Tan Malaka

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Lore & Background

In 1921, Tan Malaka was elected to the Volksraad as a member of the Left-wing grouping, but resigned on 23 February 1921. He then went to Yogyakarta in early March 1921, staying at the house of Sutopo, a former leader of Budi Utomo. There, he participated in the Sarekat Islam organization's 5th congress and met prominent Islamic figures including H.O.S. Tjokroaminoto, Agus Salim, Darsono, and Semaun. After the congress, Semaun asked him to go to Semarang to join the PKI, and he accepted. In Semarang, he helped create the Sekolah Sarekat Islam ('Sarekat Islam School'), better known as Sekolah Tan Malaka ('Tan Malaka's School'), which spread to Bandung and Ternate with enrollment beginning on 21 June 1921. In June 1921, he became chairman of the Serikat Pegawai Pertjitakan ('Printing Workers Association') and served as vice chairman and treasurer of the Serikat Pegawai Pelikan Hindia (SPPH; 'Indies Oils Workers Association'). Between May and August 1921, his first book, 'Sovjet atau Parlemen?' ('Soviet or Parliament?'), was serialized in the PKI's journal, the Soeara Ra'jat ('People's Voice'). In August 1921, he was elected to the editorial board of SPPH's journal, the Soeara Tambang ('Miner's Voice'). He replaced Semaun as chairman of the PKI after a congress on 24–25 December 1921 in Semarang. On 13 February 1922, while visiting a school in Bandung, he was arrested by Dutch authorities. He was first exiled to Kupang, but wanted to be exiled to the Netherlands and was sent there. In the Netherlands, he joined the Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) and was appointed as the third candidate of the party for the House of Representatives at the 1922 elections, becoming the first Dutch colonial subject to run for office in the Netherlands. Before the counting of votes was finished, he left the Netherlands and went to Germany. In Berlin, he met with Darsono, an Indonesian communist related to the West European Bureau of the Comintern. He then continued to Moscow, arriving in October 1922 to participate in the Executive Committee of the Comintern. At the Fourth World Congress of the Comintern in Moscow, he proposed that communism and Pan-Islamism could collaborate, but his proposal was rejected by many. In January 1923, he and Semaun were appointed correspondents of Die Rote Gewerkschafts-Internationale ('The Red Union International'). He also became an agent of the Eastern Bureau of the Comintern, reporting on the ECCI plenum in June 1923. Tan Malaka then went to Canton (now Guangzhou), arriving in December 1923, and edited the English journal, The Dawn, for an organization of transport workers of the Pacific.

Reader's Guide

Tan Malaka's significance lies in his role as a founder of the Struggle Union and the Murba Party, and his influence on Indonesian independence. As a Marxist and philosopher, he shaped early communist movements in the Dutch East Indies, though his leadership was marked by radicalism compared to his predecessor Semaun, who was more cautious. His schools spread to Bandung and Ternate, and his writings, such as 'Sovjet atau Parlemen?' serialized in the PKI's journal, contributed to anti-colonial discourse. Despite arrest on 13 February 1922 and exile, he remained a symbol of resistance, later recognized as a national hero. His legacy includes being the first Dutch colonial subject to run for office in the Netherlands in 1922, and his proposal at the Fourth World Congress of the Comintern that communism and Pan-Islamism could collaborate, though it was rejected. Tempo credited him as 'Father of the Republic of Indonesia,' underscoring his foundational impact.

Did You Know?

• Tan Malaka was the first Dutch colonial subject to run for office in the Netherlands, as the third candidate for the Communist Party of the Netherlands in the 1922 elections.
• He proposed at the Fourth World Congress of the Comintern in Moscow that communism and Pan-Islamism could collaborate, but his proposal was rejected by many.
• His schools, known as Sekolah Tan Malaka, spread to Bandung and Ternate, with enrollment beginning on 21 June 1921.
• He was arrested on 13 February 1922 while visiting a school in Bandung, and was first exiled to Kupang before being sent to the Netherlands.
• His first book, 'Sovjet atau Parlemen?' ('Soviet or Parliament?'), was serialized in the PKI's journal, the Soeara Ra'jat, between May and August 1921.

Massa Actie: A Revolutionary Text

Tan Malaka's book Massa Actie, published in 1926, occupies a remarkable position in Indonesian cultural history that extends well beyond its original political audience. The book thus bridges the gap between revolutionary theory and national art: a political treatise whose imagery seeped into the very melody that would define an archipelago's identity. Its 1926 publication placed it squarely within the period when the nationalist movement was crystallizing across the islands, and its ideas about revolutionary duty resonated far beyond the pages of the book itself, reaching into the musical and ceremonial life of a future sovereign state.

The Call of a Revolutionary

The chapter spoke of a "son" who "sheds his blood," and further described this son as belonging to "the Indonesian homeland, the land where your blood was spilled." These were not abstract political slogans but intimate, almost familial images: a child pouring life into the soil of the motherland. By choosing the word "poetera" (son) rather than a generic term for citizen or soldier, Tan Malaka invoked a bond of lineage and belonging that made the call to sacrifice feel personal and inescapable. This chapter, embedded in a 1926 publication, would later be cited by Tempo as a source of inspiration for the lyrical revision of Indonesia's future national anthem, demonstrating how a single chapter of revolutionary writing could echo through decades of cultural memory.

Poetry of Blood and Soil

The first declares that "a son sheds his blood," a short, declarative sentence that strips the act of revolution down to its most elemental image. The second expands the picture: "a son of the Indonesian homeland, the land where your blood was spilled." Here geography becomes sacred ground, and the blood is not merely lost but deposited, as if the earth itself receives and holds the sacrifice. The repetition of "poetera" (son) in both phrases creates a rhythmic echo, tying the individual to the territory in a way that transcends any single political ideology. These lines, written in the context of a 1926 text on mass action, carried enough emotional and poetic force that, according to Tempo, they reportedly shaped the lyrical revision of a song that would eventually become the national anthem of an entire archipelago nation, embedding Tan Malaka's imagery into the daily life of millions.

Echoes in the National Anthem

The song, completed in 1924 and first performed on violin at the Second Indonesian Youth Congress on 28 October 1928, went through several revisions before reaching its finished form. The first stanza of that finished version was ultimately selected as the national anthem when Indonesia proclaimed independence on 17 August 1945. Thus, a passage from a 1926 revolutionary book found its way into the melody played every Monday morning in schools across the archipelago, where the flag rises in solemn, timed motion to meet the anthem's final note. Tan Malaka's poetic language, born in the context of mass political action, became woven into the daily ritual of a sovereign nation, a quiet but enduring testament to the reach of his words.