Writer Umar Kayam dead at 69
Writer Umar Kayam dead at 69
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Glaring sun could not hide the grief felt by hundreds of
friends and relatives at the Karet Bivak cemetery in Central
Jakarta who came to pay their last respects to one of the
country's most prolific writers Umar Kayam who passed away early
on Saturday morning due to intestinal bleeding and a liver
disorder.
The prominent writer, novelist, columnist, academician, actor
and most of all, an educator, is survived by his wife Roosliana
Hanoum, and two daughters, Sita Aripurnami and Wulan Anggraeni.
Born on April 30, 1932, from a long line of teachers, he
stayed true to this path until his retirement from the Gadjah
Mada University School of Letters in 1997. But even after he
retired, Umar could never resist the urge to debate about
Indonesia's education system.
His impressive career included becoming head of the Jakarta
Arts Council, Rector of the Jakarta Arts Institute (1969-1972)
and Director General of Radio, TV and Film (RTF) at the then
information ministry between 1966 and 1969.
But the Cornell University graduate did not stay long at the
ministry. He told The Jakarta Post in 1999, shortly after
recovering from a mild stroke, that when he proposed to the
government to model electronic media after the BBC and become
independent, he was fired.
He even tried a career in movies when he played Indonesia's
first president Sukarno in the 1980s' film The Treachery of the
Indonesian Communist Party/September 30 Movement.
His Seribu Kunang-kunang di Manhattan (A Thousand Fireflies in
Manhattan) was named best short story by Horison cultural
magazine in 1968.
His other noted works include Sri Sumarah dan Bawuk (Sri
Sumarah and Bawuk, the names of two female heroines; 1975) -- two
short stories which revolve around the 1965 attempted coup
d'etat, its terrifying aftermath and the lives of those families
affected by it; academic literature Seni, Tradisi, dan Masyarakat
(Art, Tradition and the Community; 1981).
His weekly columns from the local newspaper Kedaulatan Rakyat
Yogyakarta were compiled into the trilogy Mangan Ora Mangan
Kumpul (Sticking Together Through Thick and Thin), Sugih Tanpa
Banda (Rich without Riches), and Madhep Ngalor Sugih-Madhep
Ngidul Sugih (Rich However You Look at It).
Asked which he preferred, teaching or research, the man who
felt unimpressed by much of today's literary criticism told the
Post that, "The one thing I like most is writing. Writing short
stories and novels.
"I write every day, but I don't have any routine; it's
whenever I choose. I'm not that kind of writer. That is the way
of a government worker or a bureaucrat. Writers write whenever
they please."
Umar's latest works include Para Priyayi (The Javanese Elite)
series, of which the Jalan Menikung: Para Priyayi 2 (Crooked
Road: the Elite 2) was published in 1999.
He wrote all of his stories with a conventional typewriter,
and Umar once remarked that, "it's only a matter of (eating) with
a spoon or with your hands, isn't it better like this (eating
with the hands)".
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Glaring sun could not hide the grief felt by hundreds of
friends and relatives at the Karet Bivak cemetery in Central
Jakarta who came to pay their last respects to one of the
country's most prolific writers Umar Kayam who passed away early
on Saturday morning due to intestinal bleeding and a liver
disorder.
The prominent writer, novelist, columnist, academician, actor
and most of all, an educator, is survived by his wife Roosliana
Hanoum, and two daughters, Sita Aripurnami and Wulan Anggraeni.
Born on April 30, 1932, from a long line of teachers, he
stayed true to this path until his retirement from the Gadjah
Mada University School of Letters in 1997. But even after he
retired, Umar could never resist the urge to debate about
Indonesia's education system.
His impressive career included becoming head of the Jakarta
Arts Council, Rector of the Jakarta Arts Institute (1969-1972)
and Director General of Radio, TV and Film (RTF) at the then
information ministry between 1966 and 1969.
But the Cornell University graduate did not stay long at the
ministry. He told The Jakarta Post in 1999, shortly after
recovering from a mild stroke, that when he proposed to the
government to model electronic media after the BBC and become
independent, he was fired.
He even tried a career in movies when he played Indonesia's
first president Sukarno in the 1980s' film The Treachery of the
Indonesian Communist Party/September 30 Movement.
His Seribu Kunang-kunang di Manhattan (A Thousand Fireflies in
Manhattan) was named best short story by Horison cultural
magazine in 1968.
His other noted works include Sri Sumarah dan Bawuk (Sri
Sumarah and Bawuk, the names of two female heroines; 1975) -- two
short stories which revolve around the 1965 attempted coup
d'etat, its terrifying aftermath and the lives of those families
affected by it; academic literature Seni, Tradisi, dan Masyarakat
(Art, Tradition and the Community; 1981).
His weekly columns from the local newspaper Kedaulatan Rakyat
Yogyakarta were compiled into the trilogy Mangan Ora Mangan
Kumpul (Sticking Together Through Thick and Thin), Sugih Tanpa
Banda (Rich without Riches), and Madhep Ngalor Sugih-Madhep
Ngidul Sugih (Rich However You Look at It).
Asked which he preferred, teaching or research, the man who
felt unimpressed by much of today's literary criticism told the
Post that, "The one thing I like most is writing. Writing short
stories and novels.
"I write every day, but I don't have any routine; it's
whenever I choose. I'm not that kind of writer. That is the way
of a government worker or a bureaucrat. Writers write whenever
they please."
Umar's latest works include Para Priyayi (The Javanese Elite)
series, of which the Jalan Menikung: Para Priyayi 2 (Crooked
Road: the Elite 2) was published in 1999.
He wrote all of his stories with a conventional typewriter,
and Umar once remarked that, "it's only a matter of (eating) with
a spoon or with your hands, isn't it better like this (eating
with the hands)".