From Jail to Jail. Tan Malaka

its existence, and this “self-acting armed organization of the population.” (Volume III, p. 48)⁹

      To this end Tan Malaka makes frequent use of proverbs and myth, both from Indonesian (especially Minangkabau, his own ethnic group) and from European (especially Dutch) tradition. He uses terms with great traditional weight from these traditions cheek by jowl one with another: for example Adil dan Zhalim (Arabic for “justice and tyranny”) and seija-sekata (the Minangkabau concept of consensus) with “imperialism” and “capitalism.” Sometimes he makes unfamiliar ideas clear by analogy, such as explaining the legal expression non bis in idem in terms of the Minang customary law as kata dahulu ditepati, kata demudian ditjari-tjari, or the concept of separation of powers in terms of Minang or American history.

      Tan Malaka also employs language conventions from the traditional Malay chronicle. He refers to himself in the third person as sahibul hikajat ini (the scribe of this chronicle), and concludes a section with the punctuating demikianlah (so it is), serving to provide a familiar reference point for his readers in the midst of the new concepts he is seeking to impart.

      In most cases Tan Malaka seems content to use Marxist terminology without further explanation. “Capitalism,” “feudalism,” and “imperialism” are used right through the text in Indonesianized form (kapitalisme, feodalisme, imperialisme) but with no further definition. Some terms are given a translation into Indonesian, for instance, “surplus value” is explained as nilai lebih, and dialectical materialism as dialiektika berdasarkan benda (dialectic based on objects).

      While by the late 1940s certain of these terms were in common usage in Indonesia, others would have been used only by the political elite, among whom Dutch was still prevalent during the revolutionary period. As Benedict Anderson puts it,

      Since it [Dutch] was the school language of this whole generation of intellectuals which grew up before the Japanese Occupation, it remained the inner language of elite discourse, especially between nationalists of different ethnic groups. It was the medium for thinking about and absorbing ideas and institutions from the West (including Russia) which promised to liberate and elevate the peoples of Indonesia from the grip of their white masters. It also built up elite cohesion vis-a-vis the Dutch and the indigenous masses.¹⁰

      The difficulty is to ascertain what meaning the readers of this text would have ascribed to these terms, either with or without an Indonesian “translation.” To that end, a text such as From Jail to Jail must be read against contemporary historical accounts of political actions. Today’s readers of the text, particularly Western readers of the English translation, must struggle against the tendency to project their own interpretation into the terms. Tan Malaka appears to have regarded two key Marxist concepts as requiring special attention. He uses the term “proletariat” very sparingly and developed his own term, murba, for use in the Asian political context (see below, pp. xci-xcv). The concept of class is clearly a problematic one throughout the text. At times he uses the Dutch word klas and at other times the Indonesian terms golongan or kaum occasionally even within the same paragraph. The following passage is an example:

      A state can flourish as long as the old property- and power-holding class (kaum jang berpunja) is able to institute progress (technical, social, political, and cultural). This old state will fall and a new state arise, when the old is no longer capable of progress and the new, formerly oppressed, class is able to organize, struggle, and replace the old and carry out progress in all fields of society. (Volume III, p. 51)

      Adventure and the Pacar Merah Myth

      A strong feature of From Jail to Jail is the racy “adventure” style of much of the autobiographical account. Of course Tan Malaka’s life story lends itself to romantic overplaying, and this was indeed the theme of much of the commentary about him, in particular the Pacar Merah (Scarlet Pimpernel) stories (discussed below, p. lxxii-lxxiii) in which a thinly disguised Tan Malaka performs astonishing feats of romance and espionage.

      What is of particular interest here is the reflection back into Tan Malaka’s own perception of his experiences of the tone of these reports and romances. Tan Malaka’s farewell to Hong Kong as he was deported to China in 1933 (Volume II, p. 52) illustrates this point, as does Tan Malaka’s colorful account of his arrest and detention in the Philippines and his subsequent deportation (Volume I, chapter 13). One could be forgiven for thinking one was reading Matu Mona’s novel Spionnagedienst, which describes in similar style the events of August 1927. Not only are publicly reported details of his arrest and interrogation recounted in this novel, but also matters such as the implications of the death of governor general Wood, and the attitudes of acting governor general Gilmore on Tan Malaka’s case and the visit of a woman to the jail, asking to see Tan Malaka, declaring herself to be his wife.¹¹

      In turn, Matu Mona bases this section of his novel almost word for word on the Sumatran newspaper Pewarta Deli reports on 30 June and 1 July 1933 of Tan Malaka’s Philippine arrest, including the dialogue used in his interrogation and the dramatic element of his escapes. Tan Malaka’s apparent plagiarism in From Jail to Jail may be rather a case of Tan Malaka reworking his own earlier renditions of the tale, for I believe that it is more than likely that Tan Malaka himself sent the despatches from which the articles were written.

      Personal Rapportage

      Yet another style makes its presence felt alongside didacticism and adventure. This is Tan Malaka’s personal rapportage. Written in catchy and informal prose, this style is used both for events of historical importance and for anecdotal accounts of his own experiences.

      Tan Malaka’s presentation of historical events at which he was present, as well as those reconstructed secondhand, bring alive the historic moments of the early days of the Indonesian revolution, such as his dramatization of the night before the proclamation of independence (Volume III, chapter 8), which characteristically intersperses narrative with dialogue and documentary evidence, and a summary of Tan Malaka’s conclusions reached from the event being described. His reconstructions of episodes of the Philippines revolution, in particular the execution of Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio, are moving vignettes.

      A large proportion of the text is devoted, not to questions of great moment, but rather to personal, day-to-day, and what may even be described as inconsequential, matters. Here Tan Malaka is concerned to evoke an atmosphere and to show, from individual experiences, how different societies and personalities function. While from one standpoint Tan Malaka’s autobiography is tantalizing, elusive, and evasive—often avoiding naming names and debating policies—from another standpoint it is rich with the spirit of the many situations in which he found himself.

      The young Indonesian student’s experiences in an alien environment are poignant. In Holland, the food, the Dutch education system, the personal animosities among his landlords and fellow boarders, his illness, his developing political consciousness and consequent feelings of hostility and tension towards the colonial power—all are painted evocatively. Tan Malaka’s depiction of social relations on the tobacco plantation in Deli is another example. Life in Chinese villages in the late 1920s and early 1930s, with its privation and revolt, is depicted emotively, as are Singapore and Java under the Japanese occupation. Personal anecdote is used skillfully to make sociological and political comment.

      These sections of the text reveal Tan Malaka as a keen observer of events, with a talent for sketching the mood of a scene and the personalities involved. His many years’ experience as a writer show in his ability to articulate a situation or problem clearly, illustrating it all the more forcefully by bringing it down to the level of individuals with whom Tan Malaka has a clear empathy. We see this, for example, in his depiction of the struggle between old and new ways in China in the 1930s through the tragic story of “A.P.” who was “married against her will” (Volume II, pp. 85-88) and in the happier romance of two young students (Volume II, pp. 71-74).

      Tan Malaka’s personalization of political issues is seen strikingly in the character sketches of Sukarno, Hatta, Sjahrir, and Amir Sjarifuddin (Volume III, pp.