Oei Tjoe Tat faded into Indonesia’s history. He championed the universal idea of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika and practiced Cold War diplomacy.
THE name Oei Tjoe Tat may sound unfamiliar. He was not an activist who fought colonialism on the front lines or got involved in preparing Indonesia for independence. Nor was he a revolutionary thinker whose ideas found their way into history textbooks. Yet his role should not be underestimated. Thanks to Oei Tjoe Tat, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) became more than an empty slogan.
As a member of the Constituent Assembly representing the Indonesian Citizenship Consultative Body (Baperki) after the 1955 General Election, Oei Tjoe Tat was one of many Chinese-Indonesian activists who argued that Indonesia should be founded on the diversity of all ethnic groups, not merely the indigenous peoples of the archipelago. For Oei, citizens of Chinese descent had the right to become legitimate citizens of the Republic of Indonesia without giving up their identity, traditions, or culture.
Oei’s idea of integrationism took shape while he was studying law in Batavia from 1939 to 1942. In his twenties, he defended the rights of people of Chinese descent who had become victims of war and the Japanese occupation. Oei himself was a victim, forced to abandon his studies at the Rechtshoogeschool after the university was dissolved by the Japanese. Working at the Yokohama Bank in his hometown of Solo did not stop him from remaining a social activist. That experience helped Baperki win more than 100,000 votes, enough to secure representation in the Constituent Assembly.
Oei Tjoe Tat’s integrationist ideas, which aligned with the principle of national unity, brought him close to President Sukarno, even after the President dissolved the Constituent Assembly through the July 5, 1959 decree. Oei’s political pragmatism—his refusal to oppose Sukarno’s authoritarian maneuver—earned the President’s trust, and in 1963 he was appointed State Minister.
His duties resembled those of a special envoy, diplomat, and even an intelligence operative. His legal expertise and pragmatism made Oei an effective politician, carrying out Sukarno’s political missions through back channels. When the “Crush Malaysia” confrontation erupted, Oei worked behind the scenes, conducting diplomatic lobbying to rally international support.
Sukarno accused that the formation of the Malaysian federation in 1963, uniting Singapore with Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo, was a form of British neocolonialism. Since Malaysia had gained independence in 1957, Sukarno viewed the federation as merely a pretext for Britain to reassert colonial control legally. Oei conveyed this view to political activists in Malaysia and Singapore.
Although no records definitively confirm Oei’s behind-the-door diplomatic campaign, the Malaysian parliament agreed to expel Singapore from the federation on August 9, 1965. The plan to unite the four territories within a British Commonwealth framework collapsed because of internal conflict between Singapore and Malaysia. Armed clashes, riots, and bomb attacks in Singapore carried out by two Indonesian soldiers also contributed to the failure of the union.
That separation date became Singapore’s Independence Day. But Oei Tjoe Tat did not return as a hero who had successfully carried out a mission against a new form of imperialism. His name and role were swept away by the upheaval of 1965 a month later. The New Order government imprisoned him without trial for 10 years. Even after his release, the Suharto regime banned the circulation of his memoir, which revealed the underground operations carried out during Sukarno’s administration.
Viewed through today’s lens, Oei Tjoe Tat could easily be labeled a “Sukarno loyalist” caught in the conflict between the Western and Eastern blocs—a political stance that appears at odds with the 1945 Constitution’s mandate to “participate in establishing a world order based on freedom, lasting peace, and social justice.”
The Cold War atmosphere of the 1960s divided the world into two opposing blocs, leaving Indonesia squeezed between global interests and the need to defend its national sovereignty. The economic crisis in the early years of independence led Sukarno to take the pragmatic course of seeking support from Eastern bloc countries after Western nations blocked the International Monetary Fund from extending loans to help restore Indonesia’s economy.
Oei Tjoe Tat may not have been an outstanding diplomat, but his work strengthened Indonesia’s position in Asian diplomacy—even if it served the practical and narrow aims of nationalism. His idea of integrationism, however, laid the foundation for the universal principle of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika in the young Republic.
