Portal:Indonesia/BOTW/21, 2007

Soe Hok Gie (1942-12-17–1969-12-16; was an Indonesian activist, who opposed the successive authoritarian administrations of Presidents Sukarno and Suharto. Gie was an ethnically Chinese Roman Catholic, the fourth of five children in his family; his elder brother Arief Budiman (also known as Soe Hok Djin), a sociologist and lecturer at the Satya Wacana Christian University, was also quite a vocal critical voice in Indonesian politics.

Gie attended the University of Indonesia from 1962 until 1969; upon finishing university he became a lecturer at his alma mater until his death. It was during his time as a student that Gie became an active dissident, protesting against President Sukarno and the PKI.

An avid proponent of living close to nature, Gie quoted Walt Whitman in his diary: "Now I see the secret of the making of the best person. It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth". In 1965, Gie helped found Mapala UI, a student environmentalist organisation. (Read more...)