Portal:Indonesia/BOTW/29, 2007

Goenawan Mohamad (born 29 July 1941) is a renowned Indonesian poet and man of letters. Born in Batang, Central Java, he is the founder and editor of Tempo ("Time") magazine in Indonesia, which was twice forcibly closed by the Suharto's New Order administration because of its vocal criticism of the authoritarian regime. In 1998, he was one of four winners of the CPJ International Press Freedom Awards.

As a writer, Goenawan Mohamad earned renowned for his weekly column in Tempo, "Catatan Pinggir" (Sidelines), the concept of which is mainly comments or critique of the 'headlines'. He expressed criticism of one-dimensional, narrow-minded viewpoints and thoughts in Sidelines, which have been compiled into five books. In Sidelines, Mohamad never ended with a definitive conclusion, but always with either questions or open-ended comments intended to encourage readers to continue thinking.

Mohamad was one of the founders of the Lontar Foundation and is on the international advisory board of the human rights group ARTICLE 19. (Read more...)