THERE are actually many similarities between Sutan Sjahrir and Tan Malaka. Both had Minang blood, enjoyed a Dutch education, and refused to cooperate with the Japanese.

When independence was declared, neither Sjahrir nor Tan showed up. Sjahrir chose to be on the sidelines, observing only. Tan was in Banten and didn’t know about the declaration until he visited Achmad Soebardjo, whom he had known since the 1920s. Both later received a mandate f