SEVERAL days after becoming prime minister, at the end of November 1945, Sutan Sjahrir attended a mass meeting at the Cirebon City square, West java. He delivered his speech in a calm voice. A participant asked, “How come there’s no mention of God at all in the Perdjoeangan Kita book?”

Sjahrir laughed. He used a story as an answer. When he was growing up and attending school in Medan, he said, he read math books written by a pastor. Althou