Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (1962-63): Pidato Aidit di Pusat Pendidikan Gerwani, Oktober 1962

Title: Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (1962-63) - Aidit speech at Gerwani Training Center Oct 1962 [HathiTrust coo.31924079086553] Source: HathiTrust Digital Library (full view, US government work), page OCR text via text-only view Volume: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924079086553 Date retrieved: 2026-10-17 Note: page-image PDFs could not be downloaded (HathiTrust temporarily blocked image downloads); OCR text only. Page #81 of high quality whose working methods would in the main accord with the methods ordered in the law on the principles of regional government. He gave as an example of the changes intended the fact that previously a lurah (village chief) could be elected for life whereas now the post can be held by one man for only about eight years. (Djakarta, Suluh Indonesia, 9 November 1962) E. Assimilation of Chinese 1. "Nationalization" of Names Discussed A question currently under discussion in Indonesia is whether names of Indonesian citizens which sound "unnative" or "less native" should be changed to names which sound native. In the field of sports, many athletes of Chinese or European descent have changed their names to Indonesian names. D. N. Aidit, the chairman of the PKI central committee, recently touched on this question in a speech at the Gerwani Training Center on 23 and 27 October 1962. He stated his opinion which can be accepted as the general opinion of the Communists in Indonesia that the reactionaries were stimulating racialism and fanning the flames of an anti-Chinese spirit and setting "native" and "non-native" citizens in conflict. Aidit went on to say, "Racialism which questions the changing of names is the most unreasonable and most unscientific racialism and in our country it has given rise to many jokes as well as much sadness. When Lany Gumulja won many medals in the swimming pool at the Asian Games, Master of Laws Gumuljo, the director of the Eastern Bank, received many congratulations from left and right because many people thought Lany Gumuljo was his nephew and no one asked, "What though is his Chinese name? However, athletes of Chinese descent who had changed their names but were defeated in the games were asked by people, (What though is his Chinese name?!" According to Harian Rakjat of 29 October 1962, Aidit later emphasized, "Therefore we must continue to fight this evil racialism. For us it is still certainly better to have a Doctoral Candidate Kho Bian Tie as a member of the staff of the economic operations command who does not have a 'native' name than a Kartosuwirjo, the former chief of the DI-TII dissidents whose name is 'native'. us continue the struggle against racialism, both the old kind based on the color of one's skin or one's ancestry as well as that lowest of kinds which forces people to change their names." Let Previously, according to the weekly, Djaja, of 6 October 1962, the chief of information of the BPPK, Captain K. A. Mattjik, in reference to changes of names and persons who opposed this said, "These people apparently do not approve of the action of