K'tut Tantri
K'tut Tantri | |
---|---|
Born | Muriel Stuart Walker February 19, 1898 Glasgow, Scotland |
Died | July 27, 1997 Sydney, Australia | (aged 99)
Nickname | "Soerabaja Sue" |
Occupation | broadcaster, memoirist |
Citizenship | Australia |
Genre | memoir |
Notable works | Revolt in Paradise |
Spouse | Karl Jenning Pearson |
K'tut Tantri (19 February 1898 – 27 July 1997), born Muriel Stuart Walker, was a
Biography
Early life
Muriel Stuart Walker was born in
Bali
During her time in Bali, Muriel Stuart Walker was adopted by a local
The Indonesian Revolution
Following the
In her memoirs, Tantri claimed to have been acquainted with Indonesian nationalist leaders like Bung Tomo and
During her time in Singapore, K'tut Tantri was interviewed by Earle Growder and Eddy Dunstan, two journalists from the
While in Singapore, K'tut Tantri met Abdul Monem, a representative from the Egyptian government and the Arab League, who had been sent by his government to extend formal diplomatic recognition to the Indonesian Republic. Since the Dutch and British consuls in Singapore had refused to help him travel to Yogyakarta, she and a sympathetic English businessman managed to charter a Philippines-registered aircraft for the sum of S$10,000, which she claimed the Indonesian Ministry of Defence would reimburse.[14] This same aircraft later brought her back to Singapore along with the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Agus Salim, who was on his way to New Delhi to meet the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.[11] Throughout the duration of the Indonesian National Revolution, K'tut would make several trips between Indonesia and Singapore during several secret missions for the Republic.[8]
Legacy
A few years later, K'tut Tantri found her way to Australia via Singapore where she helped publicize the Indonesian republican cause among sympathetic Australians.[15][16] After obtaining an American passport from the United States Consul in Sydney,[17] she returned to the United States where she published her memoirs, Revolt in Paradise, in 1960. The book quickly became a bestseller and was widely translated. For the next thirty years, she tried to get Revolt in Paradise made into a film but this never eventuated due to her adamant refusal to alter any details of the book. She spent her last years at a nursing home in Sydney, Australia where she died on 27 July 1997.[1] Prior to her death, she was befriended by the Australian academic Tim Lindsey, who concluded that she had fabricated several of the events in her memoir.[2]
Following her death, she was cremated following a non-religious memorial service on 9 August 1997. Her coffin was draped by the Indonesian flag and Balinese yellow and white clothes. Her funeral was attended by the deputy Indonesian Ambassador to Australia, by
The Indonesian diplomat Suryono Darusman confirmed most of K'tut Tantri's account including her work as a broadcaster for the Voice of Free Indonesia and speechwriter for President Sukarno, and her voyage to Singapore and Australia to publicize the Indonesian republican cause. However, he noted that despite her contributions to the Indonesian nationalist cause, the Indonesians were uncomfortable with her unorthodox lifestyle and her exaggerated claims for attention. According to Darusman, the Indonesians never bothered to find out her real name.[18] The Singaporean historian Yong Mun Cheong also observed that the vituperative nature of her radio broadcasts in support of the Republican cause caused some embarrassment for the Indonesians. This led them to smuggle her out of Indonesia to Singapore in 1947, officially on the pretext that the Dutch would try to arrest her at the first opportunity.[8]
Further reading
- Anderson, Sarah (4 September 1997). "Obituary: K'tut Tantri". The Independent. United Kingdom. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
- Darusman, Suryono (1992). Singapore and the Indonesian Revolution 1945-50: Recollections of Suryono Darusman. Singapore: ISBN 981-3016-17-5.
- Lindsey, Timothy (1997). The romance of K'tut Tantri and Indonesia. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9789793780634.
- Tantri, K'tut (1960). Revolt in Paradise. London: William Heinemann.
- Witton, Ron (October–December 1997). "The romance of K'tut Tantri". Inside Indonesia. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
- Yong, Mun Cheong (2003). The Indonesian Revolution and the Singapore connection, 1945-1949. Singapore: Singapore University Press. ISBN 9971692767.
- ISBN 978-1912049004.
References
- ^ a b c d Anderson, Sarah (4 September 1997). "Obituary: K'tut Tantri". The Independent. United Kingdom. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Witton, Ron (October–December 1997). "The romance of K'tut Tantri". Inside Indonesia. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
- ^ K'tut Tantri, p. 269-270
- ^ K'tut Tantri, pp. 182-188, 222.
- ^ K'tut Tantri, pp. 224-28
- ^ K'tut Tantri, pp. 197-202.
- ^ K'tut Tantri, 210-220
- ^ a b c d Yong Mun Cheong, p.3
- ^ K'tut Tantri, pp. 251-267
- ^ a b Suryono Darusman, pp. 33
- ^ a b Suryono Darusman, p.33
- ^ K'tut Tantri, pp. 269-272
- ^ K'tut Tantri, pp. 273-80
- ^ K'tut Tantri, 281-288
- ^ K'tut Tantri, pp.290-96
- ^ Suryono Darusman, p. 33
- ^ K'tut Tantri, pp.298-300
- ^ Suryono Darusman, pp. 32-33.