Tan Malaka
Tan Malaka | |
---|---|
Born | Ibrahim 2 June 1897 |
Died | 21 February 1949 | (aged 51)
Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
Nationality | Indonesian |
Other names | 23 aliases[a] |
Awards | National Hero of Indonesia |
Era | Modern philosophy
|
Region | Eastern philosophy |
Main interests | Epistemology, Socialism, Marxism, Trotskyism, Pan-Islamism |
Notable ideas | Madilog, National Marxism, 100% independent Indonesia |
Tan Malaka (2 June 1897 – 21 February 1949) was an Indonesian teacher,
Early life
Family and childhood
Tan Malaka's full name was Ibrahim Gelar Datuk Sutan Malaka.[b] His given name was Ibrahim, but he was known both as a child and as an adult as Tan Malaka, an honorary and semi-aristocratic name, he inherited from his mother's aristocratic background.[3] He was born in present-day Nagari Pandam Gadang, Suliki, Lima Puluh Kota Regency, West Sumatra, which was then under the rule of the Dutch East Indies.[2] His date of birth in unclear, and varies from source to source, but is likely sometime between 1894 and 1897.[c]
His father was HM. Rasad Caniago, an agricultural employee, and Rangkayo Sinah Simabur, a daughter of a respected figure in the village. As a child, Tan Malaka lived with his parents in Suliki, and studied
Time in the Netherlands
Arriving at the Netherlands, Tan Malaka initially experienced a
He also began reading the works of
Early struggle
Teaching and journalism
Following his graduation, he left the Netherlands and returned to his village. He accepted a job offer by Dr. C. W. Janssen to teach the children of the
Tan Malaka went to
Involvement with the PKI
Sarekat Islam was split as a result, forming the Sarekat Islam Putih (White Sarekat Islam), led by Tjokroaminoto, and the Sarekat Islam Merah (Red Sarekat Islam), led by Semaun and based in Semarang.[22] After the congress, Tan Malaka was asked by Semaun to go to Semarang to join PKI. He accepted the offer, and went to Semarang.[23] Arriving in Semarang, he became ill. A month later, he had returned to health, and participated in a meeting with fellow Sarekat Islam Semarang members. The meeting concluded that a rival to the government-administered schools were needed. This led to the creation of a new school, named the Sekolah Sarekat Islam ("Sarekat Islam School"), which would be better known as Sekolah Tan Malaka ("Tan Malaka's School"). The schools spread to Bandung and Ternate, with enrollment beginning on 21 June 1921.[23][24] The schools were the main reason for Tan Malaka's growing prestige and rapid rise within the PKI.[25] As a guidebook for the schools, Tan Malaka wrote the SI Semarang dan Onderwijs, a guide to managing the schools.[18]
In June 1921, Tan Malaka became the chairman of the Serikat Pegawai Pertjitakan ("Printing Workers Association"), and served as the vice chairman and
Exile in Europe
On 13 February 1922, while he visited a school in Bandung, he was arrested by Dutch authorities, who felt threatened by the existence of the Communist Party.[23] He was first exiled to Kupang; however, he wanted to be exiled to the Netherlands, and was sent there by the Dutch authorities. However, the date of his arrival in the Netherlands is disputed.[e][27][28] In the Netherlands, he joined the Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) and was appointed as the third candidate of the party for the House of Representatives, at the 1922 elections.[18][27] He was the first Dutch colonial subject (since he was from the Dutch East Indies) to ever to run for office in the Netherlands. He didn't expect to be elected because, under the system of proportional representation in use, his third position on the ticket made his election highly unlikely. His stated goal in running was instead to gain a platform to speak about Dutch actions in Indonesia, and to work to persuade the CPN to support Indonesian independence. Although he did not win a seat, he received unexpectedly strong support.[29] Before the counting of votes was finished, he left the Netherlands and went to Germany.[30]
In
He also became an agent of the Eastern Bureau of the
Exile in Asia
In July 1925, Tan Malaka moved to
He described in his autobiography his frustration with his inability to secure information about events in Indonesia from his place in the Philippines, and his lack of influence with the PKI's leadership. As Comintern representative for Southeast Asia, Tan Malaka argued that he had authority to reject the PKI's plan, an assertion which was, in retrospect, denied by certain former PKI members.[37] Tan Malaka sent Alimin to Singapore to convey his views, and ordered him to organize an impromptu meeting between the leaders. Seeing no progress, he went to Singapore himself to meet Alimin and learned that Alimin and Musso had traveled to Moscow to seek help to carry out a revolt. In Singapore, Tan Malaka met Subakat, another PKI leader, who shared his views. They decided to thwart Musso and Alimin's plan. During this period he wrote the Massa Actie (Mass Action),[36] which contained his view on Indonesian revolution and nationalist movements.[39] In this book, he proposes Aslia, a social federation between Southeast Asia countries and Northern Australia. The book was intended to support his effort to reverse the direction of PKI and gain support of the cadres on his side.[40]
Later life and death
Attempts at arrest
In December 1926, Tan Malaka went to
The police of the Kulangsu (Gulangyu) International Settlement, were notified of Tan Malaka's passage to Amoy, waited for him in the harbor with the intention of arresting him for extradition to the Dutch East Indies, as the Dutch wanted to apprehend him, and send him to the Boven-Digoel concentration camp. But he managed to escape as the sympathetic captain and crew protected him, entrusting his safety to a ship inspector. The ship inspector took Tan Malaka to a guest house from where he made his way to Sionching village with newly made acquaintances. Tan Malaka then traveled to Shanghai in the end of 1929.[43] Poeze writes that Malaka may have met Alimin there in August 1931, and made an agreement with him that Malaka would work again for the Comintern.[44] Malaka moved to Shanghai in September 1932 after the attack made by the Japanese forces, and decided to go to India, disguised as a Chinese-Filipino and using an alias. When he was in Hong Kong in early October 1932, he was arrested by British officials from Singapore, and was detained for several months.
He hoped to have a chance to argue his case under
The oppression of the Chinese he saw under both of these powers, Kusno argues, contributed to his uncompromising position against collaboration with the Japanese or negotiation with the Dutch in the 1940s, when many prominent Indonesian nationalists were adopting a more conciliatory stance.
National revolution
After the proclamation of the independence of Indonesia, he began to meet his people of his own and the younger generation. He also started using his real name again, after 20 years using aliases. He then traveled to in Java and saw the people of the city of Surabaya, fighting against the British Indian Army in November. He realized the differences of struggling between the people in some places and the leaders in Jakarta. He thought the leaders were too weak in negotiation with the Dutch.[47] His solution to this perceived disconnect was to found the Persatuan Perjuangan ("Struggle Front, or United Action"), a coalition of about 140 smaller groups, notably not including the PKI. After a few months of discussion, the coalition was formally founded at a congress in Surakarta in mid-January 1946.[49]
The coalition adopted a "Minimum Program", which declared that only complete independence was acceptable, that government must obey the wishes of the people, and that foreign-owned plantations and industry should be nationalized.[49] The Persatuan Perjuangan had widespread popular support, as well as support in the republican army, especially Major General Sudirman. In February 1946, the organization forced the temporary resignation of Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir, a proponent of negotiation with the Dutch, and Sukarno consulted with Tan Malaka to seek his support.[50][51] However, Tan Malaka was apparently unable to bridge political divisions within his coalition to transform it into actual political control, and he was arrested shortly thereafter,[52] with Sjahrir returning to lead Sukarno's cabinet.[50][52]
Guerilla and death
Upon his release, he spent the following months in
Sabarudin, however, was in conflict with all other armed groups. On 17 February, the
Thought
Marxism and religion
Tan Malaka argued strongly that marxism and Islam were compatible, and that, in Indonesia, revolution should be built upon both. Thus, he was a strong supporter of the PKI's continued alliance with Sarekat Islam (SI), and was troubled when, while he was in exile, the PKI broke away from SI. On an international scale, Tan Malaka also saw Islam as holding the potential for unifying the working classes in vast parts of North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia against imperialism and capitalism. This position put him in opposition to many European Communists and the leadership of Comintern, who saw religious belief as a hindrance to a proletarian revolution and a tool of the ruling class.[31] He became a trotskyist later during National Revolution and founded Murba party to strongly oppose PKI influence.
Politics
Malaka described Nietzsche's,
Sociology
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2019) |
Education
According to Harry A. Poeze, Malaka assumed that the colonial government used the educational system to produce educated indigenous people who would repress their own people. Malaka founded Sekolah Sarekat Islam to rival the government schools.
Legacy
Indonesian historians describe Malaka as a "communist, nationalist, national communist, Trotskyist, idealist, Muslim leader, and Minangkabau chauvinist".[65]
Tan Malaka's best-known written work is his autobiography, Dari Pendjara ke Pendjara. He wrote the three-volume work by hand while imprisoned by the republican Sukarno government in 1947 and 1948. The work alternates between theoretical chapters describing Tan Malaka's political beliefs and philosophy and more conventional autobiographical chapters that discuss various phases of his life. Volume three has an especially loose narrative structure, containing commentary on Marxist historiography, his positions on the ongoing fight with the Netherlands over Indonesia's independence, and reprints of sections of key documents related to the struggle. Dari Pendjara ke Pendjara is one of a very small number of autobiographies set in colonial Indonesia.[66] The translated book, From Jail to Jail (1991), attracted the English speaking labor movement's attention.[67]
Bibliography
- Parlemen atau Soviet - Parliamentary or Soviet (1920)
- SI Semarang dan Onderwijs - SI Semarang and Education (1921)
- Dasar Pendidikan - Basic of Education (1921)
- Tunduk Pada Kekuasaan Tapi Tidak Tunduk Pada Kebenaran - To Abide by Power, But Not by Truth (1922)
- Naar de Republiek Indonesia (Menuju Republik Indonesia) - Towards of the Republic of Indonesia (1924)
- Semangat Muda - Spirit of Youth (1926)
- Massa Actie - Mass Action (1926)
- Local Actie dan National Actie (1926)
- Pari en Nasionalisten - Pari and Nationalism (1927)
- Pari dan PKI - Pari and PKI (1927)
- Pari International (1927)
- Manifesto Bangkok (1927)
- Aslia Bergabung - Aslia Merge (1943)
- Madilog (Materialisme, Dialektika, Logika) - Materialism, Dialectics, and Logic (1943)
- Muslihat - Deception (1945)
- Rencana Ekonomi Berjuang - Struggling Economic Plans (1945)
- Politik - Politics (1945)
- Manifesto Jakarta (1945)
- Thesis (1946)
- Pidato Purwokerto - Purwokerto Speech (1946)
- Pidato Solo - Solo Speech (1946)
- Islam dalam Tinjauan Madilog - Islam in Madilog Views (1948)
- Gerpolek (Gerilya, Politik, Ekonomi) - Guerilla, Politics, Economy (1948)
- Pidato Kediri - Kediri Speech (1948)
- Pandangan Hidup - Views of Life (1948)
- Kuhandel di Kaliurang - I'm Holding in Kaliurang (1948)
- Proklamasi 17-8-45, Isi dan Pelaksanaanya - 17-8-45 Proclamation, Contents and Implementation (1948)
- Dari Pendjara ke Pendjara - From Jail To Jail (1970)
Notes
- ^ Syaifudin (2012, p. 63) wrote that Tan Malaka used 23 aliases. Malaka used Elias Fuentes, Esahislau Rivera, and Alisio Rivera in the Philippines. While in Singapore he used Hasan Gozali. Ossorio was used when he was in Shanghai. Tan Min Sion when he was in Burma. While in Hong Kong he used 13 different names, one of them was Ong Song Lee. In other part of China he used Cheung Kun Tat and Howard Lee. While in Indonesia he used Dasuki, Ramli Hussein, and Ilyas Husein.
- ^ The word gelar in his title, "Gelar Datuk Tan Malaka" implied that he was a penghulu andiko, or formal head of a sabuah parui (a community of descendants of a maternal ancestor connected with a particular maternal house, an important component of the Minangkabau social structure).[2]
- ^ In Djamaludin Tamin's Kematian Tan Malaka ("Death of Tan Malaka"),[4] and Helen Jarvis' Tan Malaka: Revolutionary or Renegade?,[3] his date of birth is listed in 1896, with Tamin putting his exact date of birth as falling on 2 June 1896. Other sources also put a different date for his birth, Wasid Suwarto puts the date on 14 October 1897,[5] while Harry Poeze states that Malaka was born around 1894.[6]
- ^ Tan Malaka had actually wanted to receive the hoofdacte diploma, which was a higher diploma than the one he had received. However, his poor health prevented him from continuing further education.[15]
- ^ Syaifudin states that he arrived in the Netherlands on 10 March,[28] while Helen Jarvis states that he arrived on 24 March.[27]
References
- Notes
- ^ "Hari ini Kelahiran Tan Malaka, Pemberi Inspirasi Sukarno - Hatta". Tempo. Nasional Tempo. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ a b c Mrázek 1972, p. 6.
- ^ a b c d Jarvis 1987, p. 41.
- ^ Tamin 1965, p. 3.
- ^ Suwarto 2006, p. 29.
- ^ Poeze 2008, p. xv.
- ^ a b c Syaifudin 2012, pp. 53–54.
- ^ Mrázek 1972, p. 5.
- ^ a b Syaifudin 2012, p. 55.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, p. 56.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, p. 57.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, pp. 57–58.
- ^ Mrázek 1972, p. 7.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, p. 182.
- ^ a b c Syaifudin 2012, p. 58.
- ^ a b c Syaifudin 2012, p. 184.
- ^ a b c d Syaifudin 2012, p. 59.
- ^ a b c d Poeze 2008, p. xvi.
- ^ Jarvis 1987, pp. 41–42.
- ^ a b c Syaifudin 2012, p. 186.
- ^ a b c Jarvis 1987, p. 42.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, p. 187.
- ^ a b c d Syaifudin 2012, p. 60.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, pp. 188–189.
- ^ Mrázek 1972, p. 10.
- ^ Jarvis 1987, pp. 42–43.
- ^ a b c d e Jarvis 1987, p. 43.
- ^ a b Syaifudin 2012, pp. 191–192.
- ^ Malaka & Jarvis 1991 Vol. 1, p. 81.
- ^ Jarvis 1987, pp. 43–44.
- ^ a b c Jarvis 1987, p. 44.
- ^ a b Poeze 2008, p. xvii.
- ^ Jarvis 1987, pp. 44–45.
- ^ a b c d Jarvis 1987, p. 45.
- ^ Jarvis 1987, pp. 45–46.
- ^ a b c d Jarvis 1987, p. 46.
- ^ a b McVey 1965, p. 206.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, p. 61.
- ^ Jarvis 1987, pp. 46–47.
- ^ a b Jarvis 1987, p. 47.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, pp. 61–62.
- ^ Jarvis 1987, p. 49.
- ^ Jarvis 1987, p. 4 9.
- ^ Jarvis 1987, pp. 49–50.
- ^ Jarvis 1987, p. 50.
- ^ Malaka & Jarvis 1991 Vol. 2, pp. 33–52.
- ^ a b c Jarvis 1987, p. 51.
- ^ a b Kusno 2003.
- ^ a b Malaka & Jarvis 1991 Vol. 3, pp. 109–119.
- ^ a b Kahin 1952, pp. 174–176.
- ^ Jarvis 1987, p. 52.
- ^ a b Mrázek 1972, p. 47.
- ^ a b Syaifudin 2012, p. 64.
- ^ Poeze 2007, p. 105.
- ^ Mrázek 1972, p. 8.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, p. 175.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, pp. 223, 225, 231, 233.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, p. 223.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, p. 224.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, pp. 226–227.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, pp. 227–228.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, p. 232.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, p. 231.
- ^ Syaifudin 2012, pp. 233–234.
- ^ Kusno 2003, p. 328.
- ^ Watson 2000.
- ^ McInerney 2007.
- Sources
- Jarvis, Helen (1987). "Tan Malaka: Revolutionary or Renegade?" (PDF). Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars. 19 (1): 41–55. ISSN 0007-4810.
- Kahin, George McT. (1952). Nationalism and Revolution in Indonesia. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-87727-734-7.
- Kusno, Abidin (November 2003). "From City to City: Tan Malaka, Shanghai, and the Politics of Geographical Imagining". Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography. 24 (3). Blackwell Publishing: 327–339. .
- Malaka, Tan; Jarvis, Helen (1991). From Jail to Jail. Research in International Studies, Southeast Asia Series. Vol. 1. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies.
- Malaka, Tan; Jarvis, Helen (1991). From Jail to Jail. Research in International Studies, Southeast Asia Series. Vol. 2. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies.
- Malaka, Tan; Jarvis, Helen (1991). From Jail to Jail. Research in International Studies, Southeast Asia Series. Vol. 3. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies.
- McInerney, Andy (1 January 2007). "Tan Malaka and Indonesia's Freedom Struggle". Socialism and Liberation. 4 (1). Archived from the original on 20 August 2012.
- McVey, Ruth T. (1965). The Rise of Indonesian Communism. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
- Mrázek, Rudolf (October 1972). "Tan Malaka: A Political Personality's Structure of Experience". Indonesia. 14. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University's Southeast Asia Program: 1–48. hdl:1813/53543.
- Poeze, Harry A. (2007). Verguisd en vergeten: Tan Malaka, de linkse beweging en de Indonesische Revolutie, 1945–1949. Leiden: KITLV. ISBN 978-90-6718-258-4.
- Poeze, Harry A. (2008). Tan Malaka, Gerakan Kiri, dan Revolusi Indonesia. Vol. 1. translated by Hersri Setiawan. Jakarta: Yayasan Obor Indonesia. ISBN 978-979-461-697-0.
- Suwarto, Wasid (2006). Mewarisi Gagasan Tan Malaka. Jakarta: LPPM Tan Malaka. ISBN 978-979-99038-2-2.
- Syaifudin (2012). Tan Malaka: Merajut Masyarakat dan Pendidikan Indonesia yang Sosialistis. Yogyakarta: Ar-Ruzz Media. ISBN 978-979-25-4911-9.
- Tamin, Djamaludin (1965). Kematian Tan Malaka. No publisher.
- Watson, C.W. (2000). Of Self and Nation: Autobiography and the Representation of Modern Indonesia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-2281-1.