‘I am moved when I see hope’

Known to the literati by his initials, Goenawan Mohamad has founded and funded arts organizations for more than three decades and is now pushing for the development of a community arts center on a vacant lot on Jl. Salihara in South Jakarta. Both revered and reviled for his considerable influence, he envisages his retirement project as “a space for creative thought to combat bigotry, hatred and intellectual inertia”. GM reveals here his formula for staying fit, an embarrassing academic interlude and vacationing on the quiet.

What is your first memory?
I recall hiding underground. It must’ve been at the age of two or three. I remember being afraid, but I don’t remember why. Maybe there was a battle, but I recall my father sitting in an armchair.

Describe yourself in three words?
Controlled manic-depressive.

How do you stay healthy?
Tennis. I play singles for two hours nonstop every other day. It helps maintain the illusion of my six-pack abs!

What do you always have with you?
My wallet, my cell phone, my brain -- sometimes my laptop.

Your favorite place on Earth?
A village in Italy called Trevi.

Regrets, I’ve had a few, or too few to mention?
That I was born in 1941 and not in 1961. I can no longer work as hard at this important time.

What’s your favorite food?
Mendhoan, a Banyumas-style fried tempeh.

You are 66; what words of advice would you give the 20-year-old Goenawan Mohamad?
Go backpacking around the world or you’ll regret not doing so.

Who are the writers you find most inspiring?
I don’t get inspired by writers. I get inspired by writing, especially Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s Little Prince, Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto and William Saroyan’s Human Comedy.

Which book do you wish you had written?
Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson. Such sensuousness of words. Such a gripping progression of ideas, imagery and surprises!

What is your idea of a perfect holiday?
In solitude.

What makes you laugh?
Good jokes.

And cry?
Seeing the suffering of those who try to make the world a better place. Seeing a kind gesture. I cry happy tears. I am moved when I see hope – it is such a rare commodity.

Where do you find hope?
There are a lot of people working for the common good, many people I know personally who are still alive, yet many suffer or even die for it. Like Munir, for example.

What is your greatest fear?
Being ill and making my friends and loved ones suffer from worry.

What would you do as President to make a better Indonesia?
Give Indonesia reason for pride. I would need to do what SBY is not doing: be a leader in the true sense of the word. I would maintain democratic institutions and expand opportunities for those who are yet to have full rights in the political process. Then again, I don’t want to be President.

What is love?
St. Paul had it right. Love is passion, is generous, love is not jealous.

The meaning of friendship is…
Bliss. It is the most precious thing in the world, on par with good health.

What is unforgivable?
Nothing…. But if I must answer, I suppose hatred is rather unforgivable.

Your two dream dinner guests, living or dead?
For fun? George Bush and Osama Bin Laden! Truly, though, I’d love to host Audrey Hepburn – she can come on her own …. But perhaps she could bring Gwyneth Paltrow along – she was such a breath of fresh air in Shakespeare in Love.

I am happiest…
At a gathering of friends engaged in a discussion.

What talent do you wish you had?
Playing jazz on the saxophone

Life’s most embarrassing moment?
When my mother found out that I was not attending most of my university lectures. I dropped out from the Department of Psychology at the University of Indonesia. I think I was not smart enough to be in it. Then I went to Belgium, pretending to study political science of some sort.

Life’s proudest moment?
When I stood up against the New Order. My friends and I decided to close Tempo rather than to give in to the pressure of the Soeharto regime, which would have meant compromising our values.

When the going gets tough…
Ultimately, we only have death waiting… and that’s OK. 

How would you like to die?
To be shot, just like my father.

+ Kadek Krishna Adidharma

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