My Son's Memory: Indonesia's Past, Present and Future | Maria Catarina Sumarsih | TEDxJakarta

If we pass the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Thursday around 4 pm, we will see a group of people dressed in black, holding black umbrellas, standing quietly opposite the Presidential Palace. If we look closely at the black umbrella, there are writings which list human rights violation cases that happened in Indonesia. The peaceful protest is known as Aksi Kamisan and has been going on for 17 years. One of the initiators was Sumarsih, the mother of Bernardinus Realino Norma Irmawan or Wawan, an Atma Jaya University student and a member of humanitarian volunteers who was killed by a sharp military-grade bullet while helping injured students during the protest on 13 November 1998. When this happened, Sumarsih was working to prepare for the MPR/DPR (Congress) Special Session as a staff member of the Secretariat General of the DPR (House of Representatives). The Special Session was the main reason the protest took place. Expressing her grief, in this talk, Sumarsih reads one of her letters to the late Wawan, telling her son the journey in which she redirected her grief into one of action and love. Maria Catarina Sumarsih completed her education at the People's School in 1963 and later finished the State High School for Economics (SMEA) in Salatiga in 1969. In 1976, she married Arief Priyadi and has since raised two children. Relocating to Jakarta in 1977, she dedicated herself to teaching at Budi Murni Middle School, West Jakarta, until 1983, when she was accepted to work at the Secretariat General of the DPR (House of Representatives). Tragedy struck when her eldest son, Benardinus Realino Norma Irawan (Wawan), a student at Atma Jaya University, became a victim during the Semanggi I Tragedy. Seeking justice for her son, Sumarsih joined other victims' families and human rights activists in initiating the Kamisan Action—a peaceful demonstration held every Thursday in front of the Merdeka Presidential Palace. Beginning on January 18, 2007, the action aimed to compel the state to address serious human rights violations in Indonesia, including the Semanggi Tragedy, Trisakti, the May 13-15 1998 Tragedy, the Tanjung Priok Incident, the 1989 Talangsari Incident, and other cases.

Sumarsih's talk was recorded at Keong Emas Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, East Jakarta for TEDxJakarta—a 100% volunteer driven movement commited to ideas worth spreading, visit us at www.TEDxJakarta.org. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx