Bengkulu, The Indonesia Post – The Bengkulu Provincial Government is ready to propose three figures of freedom fighters from the area to be declared national heroes, namely AM Hanafi, Indra Cahya and Abdul Rifai.
Bengkulu Governor Mersyah in Bengkulu, explained the efforts to propose a national hero, one of which is by forming the Bengkulu Province Research and Study Team (TP2GD).
The team will later work on conducting studies and research on Bengkulu figures who have contributed to both the struggle for Indonesian independence and for the establishment of Bengkulu Province.
“So there are three names that deserve our proposal to get the title of a national hero. His first job is to prepare the required documents, ”he said.
According to him, Bengkulu Province has its own historical record which is very meaningful for Indonesian independence and there were even many Bengkulu figures at its time who had a major contribution in realizing independence and building the nation.
At present, he said, only two Bengkulu figures had received recognition and were declared national heroes for their contribution to the struggle for Indonesian independence, namely Mrs. Agung Fatmawati Soekarno and Hazairin who were customary law experts who became Bengkulu Resident in 1946.
Rohidin assessed that the more Bengkulu figures who became national heroes, it would have a big influence on Bengkulu to be widely known in various parts of Indonesia.
One of those proposed to be awarded the title of a national hero is AM Hanafi, who played a role in the historical struggle for independence of the Republic of Indonesia with Bung Karno.
In the early decades of Indonesian independence, AM Hanafi was appointed by President Soekarno to serve as Minister of People’s Power from 1957 to 1960. Then in 1963 to 1965 he became the Indonesian Ambassador to Cuba.
AM Hanafi was born in Bengkulu in 1918 and died in Paris, France on March 2, 2004 at the age of 85.
He put AM in his first name which stands for “Anak Marhaen” as a form of admiration for Bung Karno.
The next figure proposed to be a national hero is Indra Cahya. He was a Bengkulu Resident who was appointed on October 3, 1945. The day after he was appointed, the Red and White flag for the first time was hoisted in Bengkulu City, namely on October 4, 1945.
The name Indra Cahya is currently immortalized as one of the names of the protocol streets, precisely in Teluk Segara District, Bengkulu City.
Then Abdul Rifai. He was the first Indonesian to obtain a medical degree in the Netherlands. He studied at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Amsterdam and graduated in 1908.
Abdul Rifai was born in Mukomuko District, Bengkulu on August 13, 1871. Apart from his services in the health sector, Abdul Rifai has also contributed in the field of education and the press in Indonesia.
In the health sector, he was credited with being a pioneering microbiologist from the Pasteur Institute in the Netherlands which he later developed in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, in the field of education, Abdul Rifai was the first person to propose the establishment of the Semarak Bengkulu 1928 Foundation which later became a forum for Bengkulu student associations.
In the field of press, he initiated the publication of the Newspaper “Pewarta Wolanda” in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 1900. This newspaper is unique because it is presented in the Malay language.
He also often sends his writings to various media newspapers published in the Netherlands and in the country.
In 1974 Abdul Rifai received an award in the press sector by the government at that time, namely the Award for the Perintis Pers Title. (rmt/bbs)
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