Vanishing Points
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
One afternoon in August 1996, the poet Wiji Thukul bid his wife farewell, then went into hiding. He wandered from town to town, evading the pursuit of the generals in Jakarta, who were furious that a mere poet with a speech impediment could incite activists into rising against the New Order government. Thukul never came out of hiding, not even after Suharto's regime fell. Many suspect he was abducted and killed before the 1998 People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) general session which reelected Suharto. His wife believes he is still alive and continues to wait for his return.
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Sometime in 1998, the poet Wiji Thukul vanished from the face of the earth.
He was no one special. His hair was unkempt, his clothing shabby, and he had a speech impediment. Yet, when Thukul read his poems to workers and university studies, he grew in size. The authorities saw him as a serious threat to Suharto's New Order regime, branding him an agitator, a rebel.
His anti-government pamphlets, posters, mimeographs and bulletins were, after all, i
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