanese government promised to give Indonesians
their independence in 1944, but he felt guilty and disappointed
knowing that the promise would not soon be realized.

Moments

The historical moment took place in the house only hours
before the proclamation text was read out by Sukarno (who then
became Indonesia's first president) at 10 a.m. on Aug. 17, 1945.

It has been widely known that during the struggle for
independence, youth groups and nationalist leaders such as
Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta (the first vice president) held
different stances on the timing of the proclamation.

The youth were eager to proclaim independence after knowing
that Japan had surrendered to the Allied Forces on Aug. 15, 1945
-- a fact that the Japanese tried to cover up -- while the
leaders, who did not believe the news, preferred to wait until
Japan granted it.

The youths then kidnapped Sukarno and Hatta and brought the
two of them to Rengas Dengklok, a small town in West Java which
had been occupied by Indonesian troops on Aug. 16, 1945. The
youths attempted to force the two future leaders to proclaim
independence and it was agreed that it would be proclaimed in
Jakarta.

Maeda sent a message that if the two leaders were returned
safely, he could arrange that the Japanese would not disturb the
proclamation of independence. Then, it was also agreed that
Maeda's house was the safest place to draft the proclamation
text.

But Maeda said in a report to Audretsch, attached to the
Attorney-General of the Netherlands East Indies in 1947, that it
was Sukarno -- who arrived with Hatta at his house at 11 p.m. --
who asked him to allow the house to be used for the declaration
meeting.

The meeting began at midnight until early in the morning and
was attended by around 50 people. In the meantime a great number
of youths were waiting for the results of the meeting.

Maeda himself was not involved in the drafting process as he
left the meeting and went to bed on the second floor.

The drafting process of the declaration of independence itself
started at around 3 a.m. and involved Sukarno, Hatta and Ahmad
Soebardjo, head of the Office of Consultants for Political
Affairs of the Japanese Navy in Java.

Hours after the draft was finished, it was read out before
Indonesians at Sukarno's residence on Jl. Pegangsaan Timur No. 56
(now the site of the Proclamation monument on Jl. Proklamasi in
Central Jakarta), instead of in an open field to avoid clashes
with Japanese troops.

Apart from the place where the proclamation text was prepared,
the building was also a witness to other momentous diplomatic
negotiations between Indonesia and the Dutch on Nov. 17, 1945 and
on Oct. 7, 1946. At that time the building was used as the
headquarters for the English troops.

The building was turned into a museum in 1984.

The dining room is now called the room of the drafting of the
proclamation text. Inside, there are displayed statues of
Sukarno, Hatta and Soebardjo, and replicas of chairs and a table
used during the drafting process.

Next to the room, there is the so-called typing room where the
text was typed by Sajuti Melik. Due to the lack of a typewriter
at that time, the machine was borrowed from a German military
office, said Maeda's assistant Satzuki Mishima in a book Sejarah
Perumusan Naskah Proklamasi (The History of the Drafting of the
Proclamation Text).

Another historical room is a big hall where Maeda used to hold
meetings. It is now called the room of the signing of the
proclamation text, because in that room Sukarno repeatedly read
out the text before signing it along with Hatta on behalf of the
population of Indonesia.

Maeda himself was imprisoned in the Glodok area (West Jakarta)
in April 1946. He was granted the Nararya medal in 1976, a
special honor given for extraordinary services to the Indonesian
state and nation, a year before his death.