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JAKARTA
POST, 04 Juli 2013
Death is
always in God’s hands. When or where it occurs is a mystery, what is certain is
that death is inevitable. The recent death of People’s Consultative Assembly
(MPR) speaker Taufiq Kiemas is a prime example of this. TK, as he was known,
departed to his eternal resting place with his family and friends by his side.
After a number of illnesses had consumed his body, TK never surrendered but he finally succumbed to the inevitable. His revolutionary spirit of national unity and integrity was not in any way sidelined by his illness. This spirit continued to make him forget he was only human.
National unity and integrity were convictions that guided his political views. Right until the end TK never deviated from his principles although probably many viewed him as having strayed from them. TK cared little because national unity and integrity had replaced his weakening heart. He lived and died for this.
In TK’s mind Indonesia was created through unavoidable complexity. TK was always convinced Indonesia was like a full and colorful rainbow stretching from Sabang to Merauke. However, these colors only become graceful and beautiful when framed by our natural environment.
All of us admire this vision. If this rainbow is distorted then its beauty and grace will disperse and vanish. It is within this kind of format that I see TK in his national life.
Consequently, it comes as no surprise that whenever TK was politically active he never budged from his agenda of unity and integrity. He was totally convinced that the colors of Indonesia had to be framed with unity and integrity where the colors of this rainbow were painted into our natural environment.
With convictions like this TK was obsessed with the idea that his party belonged to everyone.
Never tiring, he looked high and low to invite the youth to ride with him in his canoe and help him paddle. He made every attempt to include them.
This principle made him flexible in his politics. Indicative of his broadminded views was his wish to have a coalition with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and having this flexibility spelled out in concrete terms to confirm his obsession to make his political party open to all.
This obsession and conviction often brought TK into the limelight and was even challenged by his own members.
Luckily, the limelight nevertheless affirmed his conviction: The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has to be inclusive yet conservative over the ideology of national unity and integrity.
TK was gifted with a talent for lobbying. He was extremely clever at creating strategic friendships.
He naturally greeted and waved to ordinary people as he smiled and shook their hands warmly. These talents were strengthened by his mission in life.
During his life’s mission, TK happily met with friends and his political opponents for hours chatting, or singing and eating together. He always stayed up late with his friends, neglecting the fact his health was deteriorating. He essentially forgot he had limits.
Although TK had been fully aware of his failing health, his commitment to his party and to national life, which was showing signs of instability, remained spirited.
This attitude why PDI-P has remained relatively stable compared with other political parties. TK presented himself as a political tailor, who was skilled at preventing the threads from unraveling. TK showed he was the glue that held his party together.
What made TK unique was his communication skills. He was not someone who mesmerized his audience with sweet words. He was not someone who impressed with his skill at explaining something.
He even gave the impression that he was not an accomplished speaker who rarely enjoyed applause from audiences.
But in communicating with him, people were left with one lasting impression: a mesmerizing intimacy.
Conscious of his verbal limits, TK had a personal magnetism that made people respect him. He easily remembered faces and names. No matter how busy he was, he readily approached people.
This communication skill that separated TK from others was his ability to break deadlocked discussions. He would cleverly start a conversation with someone from any group. This personal skill penetrated the barriers of age, profession, ethnicity and religion.
So, an hour after learning he had left us forever, I visited his house in Jakarta to pay my respects. There were crowds of people from all backgrounds. They came, not to view his body, which was still in Singapore, but out of respect for his contribution to their lives and to our nation.
The rainbow he brought us remains with us, brightening, freshening and bridging our archipelago from Sabang to Merauke. Good-bye Pak TK. ●
After a number of illnesses had consumed his body, TK never surrendered but he finally succumbed to the inevitable. His revolutionary spirit of national unity and integrity was not in any way sidelined by his illness. This spirit continued to make him forget he was only human.
National unity and integrity were convictions that guided his political views. Right until the end TK never deviated from his principles although probably many viewed him as having strayed from them. TK cared little because national unity and integrity had replaced his weakening heart. He lived and died for this.
In TK’s mind Indonesia was created through unavoidable complexity. TK was always convinced Indonesia was like a full and colorful rainbow stretching from Sabang to Merauke. However, these colors only become graceful and beautiful when framed by our natural environment.
All of us admire this vision. If this rainbow is distorted then its beauty and grace will disperse and vanish. It is within this kind of format that I see TK in his national life.
Consequently, it comes as no surprise that whenever TK was politically active he never budged from his agenda of unity and integrity. He was totally convinced that the colors of Indonesia had to be framed with unity and integrity where the colors of this rainbow were painted into our natural environment.
With convictions like this TK was obsessed with the idea that his party belonged to everyone.
Never tiring, he looked high and low to invite the youth to ride with him in his canoe and help him paddle. He made every attempt to include them.
This principle made him flexible in his politics. Indicative of his broadminded views was his wish to have a coalition with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and having this flexibility spelled out in concrete terms to confirm his obsession to make his political party open to all.
This obsession and conviction often brought TK into the limelight and was even challenged by his own members.
Luckily, the limelight nevertheless affirmed his conviction: The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has to be inclusive yet conservative over the ideology of national unity and integrity.
TK was gifted with a talent for lobbying. He was extremely clever at creating strategic friendships.
He naturally greeted and waved to ordinary people as he smiled and shook their hands warmly. These talents were strengthened by his mission in life.
During his life’s mission, TK happily met with friends and his political opponents for hours chatting, or singing and eating together. He always stayed up late with his friends, neglecting the fact his health was deteriorating. He essentially forgot he had limits.
Although TK had been fully aware of his failing health, his commitment to his party and to national life, which was showing signs of instability, remained spirited.
This attitude why PDI-P has remained relatively stable compared with other political parties. TK presented himself as a political tailor, who was skilled at preventing the threads from unraveling. TK showed he was the glue that held his party together.
What made TK unique was his communication skills. He was not someone who mesmerized his audience with sweet words. He was not someone who impressed with his skill at explaining something.
He even gave the impression that he was not an accomplished speaker who rarely enjoyed applause from audiences.
But in communicating with him, people were left with one lasting impression: a mesmerizing intimacy.
Conscious of his verbal limits, TK had a personal magnetism that made people respect him. He easily remembered faces and names. No matter how busy he was, he readily approached people.
This communication skill that separated TK from others was his ability to break deadlocked discussions. He would cleverly start a conversation with someone from any group. This personal skill penetrated the barriers of age, profession, ethnicity and religion.
So, an hour after learning he had left us forever, I visited his house in Jakarta to pay my respects. There were crowds of people from all backgrounds. They came, not to view his body, which was still in Singapore, but out of respect for his contribution to their lives and to our nation.
The rainbow he brought us remains with us, brightening, freshening and bridging our archipelago from Sabang to Merauke. Good-bye Pak TK. ●
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