Resonating the Bandung Call
MOCHTAR Lubis took an American author around Jakarta in April 1955. Indonesia's capital in the 1950s was not as crowded as it is today. When he saw the city's canals lined with shacks, the American felt Jakarta resembled Accra, capital of the Gold Coastpresent-day Ghanawhich he had once visited. Everywhere he looked, he saw run-down neighborhoods filled with people seemingly fighting to survive. He felt that Mochtar Lubis did not try to cover up the reality of the economic situation in Indonesia. This is what Richard Wright wrote about in the early part of his book The Colour Curtain: The Bandung Conference.
"The government is weak. Bandits run rampant in this town," Mochtar Lubis was quoted as saying.
April 21, 2015
MOCHTAR Lubis took an American author around Jakarta in April 1955. Indonesia's capital in the 1950s was not as crowded as it is today. When he saw the city's canals lined with shacks, the American felt Jakarta resembled Accra, capital of the Gold Coastpresent-day Ghanawhich he had once visited. Everywhere he looked, he saw run-down neighborhoods filled with people seemingly fighting to survive. He felt that Mochtar Lubis did not try to cover up th
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