Umar Said voice media concerns

Umar Said voice media concerns

T.Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta

As the country prepares for its general election the independence of Indonesia's press is a pertinent issue.

It is common knowledge that the press has been 'used' by those who seek to promote their own interests. Political parties are greatly interested in media exposure ahead of the polls. A rumor has circulated that a television station was annexed to keep President Megawati Soekarnoputri in office.

Senior journalist A. Umar Said, who currently lives in Paris, E-mailed The Jakarta Post on the issue. He wrote that "A totally independent press is quite hard to find.

"The tendency of political parties to influence or to 'embrace' the press, especially ahead of the general election, is apparent. Besides, the editor (or the investor) has a big role in directing the political stance of the media," he continued.

Umar, 76, is former editor of Harian Ekonomi Nasional (National Economic Daily), which, along with at least 36 other newspapers and magazines, was closed down on Oct.1, 1965, following the attempted coup that began on Sept 30. and led to the downfall of then president Sukarno.

The Indonesian Journalists' Association (PWI) dismissed a total of 165 journalists in Jakarta and 208 others outside the capital for alleged involvement in communist activities. Some of the journalists were sent to prison, others went missing or lived abroad, according to Tribuana Said in his book Sejarah Pers Nasional dan Pembangunan Pers Pancasila (History of National Press and the Building of Pancasila Press).

After the incident, Umar lived in China for seven years before moving to France. He became a French citizen in 1986.

"I could not step onto my home soil for 31 years, even though I (like many other people) had nothing to do with the Sept. 30, incident," said Umar, who returned to Indonesia in 1996.

Umar has two sons and has been separated from his former wife for 13 years.

He worked for the Ministry of Agriculture for seven years before resigning. In 1982 he opened Restaurant Indonesia in Paris. Patrons of the restaurant included French first lady Daniel Mitterand and Abdurrahman Wahid, the former president of Indonesia.

Umar was also active in raising international concern over human rights violations in Indonesia by writing articles about tapol (political prisoners) and other issues of democracy for French magazines.

In 1977 he established the Tapol Committee in Paris, which was responsible for the French monthly called INDONESIE and ran campaigns on releasing the political prisoners on Buru island. The Committee ceased activities in 1982 after the release of the Buru island political prisoners and tens of thousands of others from various prisons throughout the country.

For several years since 1978, Umar also took part in the Fete de l'Humanite, an annual festival in Paris. During the event, he and other activists screened films and held other activities to promote democracy in Indonesia. The activists also sold Indonesian food like satay and gulai kambing (goat meat stewed in coconut milk and chili), which later inspired the opening of his Indonesian restaurant.

In 1978 he published Chine Express, a French monthly that focused on business activities in China, and in 1992 he published an English monthly Business With China. Unlike Chine Express, which survived for 10 years, the English monthly suffered from a lack of readership.

When the attempted coup took place, Umar was in Algeria after attending the International Organization of Journalists (IOJ) conference of Sept. 1965 in Chile.

In his capacity as a member of the Asian African Journalists Association (PWAA) -- an association that was set up following the historic Asia Africa Conference in 1963 in Bandung -- Umar visited Algeria to discuss preparations for the second Conference of Asian African Journalists.

In China, in order to keep up with what was going on in Indonesia, Umar and other Indonesians published Bahan Pertimbangan (A Matter of Consideration).

The periodical contained quotations from news reports, articles and other material published by Indonesian newspapers and magazines. The publication was produced for Indonesians who lived in China or other countries, such as North Korea, and Eastern European countries.

Umar decided to leave China in 1973 as his life as a foreigner had become more difficult in accordance with the Great Revolution for Proletarian Culture that swept China.

"I will soon be 76 years old and I have spent almost half of my life abroad, "Umar said.

Umar was previously a chain smoker who could finish two packs of cigarette a day. But in 2002 he quit smoking after suffering a mild stroke. As he also suffers from diabetes, he is careful about his diet and exercises to maintain his health.

Umar stays loyal to his profession and is still hungry to share his views with the public. In October 2002 he launched his personal website (http://perso.club-internet.fr/kontak/ ), where he posts his articles about various issues in Indonesia, especially about politics and human rights.

"My main activity now is to monitor the development of Indonesia through the Internet," he said.

He is glad that the Indonesian press has enjoyed freedom after the downfall of Soeharto's New Order regime. For him, the challenge that faces the country's press today is how to get back on track in waging the war against injustice.