Soe Hok Gie

(Soe's Tombstone, Museum Prasasti, Tanah Abang, Jakarta)

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" The history of the world is one of oppression. The question is, can there be history without oppression or without sadness and betrayal? It's like, when studying history, the only thing we find is betrayal. It is there, in each and every part of our life, and yet we can do nothing about it. How very tragic this is. But "life is suffering," so says the Buddha, and people cannot escape from it."

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Gie was an ethnically Chinese Roman Catholic, the fourth of five children in his family; his elder brother Arief Budiman (also known as Soe Hok Djin; Traditional Chinese: 蘇福秦; Pinyin: Sū Fúqín), a sociologist and lecturer at the Satya Wacana Christian University, was also quite a vocal critical voice in Indonesian politics.

After spending his final years of senior high school at Kanisius, Gie attended the University of Indonesia from 1962 until 1969; upon finishing university he became a lecturer at his alma mater until his death. It was during his time as a student that Gie became an active dissident, protesting against President Sukarno and the PKI. Gie was a productive writer, with articles published in such newspapers as Kompas, Harian Kami, Sinar Harapan, Mahasiswa Indonesia, and Indonesia Raya. After the release of Riri Riza's Gie in 2005, his articles were compiled by Stanley and Aris Santoso and republished with the title Zaman Peralihan (Transition Era) by publisher GagasMedia.

An avid proponent of living close to nature, Gie quoted Walt Whitman in his diary: "Now I see the secret of the making of the best person. It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth". In 1965, Gie helped found Mapala UI, a student environmentalist organisation. He enjoyed hiking, and indeed died through inhaling poisonous gas while hiking up the volcanic Mount Semeru on the day before his 27th birthday.

Fittingly, Gie once wrote in his diary:

This roughly translates to English as "A Greek philosopher once said... The best fate is that of the unborns, the second one is that of those who die young, and the distant third is that of those who die in the old age. I feel that this is right: Happy are those who die young." Gie attributed the statement, which echoes similar comments from Friedrich Nietzsche, to an anonymous Greek philosopher.

His diary was published in 1983, under the title Catatan Seorang Demonstran (English: Annotations of a Demonstrator). Gie's university thesis was also published, as Di Bawah Lantera Merah (Under the Red Lantern).

Gie's diary served as the inspiration for a 2005 film, Gie, which was directed by Riri Riza and starred Nicholas Saputra as Soe Hok Gie. Gie is also the subject of a 1997 book, written by Dr John Maxwell and entitled Soe Hok-Gie: Diary of a Young Indonesian Intellectual. The book was translated into Indonesian in 2001, and re-titled Soe Hok-Gie: Pergulatan Intelektual Muda Melawan Tirani (which roughly translates to English as Soe Hok-Gie: A Young Intellectual's Struggle Against Tyranny).

taken from : [link]

more about Gie :
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“GURU yang tidak tahan KRITIK harus dibuang ke tempat SAMPAH. GURU bukan DEWA yang selalu BENAR dan SISWA bukan KERBAU yang harus mengikuti perintahnya”

Sebuah pemikiran luar biasa dari seorang Gie saat masih duduk di bangku SMP Strada.

Sayang sekali tak banyak catatan hidupnya semasa di SMA (lulus tahun 1961). Tapi gw setuju dengan pendapatnya, bahwa masa-masa SMA merupakan masa yang indah.

Yang dirasa aneh dari meninggalnya Gie adalah ia meninggal sehari sebelum ulang tahunnya yang ke-27 dan menurut buku hariannya ia telah mendapatkan semacam penglihatan bahwa ia akan meninggal serta silahkan kaitkan hal ini dengan kutipan dari buku hariannya :

"Seorang filsuf Yunani pernah menulis ; nasib terbaik adalah tidak dilahirkan, yang kedua dilahirkan tapi mati muda, dan yang tersial adalah umur tua. Rasa-rasanya memang begitu. Bahagialah mereka yang mati muda."

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Gie akan selalu menjadi sumber inspirasi pemuda Indonesia.

For me, he was THE REAL CANISIAN....