KAMPUNG Melayu, Semarang, October 4, 1934. Nearly three dozen young men of Arab descent gathered. The day was hot, some of them took off their jackets. One or two of them were seen carrying pistols at their waists. The debate was tough. All were waiting for which group was going to win and exert its influence at the conference.

“Too much provocation,” Suratman wrote. The writer of A.R. Rahman’s biography—published in 1989—quoted the se