Love, Death and Revolution

A self-educated journalist, Mochtar Lubis is a keen observer of how people respond to fear and stress during war and social upheaval. He gained recognition as the chief editor of the newspaper Indonesia Raya, in which he opposed the ideology that held sway through the mid-1960's. After the overthrow of Sukarno, Lubis guided the magazine Horison to its position as the voice of contemporary literature and culture.

Frank discussions of social and political life in Indonesia, along with attacks on government hypocrisy and inequities, earned Lubis the wrath of Sukarno. In 1956, his criticism of the government resulted in imprisonment. Released in 1957, he was under house arrest until 1961 but was rearrested and remained in prison until 1966. During his imprisonment, Lubis says he often thought of the jungles of his youth, where tigers roamed, and these thoughts combined with ideas of great leaders: men and women who may be regarded with awe and fear, but who may also crumble easily. The result was the novel "Tiger!" (1980).

Lubis's works have the power to challenge. Before the 1977 elections, he shocked the nation with an 81-page lecture about modern Indonesian life, castigating its hypocrisy, feudalism, greed, superstition, and indecision. Lubis is the winner of the Gold Medal for Freedom from the International Federation and Press Association and the Magsaysay Award for Journalism in 1958.

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