MEET BUNG KARNO
The office was closed quite late. Hira pedaled her bike slowly back to the boarding house.
This was a new experience, a beautiful thing that she began to enjoy commuting to work by bicycle along the historic streets of Bandung.
In December, the air in Bandung felt colder. The air has returned to the original climates of Bandung although it is not as cold as the old Bandung. The rain was only brief. There were more clouds. The atmosphere is still in lockdown.
Passing a shopping complex, Hira passed an older man riding an Onthel*) bicycle wearing a uniform like the Dutch East Indies army with a round hat entered the back of the building and the shopping center.
Curious about the man's appearance, Hira followed him slowly from behind and stopped when he parked his bike near a monument. There was a statue of Soekarno painted in gold color sitting and holding a book. How quiet this place was in the middle of the bustling streets of Asia Africa.
Hira only knew then that the site was Banceuy prison which witnessed the detention of Indonesian Proclamator Ir. Sukarno and his two colleagues were detained due to their activities in the PNI which were considered to threaten the stability of the Dutch East Indies government.
For a period of eight months, Bung Karno spent time in a cell measuring 2 X 1.5 m2. At the end of his prison term, Soekarno secretly compiled the pledge text read at the trial at the Landraad Bandung building. The legendary manuscript was known as "Indonesia Menggugat." (Indonesia Accuse)
That is the story of Pa Ahmad, the older man in colonial uniform who turned out to be this place's keeper and faithfully cared for this site for over half a century.
Banceuy is the oldest prison built by the Dutch East Indies government in 1877. In 1983 the prison was dismantled and moved to Jalan Soekarno Hatta, leaving only one cell where Bung Karno was detained, namely in Block F No. 5.
The guard post tower would be a silent witness to the struggle of the Proclaimer for the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.
The low energy of the prison room was still felt when Hira says goodbye to Pa Ahmad and continued her journey on her bicycle.
It turns out that being quarantined because of the coronavirus nowadays is not much suffering compared to Bung Karno's quarantine place at that time. He was arrested in Jogja on December 29, 1929, and went to prison on the 30th. OMG, that's a day before the new year.....
How sad it was.
A song playing from the fruit stall brought Hira back to the present.
The voice of bang Rhoma*), who was Waiting
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Sekian lama aku menunggu
Untuk kedatanganmu
Bukankah engkau telah berjanji
Kita jumpa di sini
Datanglah, kedatanganmu kutunggu
Telah lama, telah lama 'ku menunggu
(All this time I've been waiting
For your arrival
Didn't you promise
We'll meet here
Come, your coming I await
It's been a long, long time I've been waiting)
Still the same. Her mind returns to Billy.
She doesn't like the song and has been carried away while cycling. Ah, Stop. Stop. Stop, change! Hira tries to sing another song.
I want you around. Around... around...
(Snoch Allegra).
But she can't find the soul of that song. Again, the poem and the tone echoed in her mind so deeply and touch the deepest of her heart. It had been a long time since her longing had been buried. She can't help but tears well up in her eyes...
Datanglah... Kedatanganmu kutunggu
(Come on… your arrival I'm waiting for)
***
*)Ontel bicycle: roadster bicycle, also known as camel bicycle, buffalo bicycle refers to bikes of Dutch design characterized by an upright sitting position and have a reputation for being very strong and high quality.
*)Rhoma Irama, the King of Dangdut music