From Jail to Jail. Tan Malaka
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1. SHANGHAI AND THE CHAP KAU LOO KUN
2. IN HONG KONG
3. WHERETO?
4. DESTINATION UNKNOWN
5. THE CROSSING
6. TOWARD THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
NOTES TO VOLUME TWO
GLOSSARY
INDEX TO VOLUME TWO
INTRODUCTION AND AFTERWORD
1. WELTANSCHAUUNG
2. THE STATE
3. THE RISE AND FALL OF THE STATES
4. THESIS, ANTITHESIS, AND SYNTHESIS
5. THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA’S PROCLAMATION OF INDEPENDENCE
6. THE BIRTH AND GROWTH OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
7. FROM ENGINEER SUKARNO TO PRESIDENT SUKARNO
8. EVENTS SURROUNDING THE PROCLAMATION
9. TOWARD THE PERSATUAN PERJUANGAN
10. THE PERSATUAN PERJUANGAN
11. RESOLUTIONS OF THE FOUNDING CONGRESS OF THE PERSATUAN PERJUANGAN
12. MINIMUM PROGRAM OF THE PERSATUAN PERJUANGAN (UNITED ACTION)
13. THE CONFLICT BETWEEN DIPLOMACY AND MASS ACTION
14. IS THE GOVERNMENT’S PROGRAM THE SAME AS THE PROGRAM OF THE PERSATUAN PERJUANGAN?
15. LINGGAJATI AND RENVILLE
16. THE MADIUN ARRESTS
17. OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
NOTES TO VOLUME THREE
APPENDIX A. Biographical Sketches
APPENDIX B. Brief Description of Organizations
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX TO VOLUME THREE
PREFACE
Tan Malaka is a name tied to the Indonesian revolution; though recognized as a “hero of national independence,” he is officially acknowledged only with embarrassment.1 His story spans two generations of Indonesian nationalists, from the formative pre-1926 era to the military struggle for independence that followed World War II. It also spans two continents, from Western Europe, through the Soviet Union and China, to almost every country in Southeast Asia.
His countless escapes and his ability to survive while being pursued by all the imperialist powers in Southeast Asia have fired the imagination of many who have written about him. The very title of his autobiography, From Jail to Jail, conveys the spirit of adventure that surrounds him.
The extreme brevity of Tan Malaka’s overt and active political life in Indonesia—three periods totalling less than two of his fifty-three years—gives more than enough scope for confusion, ignorance, and intrigue in recounting his story. The year 1921-1922 marked the real beginning of Tan Malaka’s political career as he established the first Sekolah Rakyat at the same time that he moved into active work in the trade unions and in the Partai Komunis Indonesia (PKI).2 His arrest in February 1922 put an end to all this, and the year stands more as a promise of political ability than as a chronicle of completed tasks.
Following Indonesia’s proclamation of independence on 17 August 1945, Tan Malaka emerged from his long absence from the Indonesian political scene, using his own name for the first time in twenty-three years. Seven months later, on 17 March 1946, he was arrested by the Sjahrir government and held without trial for two and a half years. Once again, he was able to initiate some impressive programs—the most notable being the establishment of the Persatuan Perjuangan-but arrest prevented him from bringing them to fruition.3
His release from prison on 16 September 1948 came only five months before the presumed date of his death, 19 February 1949. He spent his first two months of freedom in Yogyakarta assessing the impact of the Madiun uprising and founding the Partai Murba (Proletarian Party).4 The final three months of his life were spent in remote areas of East Java attempting to galvanize opposition to the Dutch. This final period repeated the pattern set earlier, as he formulated his ideas and established several organizations and proposals for action rather than actually accomplishing those goals.
Throughout his life Tan Malaka was a political outsider, the opponent of those holding power. He was constantly castigated by the Dutch East Indies government, his immediate enemy, and attracted the ire of many other groups. The established PKI leadership opposed Tan Malaka’s stand against the 1926 uprisings. His insistence during the 1945-1949 period on the policy of perjuangan led him into conflict with the views of the Stalinist rulers of the Soviet Union, the leaders of the PKI, and the social-democratic supporters of the policy of diplomasi, and, of course, with those who opposed independence altogether. All the many configurations constituting the various Indonesian governments from 1945 to the present day have shared at least one attitude—outright opposition to the ideas and methods of Tan Malaka. There has, in consequence, been little incentive within Indonesia for a careful and reasoned analysis of the man. Half-truths, inaccuracies, slander, and calumny have ruled the day. A subdued counterpoint to this approach has been the slight body of panegyrics written by his supporters and a series of romantic novels woven around his saga. Tan Malaka’s long disappearances and the reports and rumors of his spectacular appearances proved to be the right mix for the genre of romantic adventure stories popular in Indonesia in the immediate prewar period.5
Just as it has provided grist for the mill of romantic fiction, Tan Malaka’s colorful and adventurous life story has led also to rampant confusion regarding facts, let alone analysis, by many serious observers of recent Indonesia history, Indonesians and foreigners alike. In an example of art imitating nature the reader will note that the mystery/adventure genre may also have influenced Tan Malaka’s own perception of his exploits, as recounted in the pages of his autobiography.6
From Jail to Jail reveals much about the man who has remained one of the greatest enigmas in modern Indonesian history. But it also leaves a lot unsaid. At times Tan Malaka concentrates on extreme detail when recounting the narrative side of his autobiography: the layout of Canton in 1923, the social structure of a South China village in the late 1920s, or the history of the Philippines nationalist movement. But on the really burning political issues, more often than not he slides off into allusion and evasion. Time and again he states his reluctance to reveal the course of political events, citing as his reason the continued strength of Western imperialism and its efforts to push back the colonial revolution and the readiness of his enemies to use his words against him. However, he did not live to see the end of the physical struggle for independence and the relative peace of the 1950s, when he could have filled in some of those gaps, such as the identity of his contacts and protectors in China in the 1920s and 1930s, the activities of Partai Republik Indonesia (PARI), and details of his supposed rapprochement with the Comintern in 1931.7 The autobiography is, above all, a tantalizing work, leaving the reader with more questions than answers, but with the exhilarated feeling