August 19, 2026 | 11:22 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Stretching to nearly 600 pages, Oei Tjoe Tat’s memoir almost ended up as a futile endeavor. The former state minister under President Sukarno began writing the account of his life after 1985. His wife, Kwee Loan Nio, better known as Rika, urged him to put his story on paper so their children could come to know the man behind the public figure. Oei had spent nearly 12 years in detention without ever standing trial because of his close association with Sukarno.
Stanley Adi Prasetyo, the main editor of Memoar Oei Tjoe Tat: Pembantu Presiden Soekarno (The Memoirs of Oei Tjoe Tat: Assistant to President Sukarno), first read the manuscript in 1986, when Oei was visiting Salatiga, Central Java. Stanley received the manuscript from Soe Hok Djin, better known as Arief Budiman, the elder brother of Soe Hok Gie. Both were prominent Chinese-Indonesian activists.
Stanley then reproduced the manuscript using a mimeograph machine and circulated it on a limited basis among academics and discussion groups at Satya Wacana Christian University in Salatiga. “Pak Oei still refused to distribute the memoir widely,” Stanley said during a visit to Tempo’s office in Jakarta on Thursday, July 2, 2026.
After graduating from college and moving to Jakarta for work in 1990, Stanley resumed persuading Oei to publish the memoir. He found support from several prominent figures, including writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer; Nahdlatul Ulama leader Abdurrahman Wahid, who would later become president; American scholar Daniel Saul Lev; and Catholic priest and writer Yusuf Bilyarta Mangunwijaya, better known as Romo Mangun.
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Oei Tjoe Tat closely observed the behavior of fellow prisoners during his years behind bars. His loyalty to Sukarno was also put to the test in prison
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Why Oei Tjoe Tat Matters
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