ONE afternoon 50 years ago in an old building at Jalan Senen Raya 83 while we were preparing the first issue of Tempo, I heard someone grumbled: “This magazine won’t last more than three months.”

I was shocked, a bit. The voice came from B, one of the team created to manage the administration of the new magazine. But I pretended not to hear.

“Let’s hope he’s not right,” I said later, conveying the