Professional Documents
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PP5054/06/2011(028668) IssueNo.3March2011
Conversations
with
JusufWanandi
Preamble..1
TheActivistfromTanahAbang..2
EyesandEars..9
APartingofWays..13
INSTITUTEOFSTRATEGICANDINTERNATIONALSTUDIES(ISIS)MALAYSIA
www.isis.org.my
LimitedCirculation
ISISMalaysiascoreareasofresearchinclude:
Economics;
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SocialPolicy;and
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Itsobjectivesare:
Toundertakeresearchinvariousandspecific
AboutISIS fields and conduct longterm analysis of
public policies on national and international
issues;
The Institute of Strategic and International
To contribute towards efforts in promoting
Studies (ISIS), Malaysias premier thinktank
general and professional discussions on
was established on April 8, 1983. As an
important national and international issues
autonomous and nonprofit organisation, ISIS
through the organization of seminars,
isengagedinobjectiveandindependentpolicy
conferencesandotheractivities;
research. It also fosters dialogue and debate
amongthepublicsector,theprivatesectorand To provide an avenue and a forum for
academia. individuals, experts and intellectuals from
variousfieldstoexchangeviewsandopinions
ISIS has been at the forefront of some of the and to conduct research in a free and
most significant nationbuilding initiatives in conduciveatmosphere;
Malaysias history, such as contributing to the To disseminate information on research
Vision 2020 concept and as the consultant to findings and other pertinent activities
the KnowledgeBased Economy Master Plan undertakenbyoronbehalfoftheInstitute;
initiative.TheInstitutehasalsoplayedarolein To provide library facilities on subjects
fostering closer regional integration and pertaining to national and international
internationalcooperationthroughforumssuch issues;
as the AsiaPacific Roundtable, the East Asia To collaborate and cooperate with other
CongressandtheNetworkofEastAsianThink bodies, within or outside Malaysia, in the
Tanks(NEAT). furtheranceofitsobjectives.
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InstituteofStrategicandInternationalStudies(ISIS)Malaysia
No.1,PersiaranSultanSalahuddin
P.O.Box12424,50778KualaLumpur,Malaysia
Tel: +60326939366
Fax: +60326915435
Email: info@isis.org.my
Website:www.isis.org.my
Preamble
I
nthisspecialissueofISISFocus,wejointheIndonesianmagazine,TEMPO,inhonouringandpaying
tributetoJusufWanandi.PakJusuf,asheisaffectionallycalled,is SeniorFellowatIndonesiasCentre
forStrategicandInternationalStudies(CSIS),andViceChairoftheBoardofTrusteesofCSISFoundation. At
the ripe age of seventyfour, he actively leads and participates in regional and international Track 2
dialoguesandconferences.
AgoodandcherishedfriendofISISMalaysia,PakJusufsassociationwithusgoesbackalongway.
Working handinhand with the late Tan Sri Dr. Noordin Sopiee and other stalwarts, Pak Jusuf was
instrumental in developing and nurturing the ASEAN Institutes of Strategic and International Studies
(ASEANISIS) into the epistemic community that it is today. A highly respected public intellectual and
articulate spokesperson for Asian positions on international affairs, he is undoubtedly one of Asias
leadinglightsinTrack2diplomacy.
Wehavereproduced herethearticlesfromTEMPO*entitledTEMPOMemoir,whichdocument
theillustriouslifeofJusufWanandi.TheyshedlightonJusufWanandiasaperson,aswellaspresenta
glimpseofhisintellectandastuteobservationsofcontemporaryAsia.
* Reproduced with permission from TEMPO (Issue No. 1110/November 39, 2010). The articles in the
following pages are based on interviews of Jusuf Wanandi by journalists of TEMPO. The style of
reportingthereforeisinformal.
ISISFOCUSNO.3/20111
TheActivistfrom
TanahAbang
2ISISFOCUSNO.3/2011
TheActivistfromTanahAbang
WasIreallyafraidofthem?
Itsnotlikethat,Sir.Iwasonceintheir
position,andtheyreverystrong.Wecouldbe
overrun.
HISconversationoccurredasItriedtostop
MajorGeneral Ali Moertopo, who was
intentonemergingfromtheofficesofthe
CSIS, brandishing a pistol. Ali wanted to confront
Hariman Siregar, Chairman of the University of
IndonesiaStudentsCouncil,whowasheadingupa
People at the Ciliwung River during the Malari Incident in
demonstration and accusing Ali of being a Jakarta,January15,1974
Japanesestooge.
The 1974 demonstration and the ensuing
ThebackgroundtotheMalariincidentwaspublic
riot became known as the Malari incident
angerresultingfromsoaringriceandotherbasic
(Indonesian abbreviation for The January 15
commodity prices, the cause of which was the
Tragedy). In his biography, written by Heru
globalrecessionthathadsetin1973duetothe
Cahyono,thePublicOrderandSecurityOperation
Araboilembargoandtheensuingsurgeinworld
commander, General Sumitro suggests that the
oilprices.Theangercametoaheadthroughthe
riot may actually have been engineered by Ali
student movement as the students had been
Moertopo.
asked by Sumitro six months before to criticize
ISISFOCUSNO.3/20113
ConversationswithJusufWanandi
undergroundonedevotedto
He had succeeded in sorting out the resistingthecommunists,who
rebellionbyanumberofgeneralsintheregions weresostrongbackthen
whowereunhappywithSuharto,includingKemal
Idris in Sulawesi, H.R. Dharsono in West Java,
Sarwo EdhieSusilo Bambang Yudhoyonos
fatherinlawin North Sumatra, and Amir Suharto sensed the outbreak of a Cold
Machmud. Sumitro managed to pull this off by War in the ranks. Acting quickly, he summoned
transferring the generals away from their power nine generals to the Palace on December 31,
bases. 1973. Besides Sumitro and Ali, also present were
Soedjono, Kharis Suhud, the head of Strategic
AsPublicOrderandSecuritycommander, Intelligence, later the Strategic Intelligence
Sumitro acted like a prime minister. He could Agency, Intelligence Coordinating Agency head
summon ministers, the Attorney General and Seotopo Joewono, Public Order and Security
4ISISFOCUSNO.3/2011
TheActivistfromTanahAbang
ISISFOCUSNO.3/2011 5
ConversationswithJusufWanandi
Withfamilyandrelatives
involved.Soweoptedformilitarymenwhowere ItwasAliwhopresenteduswithourfirst
able to think, like Ali Moertopo and Soedjono officesonJalanKesehatan,CentralJakarta.Itwas
Hoemardani. It was they who became the also Ali who provided the funding to set up the
protectorsoftheCSIS. institute. In order to allow us to become self
financing, we set up the Proclamation
AliandSoedjonowereSpecialOperations FoundationsubsequentlytheCSISFoundation
officers who subsequently became personal and Sofjan Wanandi was appointed treasurer to
assistants to Suharto. The special operation in takechargeoffundraising.
question was ordered by Army Minister and
Commander General Ahmad Yani to bring a We did not only present our studies to
resolution to the confrontation with Malaysia. In ourowngovernment,butalsotoothercountries.
reality, their duties were primarily political in Forexample,wepresentedareportattheJapan
nature. Indonesia Conference at the start of December
1973, six weeks prior to Malari, in which we
Through the CSIS, we provided political, criticized Japans policy of shoving its way into
economicanddefenseinputtoSuharto,allinthe Indonesia,includingintheinvestmentarena.
form of academic and strategic studies. We also
invited various experts from Western Europe to Iwasoftheopinionthat Japan,afterthe
assistus.DaudJusufandHadiSoesastrojoinedus endofWorldWarII,sawIndonesiaandSoutheast
lateraftertheyhadcompletedtheirstudies. Asia as nothing more than a market for their
products. They were still not very shrewd
politically so that they focused all their attention
ongovernmentsandlocalbusinesspeople.
ThroughtheCSIS,weprovided
political,economicanddefense We are used to studying Indonesias
bilateral relations with other nations, including
inputtoSuharto,allintheformof thenormalizationofrelationswithChinain1992.
academicandstrategicstudies At the time, China was looking up in both
economicanddefenseterms.
6ISISFOCUSNO.3/2011
TheActivistfromTanahAbang
Other studies were about multilateral Our father was a strict disciplinarian and
organizationsofwhichIndonesiaisamember.At the rattan rod was a regular feature in our lives.
the start of the New Order, we studied the By contrast, my mother, Katrina Tjoa Gim Jong
development of ASEAN. As it happened, eight Nio, was full of love and affection. She never
months before the signing of the ASEAN spokeharshlytous,wasalwayscheerfulandhada
declaration on August 8, 1967, I was assigned by positiveinfluenceonotherpeople.Itwasshewho
AliMoertopotostudyorganizationalcollaboration taughtusalwaystoempathizewithothers.
amongtheSoutheastAsiannations.
In1966,IwasknownasLiemBianKie.My
Atthepresenttime,theCSISisverymuch younger brother, Sofjan Wanandi, then a student
involved in providing reports on China to the activistattheUniversityofIndonesia,wasknown
government and the private sector, particularly asLiemBianKoen.AfterSuhartocametopower,I
sincetheenactmentoftheASEANChinafreetrade changed my family name to Wanandi, and my
agreementatthestartofthisyear. youngersiblingsfollowedsuit.
I am the fourth generation offspring of Sofjan and I have not had a political
immigrants from Fujian, China, who came here argument since the election of 2004. Sofjan,
backin1850.Therearesevenofuschildren,andI because he is close to Jusuf Kalla, supported the
am the oldest. I was born in Sawahlunto, West YudhoyonoKalla ticket, while I supported
Sumatra,aplaceknownforitscoalmines. Megawati,notbecauseshewasbetterbutrather
because she was courageous enough to defend
WhileImaybeofChinesedescent,Inever thepoliciesofhersubordinates.Ididnotseethis
went to a Chinese school. When I was small, I samecourageinYudhoyono.
went to a Dutch school in Padang, even though
the city also had a good Chinese school. My Because of our different political choices,
grandfather and father, Lim Gim To, still Sofjan and I did not talk for three months.
communicated with each other in the Fujian Whenever we met in our mothers house, we
dialect.
InhisCSISoffice,Jakarta
ISISFOCUSNO.3/2011 7
ConversationswithJusufWanandi
wouldalwayskeepourdistance.Iwouldbeinone itwas,itwouldalsohavebeenimpossibletomake
corner and Sofjan would be in another. Seeing trade policy work. So Mari Pangestu, also a CSIS
whatwasgoingon,Motherdecideditwastimeto economist, was proposed instead. It took a year
act.Agreat traveler,sheinvited usall togoona after Yudhoyono came to power for Sofjan to
10dayfamilytriptoChina. realizehehadmadethewrongchoice.
During the trip, naturally we did I invited Jusuf Kalla to the launch of a
everything together: travel, eat, shop, and so bit short biography of our mother at the Jakarta
by bit we began to forget about our differences. Theaterloungesometimeafterthe2009election.
Howcoulditbeanydifferent? Sofjan and I were united again, and were fully
behind Jusuf Kalla. Speaking from the podium, I
Upon our return from China, Sofjan was told Mother not to worry as Sofjan and I were
offered the Trade Ministry portfolio by Kalla. I both on the same wavelength this time around,
wouldntallowit.Asabusinessmanandtrader,he and while Kallas presidential bid had failed, he
wouldbelaboringunderaconflictofinterestifhe wasstillthebestcandidate.Kallasmiledwhenhe
acceptedtheoffer.Withthebureaucracytheway heardthis.
~~~~~
JusufWanandimeetingformerMalaysianPrimeMinister,AbdullahBadawi.ISISCEMahaniZainalAbidinisontheextremeleft
8ISISFOCUSNO.3/2011
EyesandEars
O
ntheadviceofcolleaguesintheCatholicparty,JusufWanandidecidedtogetclosetoSukarno,to
helpSuhartobecomepresident!
Beforedecidingwhetherornottotakeup
the offer, I sought advice from my colleague,
HarryTjan,whowasthenthesecretarygeneralof
the Catholic Party. I said to him, What do you
think?Ihadhopedtobecomeaprofessor.Atthe
time I had intended seeking a scholarship to do
my PhD at Harvard University in 1965, but in the SukarnoandSuharto
endIcancelledtheplan.
ISISFOCUSNO.3/20119
ConversationswithJusufWanandi
DesAlwi,AdnanBuyungNasution,andSofjanWanandi
10ISISFOCUSNO.3/2011
EyesandEars
ISISFOCUSNO.3/201111
ConversationswithJusufWanandi
had responsibility for security, Adam Malik was This session was convened in February 1967. We
given responsibility for politics and foreign allwantedSuhartotobecomepresident.
relations, while Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX was
assignedthetaskofmanagingtheeconomy. The problem was, however, that Suharto
was unwilling to use the term Pedjabat Presiden
Sukarno became even angrier when he (acting president), preferring instead, Pemangku
heard that relations with Malaysia had been Pedjabat Presiden (caretaker of the presidency
normalized on August 15. Two days later, Ed.).AccordingtoSuharto,Ionlywanttobethe
MalaysianDeputyPrimeMinisterTunAbdulRazak one to guard the presidency. If I use the term
was invited as a guest of honor to the Palace. acting president, people would curse me. The
Sukarno now realized it was an act of fait debatewentonallnightinthelobbyoutsidethe
accompli, and the tension continued to rise hallwheretheplenarysessionwastakingplace.
betweenhimandSuharto.
Intheend,thesolutionwasthatSuharto
Inordertoresolvethisdualism,Mashuris would be styled as PD Presiden in Indonesian, in
Law Graduates Association urged the MPRS (Ad whichthePDcouldbereadasPedjabat(acting)
Hoc Peoples Consultative Assembly) to hold a for short, or the abbreviation of Pemangku
special session to demand accountability from Pedjabat as in the old spelling, thus satisfying all
Sukarno over the September 30, 1965 incident. concerned.
~~~~~
JusufWanandiatthe21stAsiaPacificRoundtable,2007
12ISISFOCUSNO.3/2011
APartingofWays
A
fter 20 years, the CSIS began to part company with Suharto. One regret has been the
inabilitytobeclosetoMuslimgroups
MeetingPresidentSuharto
When Suharto and I were establishing the New about two months. The end of the process was
Order, what age were you all? Still in elementary thepreparationofthefinalcasefilesbyofficersof
school? Dont you know that it was I who made the Jakarta MetropolitanPolice.Fromtheoutset,
Suhartopresident? thepolicehadbeenverysympathetic.Sorry,Sir,
this is really nothing to do with us. We dont
ThiswasthelectureIgavetoanumber believeit,butwhatcanwedo?theytoldus.
of Military Police officers while I was questioned
inside the Guntur Detention Center in Jakarta. It Ihavenoideawhoimplicatedmybrother
wasMay1998andthepoliticalsituationwasvery and I in that bombing. But our relations with
tense.Therehadbeenaseriesofdisturbancesand Suhartohadgrownstrainedforsometime.Infact,
bombings all over the country. I and my younger eversinceIwrotehimamemobackin1987.Ten
brother, Sofjan, had been rounded up in years later, Sofjan rejected in no uncertain terms
connection with the bombing in Tanah Tinggi, thenominationofHabibieforvicepresidentwhen
Jakartas Senen area, in January that year. The he spoke to General Prabowo. At the time,
spotlight of suspicion had fallen upon us as a Prabowo had thought we were inviting him to
resultofanemailpurportedlysentbyanactivist stageacoupagainstSuharto.
fromthePeoplesDemocraticParty.
Afterthequestioning,anumberofmedia
Prior to the questioning, I had been organizations reported that I regretted what had
summoned by the Strategic Intelligence Agency, happened.ItistruethatIhadexpressedacertain
which had barred us from traveling abroad for regret over what had happened. However, I did
ISISFOCUSNO.3/2011 13
ConversationswithJusufWanandi
todosoastobeabletoobtainbusinessesforall
societywasbecomingmore ofhischildren.
complexwiththeriseofthe I was aware that after 20 years I was no
middleclassthatSuharto longerinapositiontoadviseSuhartowhatwasin
thecountrysbestinterests.AsIhadexpected,he
himselfhadfosteredduring got upset. He ordered his ministers to have
his20yearsinpower nothingmoretodowithus.Anumberofgenerals
who were close to us now had to keep their
distances, such as Wiyogo Atmodarminto, who
notmeanthatIregrettedthepoliticalaccusation, was then the Jakarta Governor. They were also
butrather,ImeantthatourrelationswithMuslim prohibitedfromgivingSofjananybusinessproject.
groupswerenotasgoodastheyoncewere.
Despite the difficulties, the CSIS was able
Throughout the Old Order, the Catholic tokeeponoperating.Thecredibilitythisinstitute
PartyandMasyumihadbeengreatfriends.When hadbuiltupontheinternationalstagemeantthat
Masyumi was banned by Sukarno, we defended therewasnoshortageofpatronsandsupportfor
them. However, after 1966, an old problem ourresearchwork.
returned to divide us, namely, the polemics over
theJakartaCharter.Atthestartofhispresidency The business interests of the Suharto
Suharto was not close to the Muslim groups, childrenwerenotonlyacauseofconcerntome.
however,intime,heclosedthegap. Two weeks before he passed away in 1984, Ali
Moertopodroppedbymyhome.Thesituationis
The memo that I wrote landed on getting worse. The Suhartos are everywhere, he
SuhartosdeskonedayinSeptember1987.Golkar said, adding, If the situation continues like this,
hadjustwonitsfourthelection,andSuhartowas its not only he who will be destroyed. This
once again set to be reelected. The memo Republicwillbedestroyed!
contained only two points, with detailed
explanations being given for each point. The first HehadcometoaskmetospeaktoBenny
onepointed outthatsocietywasbecoming more Moerdani.AskhimtospeaktoSuharto,toreinin
complex with the rise of the middle class that hischildren.Amongoldhandslikeus,onlyBenny
Suharto himself had fostered during his 20 years was still in Suhartos inner circle. Ali was now
in power. As a consequence, society was serving as the Deputy Chairman of the Supreme
becoming increasingly difficult to govern, unlike Advisory Council (DPA), a post that was outside
duringprevioustimesofchaoswhenSuhartohad theSuhartocircle.
emerged as a hero. Accordingly, I said, Suharto
neededtoappointnewteammembersthatwere Infact,Bennyhadalreadytakenthesteps
betterabletogovernsuchacomplexsociety. to look after the Suharto children. He first
Secondly,ItoldSuhartothatheneededto
comeupwithanewvisionforIndonesiaoverthe
coming20years.Itwasnolongerenoughtotinker ButIknewthatthiswas
with shortterm solutions, I said, while advising preciselywhathewantedto
him to delegate more powers to his coordinating
ministers.Youcannotdoeverythingbyyourself. dosoastobeabletoobtain
ButIknewthatthiswaspreciselywhathewanted businessesforallofhischildren
14ISISFOCUSNO.3/2011
APartingofWays
WithAliMoertopo
ISISFOCUSNO.3/201115
ConversationswithJusufWanandi
SuhartoconsistentlyrejectedsuggestionsthatSoedjonowashisspiritualteacher.Djonocankiss
myhand,heoftensaid.Infact,itwasSoedjonowhoactedasthegobetweeninthespiritualrelations
betweenSuhartoandRomoDiyat.
Suharto was also not averse to insulting people. He would often suggest that Sofjan Wanandis
successasabusinessmanwasduesolelytothefactthathehadbeenonthewinningsidebackin1966.
After Suhartos fall from power, Benny told me that he had been visited by Suhartos daughter
Tutut, who accused him of being arrogant for not coming to see her father. Benny immediately
responded that if Suharto wanted to see him, he would never refuse. So Tutut arranged a meeting at
Sigits house, where Suharto asked Benny what he had done wrong to be ousted from power. Benny
steadfastly replied, You left the Armed Forces, even though it was the Armed Forces which gave you
yourpowerbaseallthattime.
~~~~~
JusufWanandiatISISEvents
16ISISFOCUSNO.3/2011
JusufWanandiatISISEvents
INSTITUTEOFSTRATEGICANDINTERNATIONALSTUDIES(ISIS)MALAYSIA
No.1,PersiaranSultanSalahuddin
POBox12424,50778KualaLumpur
Malaysia
Tel:+60326939366
Fax:+60326915435
Email:info@isis.org.my
Website:www.isis.org.my