Tan Malaka
Ibrahim Simabua Datuak Sutan Malaka, also known as Tan Malaka, was an Indonesian statesman, teacher, Marxist and philosopher who was the founder of Struggle Union and the Murba Party. He is also known as the Indonesian fighter, national hero, independent guerrilla and spy. Tempo credited him as "Father of the Republic of Indonesia".
Early life
Family and childhood
Tan Malaka's full name was Ibrahim Simabua gala Datuak Sutan Malaka. His given name was Ibrahim, but he was known both as a child and as an adult as Tan Malaka, an honorary and semi-aristocratic name, he inherited from his mother's aristocratic background. He was born in present-day Nagari Pandam Gadang, Suliki, Lima Puluh Kota Regency, West Sumatra, which was then under the rule of the Dutch East Indies. His date of birth in unclear, and varies from source to source, but is likely sometime between 1894 and 1897.His father was Haji Muhammad Rasad Caniago, an agricultural employee, and his mother was Rangkayo Sinah Simabua, a daughter of a respected figure in the village. As a child, Tan Malaka lived with his parents in Suliki, and studied religious knowledge and trained in the pencak silat martial arts. In 1908, Tan Malaka attended the Kweekschool, a state teacher's school, at Fort de Kock. At the Kweekschool, Tan Malaka studied the Dutch language and became a skilled football player. According to his teacher, G. H. Horensma, although Malaka was sometimes disobedient, he was an excellent student. He graduated in 1913, and returned to his village. His return would be ceremonialized by the conferment on him of a high adat title of datuk and the offer of a fiancée. However, he only accepted the title. He succeeded in getting money from the village to continue his education abroad, and he sailed for Rotterdam that same year.
Time in the Netherlands
Arriving at the Netherlands, Tan Malaka initially experienced a culture shock. There, he heavily underestimated the North European climate. As a consequence, he was infected with pleuritis in early 1914, and he did not completely recover until 1915. During his time in Europe, he developed an interest in the history of revolutions, as well as in the theory of revolution as a means of transforming society. His first inspiration on the subject came from the book De Fransche Revolutie, which was originally given to him by G. H. Horensma. The book was a Dutch translation of a book by the German historian, author, journalist, and social democratic politician Wilhelm Blos, which concerned the French Revolution and the historical events in France from 1789 until 1804. After the Russian Revolution of October 1917, Tan Malaka became increasingly interested in communism, socialism and reformist socialism. Beginning to read the works of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Vladimir Lenin.He also began reading the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, who became one of his early political role models. During this time, Tan Malaka grew to dislike Dutch culture. Instead, he was more impressed at the cultures of Germany and the United States. He even enlisted for the German Army, but was rebuffed, as the army did not accept foreigners at the time. In the Netherlands, he met Henk Sneevliet, one of the founders of the Indische Sociaal-Democratische Vereeniging, the precursor to the Communist Party of Indonesia. Tan Malaka also became interested in the Sociaal-Democratische Onderwijzers Vereeniging during this time. In November 1919, Tan Malaka graduated, and received his hulpacte diploma.
Early struggle
Teaching and journalism
Following his graduation, he left the Netherlands and returned to his village. He accepted a job offer by Dr. C. W. Janssen to teach the children of the tea plantation coolies, at Sanembah, Tanjung Morawa, Deli, East Sumatra. He went there in December 1919, but began teaching only in January 1920. He produced subversive propaganda for the coolies, known as the Deli Spoor, and began learning of the deterioration of the indigenous people that had occurred. In addition to teaching, he made a contact with ISDV, and wrote some works for the press. As a journalist, he wrote on the striking differences in wealth between capitalists and workers, in one of his earliest works, the "Land of Paupers"; which was included in a March 1920 issue of Het Vrije Woord. Tan Malaka also wrote on the suffering of the coolies in the Sumatera Post.Tan Malaka went to Batavia when his old teacher, G. H. Horensma, offered him a job as a teacher; however, Tan Malaka rejected the offer. As he wanted to establish his own school; to which his old teacher accepted the reason and supported him. In 1921, Tan Malaka was elected to the Volksraad as member of the Left-wing grouping, but resigned on 23 February 1921. He subsequently left Batavia and arrived at Yogyakarta in early March 1921, and stayed as the house of Sutopo, a former leader of Budi Utomo. There, he wrote a proposal for a grammar school. In Yogyakarta, he participated in the Sarekat Islam organization's 5th congress and met with a number of prominent Islamic figures, including H.O.S. Tjokroaminoto, Agus Salim, Darsono, and Semaun. The congress discussed the topic of double membership of both the Sarekat Islam and the Communist Party. Agus Salim, and another figure, Abdul Muis, forbade it, while Semaun and Darsono were both PKI members.
Involvement with the PKI
Sarekat Islam was split as a result, forming the Sarekat Islam Putih, led by Tjokroaminoto, and the Sarekat Islam Merah, led by Semaun and based in Semarang. After the congress, Tan Malaka was asked by Semaun to go to Semarang to join PKI. He accepted the offer, and went to Semarang. Arriving in Semarang, he became ill. A month later, he had returned to health, and participated in a meeting with fellow Sarekat Islam Semarang members. The meeting concluded that a rival to the government-administered schools were needed. This led to the creation of a new school, named the Sekolah Sarekat Islam, which would be better known as Sekolah Tan Malaka. The schools spread to Bandung and Ternate, with enrollment beginning on 21 June 1921. The schools were the main reason for Tan Malaka's growing prestige and rapid rise within the PKI. As a guidebook for the schools, Tan Malaka wrote the SI Semarang dan Onderwijs, a guide to managing the schools.In June 1921, Tan Malaka became the chairman of the Serikat Pegawai Pertjitakan, and served as the vice chairman and treasurer of the Serikat Pegawai Pelikan Hindia. Between May and August his first book, Sovjet atau Parlemen?, which was serialized in the PKI's journal, the Soeara Ra'jat ; his other works, including articles, were published in another journal and PKI newspaper, the Sinar Hindia. In June, he was one of the leaders of the Revolutionaire Vakcentrale, and in August he was elected to the editorial board of SPPH's journal, the Soeara Tambang. Tan Malaka then replaced Semaun, who left the Dutch East Indies in October, as the chairman of PKI after a congress on 24 – 25 December 1921 in Semarang. Differences can be seen from their leadership styles, as Semaun was more cautious, whilst Tan Malaka was more radical. Under his leadership, the PKI maintained a good relationship with Sarekat Islam.
Exile in Europe
On 13 February 1922, while he visited a school in Bandung, he was arrested by Dutch authorities, who felt threatened by the existence of the Communist Party. He was first exiled to Kupang; however, he wanted to be exiled to the Netherlands, and was sent there by the Dutch authorities. However, the date of his arrival in the Netherlands is disputed. In the Netherlands, he joined the Communist Party of the Netherlands and was appointed as the third candidate of the party for the House of Representatives, at the 1922 elections. He was the first Dutch colonial subject to ever to run for office in the Netherlands. He didn't expect to be elected because, under the system of proportional representation in use, his third position on the ticket made his election highly unlikely. His stated goal in running was instead to gain a platform to speak about Dutch actions in Indonesia, and to work to persuade the CPN to support Indonesian independence. Although he did not win a seat, he received unexpectedly strong support. Before the counting of votes was finished, he left the Netherlands and went to Germany.In Berlin, he met with Darsono, an Indonesian communist who was related to the West European Bureau of the Comintern, and possibly met M.N. Roy. Tan Malaka then continued to Moscow, and arrived in October 1922 to participate in the Executive Committee of the Comintern. At the Fourth World Congress of the Comintern in Moscow, Tan Malka proposed that communism and Pan-Islamism could collaborate; however, his proposal was rejected by many. In January 1923, he and Semaun were appointed correspondents of Die Rote Gewerkschafts-Internationale. During the first half 1923, he also wrote for the journals of the Indonesian and Dutch labor movements.
He also became an agent of the Eastern Bureau of the Comintern as he reported on the ECCI plenum in June 1923. Tan Malaka then went to Canton, arriving in December 1923, and edited the English journal, The Dawn, for an organization of transport workers of the Pacific. In August 1924 Malaka requested the government of the Dutch East Indies to allow him to return home because of illness. The government accepted this, but with burdensome terms to be imposed; he did not return home. In December 1924, the PKI began to collapse, as it was suppressed by the Dutch government. As a response, Tan Malaka wrote the Naar de Republiek Indonesia, which was published in Canton in April 1925. It explained the situation in the world, from the Netherlands which suffered an economic crisis, the Dutch East Indies which had opportunities to carry out a revolution by nationalist movements and PKI, to his prediction that the United States and Japan would "settle with the sword which of them is the more powerful in the Pacific."