A LIFE UNDER THREE FLAGS By Peter Liang Tek Sun ii Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History At the University of Western Sydney, March, 2008 I thank my Heavenly Father in Jesus Christ very much for this great opportunity to study for the Ph.D. degree with the University of Western Sydney; and for His blessing to me that I may remain alive during the dysentery epidemic, the Second World War and during the dangerous accidents which have happened to me. I had to take a break from finishing this thesis between year 2000 and 2003 because of a heart attack after having some hard times in the Indonesian Presbyterian Church, Randwick, Sydney. Praise the Lord that I now have the strength and courage to finish it as I had hoped before. I am grateful to Elizabeth T.H. Tan, Winny, Abrams, Adela, Alvin, Caroline and Amanda for their support. May God bless them forever. iii To the memory of my beloved late parents: Father SUN SENG TJAY Mother KWA ROSE NIO Who have taken good care of me with love and sacrifice, Especially when I was suffering from Dysentery, Typhus and Eye disease. iv To my loving wife Elizabeth T.H.Tan, and my devoted sons and daughters : Abrams H. Dj. Sun Liana H.L. Sun Lucia H.L. Sun Winny H.B. Sun Loeki H.K. Sun Leo H.L. Sun Benjamin H.Tj. Sun Who all have given me moral support and are eagerly awaiting the result of my thesis. v A LIFE UNDER THREE FLAGS Contents Growing up in the Dutch East Indies, 1919-1942 11 Experiencing War and Japanese Occupation, 1942-1945 83 Making a Life in a Time of Revolution, 1945-1949 131 Turbulent National Politics and Personal Business 176 during the Sukarno Era, 1950-1966 Conclusion 243 Abbreviations 246 Bibliography 250 vi BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY The author was born on 2 October 1919, in Cilimus, Cirebon, West Java, Indonesia. He attended Dutch public and private schools and continued his study in the Dutch Teachers’ Training College and Dutch Theological College before World War II. After the War he obtained a L.O. Teacher’s Diploma in Indonesian Language from the Department of Education and studied at the National University, Faculty of Indonesian Language and Literature in Jakarta. He also studied Social Economics and Politics at the National University from 1950 to 1955. Later he obtained his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Business Administration from the University “17 August 1945” in Jakarta and the B.A. and M.A. degrees in English Language and Literature from the National University. He had been Manager and Managing Director business enterprises, founder, share holder and Director of the Serayu Transportation Company. Later he made a living by teaching Indonesian, Dutch, English, Management and History at JPP (Pa Hoa) Senior High School, St Paul Christian University, National University and to private Indonesians as well as foreign students in Jakarta. Subsequently he migrated to Australia and has been working as Interpreter with the Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales. He has passed an Interpreter examination held by the Ethnic Affairs Commission as well as a Translator level 3 examination organised by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI). The author has obtained a degree of Masters of Arts in History from the University of New South Wales, Sydney. To improve his knowledge he continued his study at the University of Sydney and obtained the degree of Master of Arts (Honours) in History for his thesis on Sukarno; Hero of the Quest for Indonesian Independence. Afterwards the author submitted his thesis on A LIFE UNDER THREE FLAGS, 1919-1975 to the University of Western Sydney in order to obtain the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PhD) in History. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Since the author was getting older he wondered whether he could write something important to remember beautiful Indonesia – his beloved country of birth where he had lived for more than 60 years – as his endeavour to thank her for her love and kind hospitality. Therefore when the author found an opportunity to study history at the University of Western Sydney he thanked his Heavenly Father in Jesus Christ for His great love and power given to him in the writing of this thesis entitled “A Life under Three Flags” which would be submitted to obtain the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. He is deeply grateful to Professor Robert Lee and Dr. Mary Hawkins – his supervisor and his associate supervisor in this thesis writing – who not only read parts of the manuscript and offered him many helpful suggestions and criticism, but also gave him support and encouragement. He is also grateful to the late Dr. J. R. Angel – former Senior Lecturer of Sydney University - who was very kind to introduce the author to the University of Western Sydney and delighted to read the manuscript of his thesis. The author also thanks the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney where the author achieved his Master’s degree pass and Master’s degree honours in history and for the use of their libraries as well. Neither the institutions nor the persons mentioned share the responsibility for the content of this thesis. Obviously the decisions about what to tell were necessarily the author’s own. Peter L. T. Sun Sydney, March 2005 viii PREFACE The author is deeply grateful to Indonesia – his beloved country of birth – where he had lived for better or worse for more than 60 years. He experienced the Dutch colonial period and the hard Japanese military interregnum as well as the era of liberation, i.e. the rise of independent Indonesia in 1945. There were many things to tell about the Dutch colonial period, the hard Japanese interregnum and independent Indonesia. Indonesian scholars, especially those who had the chance to share in governing and managing the country, could tell the young Indonesian generation which system and policy would be the best in helping their country and people to prosper. The author was interested in writing a PhD thesis on Dutch and Japanese military periods as well as on the independent era of Indonesia. Furthermore the author hopes that all people and countries which are interested in doing business in Indonesia will be acquainted with the Indonesian background and culture and that the cooperation would be successful for their mutual benefit. ix SUMMARY I was born in the district village of Cilimus, a little mountainous place in the residency of Cirebon. Between five and nine years old I suffered from dysentery, typhus and eye disease which could have made me die or go blind. Praise be to God I recovered under the loving care of my parents. At that time the uprising of the PKI broke out and soon after the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI) was set up by Ir. Sukarno. From 1928 till 1932 Indonesia suffered from the Great Depression which caused much unemployment and business became very bad. At first my education was not a great success since my parents were hesitant in choosing between sending me to a Chinese school or a Dutch school. When I was successful in finishing at Dutch Primary School with good examination records I went to Solo and Yogyakarta to attend Dutch teachers’ Training College and a Dutch Theological College. I had to leave school when the Japanese arrived. My family had to move to Kadugede, a remote village on the slope of Mount Ciremai, 45 km from the city of Cirebon. I could not continue my studies since all Dutch schools were closed. All the young people had to undergo military training or serve the Japanese Military by building airports and so on. I underwent Japanese Keibotai (Intelligence) military training in Linggajati, a mountainous village, 5 km from Cilimus. The Keibotai military training centre in Linggajati was headed by Mr. Watanabe who was a colonel and quite likely responsible to Colonel Kurija, chief of the Joohoobu (Intelligence Staff) of the 16th Army. Some other assistants to Watanabe were Akano, Fukuda and Tomita. The purpose of this training was to train the Chinese youth to become auxiliary Intelligence Staff. I had to flee to the military training dormitory when I was not permitted to go home in order to get engaged to my fiancée. When I came back to the military training I was punished by one week’s room arrest. One month after the arrest I heard that Japan had surrendered to the Allied Forces after suffering from atomic bombardments on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I returned home on 15 August 1945. Two days later, 17 August 1945, Sukarno and Hatta proclaimed the independence of Indonesia. Native young people underwent military training to defend their country. The republic set up the people’s Security Body (BKR) which later become the People’s security Forces (TKR), the foundation of the current Indonesian Armed Forces. Somebody was slandering me and accused x me of being a spy for the Japanese military. I had an interview with the council of the BKR of Kuningan which trusted me and set me free. On 10 March 1946 my fiancée and I celebrated our wedding party. When the Dutch occupied West Java I went to Batavia (Jakarta) to find a job and asked my parents, my wife and children to come over when I settled. In Jakarta I improved my knowledge and achieved several diplomas, and degrees in Languages and Business. For many years I worked as manager and managing director of several enterprises until I ran a transportation business where I had 50% share and was appointed Managing Director.