A Rendezvous of 17 Years

Yesterday, 22 July was the 17th anniversary of the People's Democratic Party, the PRD of Indonesia. I was there until I quit in November 2000 when the leadership brought the party to a totally different direction as we can see now!

Yesterday, dozens of my former comrades gathered in Jakarta (Morrisey) for a reunion under the banner "Tujuan Kita Satu Ibu", which is the title of the poem of our disappeared comrade, Wiji Thukul. I am not sure if "Tujuan Kita (MASIH) Satu Ibu", although many of my friends still hope so, which I doubt.

I was not with them yesterday, but I saw the BMP of the Philippines rallying at the SONA by President Noynoy Aquino at the Batasan. It was a rendezvous. I did the same 17 years ago, as PRD, in a People's Caravan against the VFA in the Philippines and the Slam APEC!

A day before, our comrade-teacher Doug Lorimer of Australian passed away. He was one of those who influenced my way of seeing, analyzing and responding to social beings. RIP Doug. Thanks for all you shared with us.