15. EMPOWERING
PRESENCE OF THE LORD
Testimony of an Indonesian
diplomat
FOREWORD
At the urging of my
family and friends I am writing this addition to my first book “A Journey into Diplomacy”
and 15 articles on “Glimpses of my diplomatic career” The personal side of my
career was lacking in my first writings. I have chosen the title “Empowering
presence of the Lord” since I honestly believed that He has guided and blessed
my career and I had felt His empowering presence throughout my career all along
the way. This article described those events as a testimony of the Lord’s
blessings.
MY EARLY CHILDHOOD
I was brought up by
religious Protestant parents who implanted in their children a religious life
in the service of the Lord. My father had not pursued a formal education. He
ran away at the age of 10 years from his village to seek a better future
abroad. He strongly believed in own self-determination and with the blessings
of the Lord he would overcome all the obstacles in life.
I remember when he was
assigned in Banjarmasin, East Kalimantan, he was determined to pass the so-called ”Dutch Junior Civil servant exam” which would have
enabled him to get higher position. He had many problems to overcome the most
important was his command of the Dutch language that he could hardly speak.
With his sheer determination, strong will and prayers to the Lord days and
nights, he barely succeeded in his exam. His giant efforts turned out to be a passport
for higher position which benefited his family as well. He always imprinted
upon the children to be themselves coupled with a firm determination to succeed
and prayers to the Lord for His guidance.
MOVE TO JAKARTA
We were enrolled in
Dutch elementary school. I failed in my 5th grade because of regular
absence from school due to the detentions I was punished with due my frequent
fights at school. Fortunately we moved to Java because
my brother had to attend senior high school which did not exist in the outer
islands during the colonial period. My father retired as Dutch civil servant
having last served at the taxation section of the Ministry of Finance. It was
with the Lord’s blessings that he was able to get us enrolled in prestigious
Dutch schools which were quite an achievement during those times. Graduates of
those schools were practically assured of higher positions. One thing I learned
from him which had guided my future career is to cultivate one’s sense of self
confidence. What is more important are one’s own performance, own will power
and constant prayers for His blessings. One event I vividly remembered
when I nearly failed to pass the 4th grade at the senior
high school. My first report card showed 6 red marks. The
Principal even suggested that I changed to
another school which would give me one more year to pass. My own school needed
only 5 years to pass whereas other schools had 3 years for juniors and another
3 years for the seniors so one needed 6 years to pass the senior high school. I
refused and set myself to study hard to erase those red marks. Fortunately I succeeded with the Lord’s guidance and
graduated on 20 May 1941 before the war.
NO CAREER IN ARMED FORCES
After I graduated from
high school I applied to the Military Academy since it was the ardent wish of
my father to have one of his sons joining the army. The academy was relocated
in Bandung after the Netherlands was occupied by the Germans. I had to attend
first a preparatory course of 2 month. I failed however. During one of the
weekends when I was in Bandung I visited my parents in Jakarta. When my father
saw me in military uniform there were tears in his eyes. He thought that one of
his dreams had come true. That was the last time I saw him alive since after
Bandung. I applied for a reserve officer’s course in the naval academy in
Surabaya. We were however dismissed when the war broke out and my ambition to
pursue a military career was thus thwarted. Fortunately my brother had
enrolled in a reserve officer course in Bandung but became
prisoner of war when Japan invaded Java. He was forced to work as
slave labor and was send to Rabaul
in the Pacific. The Australian army liberated him and
he was transported to West Irian where the Dutch advised him to continue with
his military training and he became a lieutenant. At least one of his sons joined the army. He later joined the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs but quitted when I joined the Ministry since he wanted to
become a businessman.
RECIPIENT OF A SCHOLARSHIP
My mother insisted to go
back to Minahasa since my father meanwhile had died
and there was no news of my brother’s where-about. Later, we learned he was in Rabaul. My father had left some lands and paddy fields, the
proceeds of which in my mother’s opinion could keep the three of us alive
including my younger sister. My elder sister had already passed away.
I found work as one of
the editors of a newspaper in Tomohon. Meanwhile
there was an advertisement in the newspaper offering scholarships to study in
Netherlands for graduates of high schools. Upon pressures from the elderly who
also wrote my application I had to further my study abroad since there was a
short supply of civil servants in the administration. Since married people
could also apply, I was indeed accepted for a scholarship.
Strange indeed are the
ways of the Lord. After high school I believed it was not his plan for me to
find a career in the armed forces. I did not also expect to return to Minahasa. At that time, I was already engaged and had plans
to get married, eager to build a family and to work in the newspaper business.
We were married by proxy on 15 July 1946 in a religious ceremony on 3rd October
1946. I never have dreamed to receive a scholarship in the Netherlands. I
strongly believed that He had other plans for me. At the end of November, we
sailed to the Netherlands where we arrived exactly on Christmas day 25
December. I believed that was a sign that our stay in Netherlands would have
His blessings. He wanted us to live a religious life and be successful in my
study. I prayed indeed regularly for His guidance and blessings.
MY STUDENT YEARS IN THE NETHERLAND
When we arrived in
Netherlands we were quartered in an old castle “Warmond”
surrounded by icy waters where I learned how to skate. We had to find a pla ce
for rent and found one in a little town of Oegstgeest
close to the University by a friendly Dutch widow with six children. There were
other Indonesians too in the three story building. We
occupied a room in the top floor where I learned how to put bricks in the stove
to keep us warm. We really liked the family who taught us the Dutch way of
life. I started my study the first week of January 1947. I had to use a tram to
take me to the University. Since I was already married I decided to study hard
to shorten my university years and did not engage in extra curriculum
activities except attending weekly bible lessons given by a Reverend who was
preparing himself to be sent abroad. He later married a Manadonese girl. I even managed to become chairman of a
branch of the Indonesian Christian Student Association (PERKI) and ultimately
became General Chairman of the country-wide association. At one Christmas
celebration, Nini and I were invited in a stage
performance acting as Maria and Joseph.
In 1949 I had, as
General Chairman, to lead Christmas celebration of the association held in a small town called “Woudschoten”.
It happened to be a year when the Round Table Conference was held
and some prominent Indonesian Christians members of the Indonesian Delegation
were present. One could imagine how nervous I was to lead the ceremony. I read
several books about Christmas and prayed to the Lord to guide me and give me
strength to talk about the message of the Lord. Thank God I succeeded in
performing my task.
One sad event
however, occurred when we lost our first born daughter
Ineke. She suffered an ear infection with high fever
which developed into encephalitis from which she could not survive. We buried
her at a Christian cemetery in The Hague. With the Lord’s blessings I graduated
in a little over 4 years on 14 March 1951.
Normally it took 5 years to complete. We were rather consoled when our first
boy Barry was born on 20 March 1949. Since the Ministry of Interior had yet no
plans for us with the agreement of Indonesian High Commissioner Mr. Moh. Roem I applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which
readily accepted my application. Three of us Nini, me
and our son Barry left by ship for Indonesia where we arrived in Jakarta the
third week of May 1951.
BECOMING A DIPLOMAT
When I was a student I
became the General Chairman of the Christian Students Association (PERKI) which
no doubt had enriched my religious life I prayed for His help and guidance when
I started my career at the Foreign Office from 1st of June 1951.
I was fortunate in my early years to have been appointed to attend United
Nations ECAFE (Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East) conferences and
became familiar with the Organization’s work which had greatly helped me in my
future career at the United Nations. I had two assignments in the United
Nations. First as Counselor in charge of Economic and
Social matters at the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations from
1960-1965 and because of my familiarity with the UN.
I was several times
elected as officer of the Board of various UN committees and conferences
serving as Chairman and Secretary which had also increased my popularity at the
United Nations. I was fortunately present during the debate on the question of
West Irian which resulted in an agreement on the Act of free Choice and I was
also present when Indonesia ceased co-operation with United Nations and when
the following year Indonesia resumed co-operation with UN on September 1966, I
had described those two historic events and others in separate chapters. In my
second assignment as Deputy Permanent Representative with the rank of
Ambassador from 1969-1972 I was elected Vice-President in 1969 and President of
UN Economic and Social Council ECOSOC one of the six principal organs of the
United Nations which under my stewardship adopted a number of important
resolutions among which the Second UN Development Decade resolution, the
establishment of UN volunteers program and to combat the use of narcotic
drugs and other important resolutions, I had promoted and assisted Adam Malik
for his Presidency of the 26th General Assembly in
1971. I had the feeling that the Lord had guided me in the performance of my
tasks.
MY YEARS AT ESCAP
In my first year in
ESCAP I proposed with the Lord’s blessings the change of name of ECAFE
(Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East) into ESCAP (Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific. By substituting Far East with Pacific
aimed at bringing the Pacific island countries and countries bordering the
Pacific into the mainstream of ASCAP’s activities and also
of equal importance was that greater attention be given to the social
dimensions of development (Asia in particular was facing enormous social
problems) by initiating an integrated approach for development. To my surprise
my proposal was unanimous adopted and from then on I
was named Mr. ESCAP.
Likewise adopted was my
proposal to establish a regular forum between the Permanent
Representatives of ESCAP and the Secretariat (ACPR) to conduct
regular consultations to improve the work of the Secretariat. A Regional
framework for development setting out the priorities was also adopted in the
Colombo Declaration which was further refined the following year in the New
Delhi Declaration. A number of other initiatives were
adopted in subsequent years such as the establishment of a Committee on
Inter-Agency co-operation on rural development in which several UN agencies and
ESCAP Secretariat were joining fund and forces in the implementation of a joint
project. I had also successfully mobilized extra-budgetary resources to finance
increasing number of projects and experts from US $ 800.000 when I assumed
office to US$ 30 million at the time of my retirement. The establishment of an Liaison office in Nauru in the Pacific was another
example of ESCAP’s attention to the Pacific island countries. The
establishment of an Asian Pacific Development Center
in Kuala Lumpur which would serve as a think
tank for further economic and social development in the vast region.
Finally I was awarded an Honorary Doctor’s Degree in
Political Science from an South Korean University on 9 May 1978 for my stewardship
of ESCAP in successfully forging an Asian-Pacific identity. All those
important initiatives I could have carried out with the Lord’s blessings After
my retirement from ESCAP I was again offered the post of the first
Secretary General of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO) for three
years from 1990 to 1993. Looking back at all those years of service to my
country, I must confess that I had been blessed and guided by the empowering
presence of the Lord, who had stood beside me and guided me to achieve the
summit of my three and a half decades of service to my country.
***
Posted
June 28, 2004
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