I met Oei Hiem Hwie for the first time in 2007, because I had heard about his amazing library in Surabaya. It contains many ancient Dutch books, old Chinese and Indonesian newspapers, as well as old printing machines. Anyone could come and use the library for free. He is very friendly and cheerful. Many of the ex-political prisoners I have met do have an amazing sense of humour, despite the suffering they have experienced. After asking my name, Oei said: ‘It's good you did not change your name.’ Soeharto did require people with Chinese names to change them to Indonesian names (which meant, in practice, any name, Indonesian or foreign, that was not explicitly Chinese, such as Akbar, Gracia and Henry would do).

I was born in Malang [East Java], to a father who was originally from Hokkien, and a mother who had mixed ancestors from Central Java. Papa was educated in a Chinese school, but mama was educated in a Javanese school. She wrote Javanese characters really well. That was why I was interested in many different cultures, although I went to a Chinese school in Malang called THHK [Tiong Hoa Hwee Kwan].

In high school, I studied journalism. At that time, journalists were highly respected (they were considered the kings of the world). I later worked as a trainee at the newspaper Terompet Masyarakat in Surabaya. This newspaper was actually neither left wing nor right wing. It was trying to be in the middle. The director of the newspaper was a Chinese Indonesian: Poo An Goei. This newspaper was the leading paper in Java at that time, with 75,000 copies distributed throughout East Java alone. From the rickshaw drivers to big businessmen and officials, everyone read it.

In 1963, I was assigned to interview Sukarno for Terompet Masyarakat. I stayed for three days in Jakarta and, of course, I was very proud. After the interview, Sukarno gave me a watch and I still look after it carefully.

The Murder of the Generals

Two years later I was in Malang when Gestok [the 30 September Movement] happened. I heard it on the radio.