Indonesian writer Martin Aleida lived and wrote through a dark chapter of Indonesia’s history. His new memoir “Romanticism in the Years of Violence” sheds new light on the oppression and stigma faced by journalists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
On the evening of 21 0ctober 1966, Martin Aleida arrived at a house in Central Jakarta with 50 sticks of satay, to be shared with five friends. He had spent the previous week plastering walls and fitting pipes to light a house. His wages went partly to this satay, bought at the Pasar Baru shopping area.
At that last supper in Mangga Besar, there was no drop of wine or bread, only leftovers. What was present was Putu Oka and the people he gave safe-housing to and the 50 bamboo sticks that remained of the satay.
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Warief Djajanto Basorie reported for the domestic KNI News Service in Jakarta from 1971 to 1991 and concurrently was Indonesia correspondent for the Manila-based DEPTHnews Asia (DNA, 1974-1991). In 1991, Warief joined the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute (LPDS, Lembaga Pers Dr. Soetomo), a journalism school in Jakarta, as an instructor and convenor in thematic journalism workshops. He was project manager for three cycles of workshops on covering climate change from 2012 to 2017. More than 600 journalists in provinces in Sumatra, Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), Sulawesi and Papua that are prone to carbon-emitting forest and peat fires have participated.
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