My Place of Rebirth: the Venue for the 30th Subud Indonesia National Congress, 3-5 February 2023

THE 30th Subud Indonesia National Congress will be held from 3 to 5 February 2023 in my “place of rebirth”, i.e. Surabaya. I have always considered my opening in Subud as my rebirth. And I was opened at the Subud branch in the second largest city in Indonesia. Even though it has been more than 18 years that I have been regularly doing Latihan at the Cilandak Hall which is the place for regular group Latihans of the South Jakarta branch, I am administratively still listed as a member of the Surabaya Subud branch.

I am actually a resident of Jakarta, the capital of the Republic of Indonesia; the first issuance of my ID card has confirmed that I was born and raised in Jakarta. I moved to Surabaya after marrying a woman from the provincial capital of East Java, to live and continued my career there. There, too, I found Subud.

I love Surabaya, an egalitarian city, with a long history as a port city since the days of the archipelagic kingdoms which later, during the Dutch colonial period (1799-1942), developed into a naval base as well as a center for the maritime industry.

Surabaya in 1945 became the world’s attention when on November 10 of that year a terrible battle broke out between Indonesian guerrilla fighters against British troops who were accompanied by Dutch civil administration officials who were trying to re-colonize Indonesia. The guerilla fighters armed with makeshift weapons, not infrequently in the form of sharp bamboo sticks and samurai swords left by the Japanese military that previously occupied Indonesia, fought against the heavily armed British troops (the majority consisted of Indian soldiers who were members of two Indian infantry divisions) which had just been forged by battles during the Second World War, backed by naval and air bombardments.

The battle of 10 November 1945 devastated Surabaya and the fact that many fighters died in defending it gave this city a special nickname: “City of Heroes”. And 10 November is annually commemorated by the Indonesian people as Hero’s Day.

The name Surabaya itself is said to have come from the Old Javanese phrase “sura ing bhaya”, or “dare to face danger”, which is symbolized by the profile of a shark fighting against a crocodile. A coat of arms that existed long before 1945, representing Majapahit, which was one of the largest thalassocratic empires ever to exist in the Indonesian Archipelago.

The spirit of “dare to face danger” (or “to be brave in challenging circumstances”) makes the native of Surabaya, known as Arek Surabaya (literally “child of Surabaya”), tend to be tough, outspoken, egalitarian, and not easily give up in trying to achieve goals. However, the Javanese culture inherited from Arek Surabaya’s ancestors also made the people of Surabaya friendly towards people coming from other regions or countries. These typical characteristics are also found among the members of Subud Surabaya.

As a city which economy is supported by manufacturing-based industries and product and service trading activities, Surabaya has an infrastructure like Jakarta: complete and modern, and connected to the world. Apart from the Juanda international airport which serves domestic and international flights, the Tanjung Perak port in Northern Surabaya is the second busiest seaport in Indonesia. Railway lines in the north and south of Java connect Jakarta with Surabaya, which are served by a number of Economy to Executive class train trips. Gubeng Station, one of the two major stations in the city, even provides trains for those who wish to continue their trip to the eastern tip of Java Island, where they can cross to Bali by ferry.

The Wisma Subud of Surabaya is located in Eastern Surabaya. The building was dedicated by Bapak on June 25, 1978. But Subud had made history of its existence in Surabaya long before that. Historically, Surabaya has also been a part of Bapak’s history; it was told in one of Bapak’s talks that Bapak once lived in a boarding house in Tembok, a village located not far from the venue for the upcoming 30th Subud Indonesia National Congress.

Surabaya is indeed a city full of historical events and artifacts. A sociologist from the city’s state Airlangga University once said that Surabaya is a giant open-air museum. Being Subud Indonesia’s first grand event since the pandemic and serving as a prelude to the World Congress in Kalimantan in 2024, it is hoped that the upcoming National Congress will also become a historic event for Subud as a whole.©2022

 

Pondok Cabe, South Tangerang, 30 December 2022

Coat of arms of Soerabaia (old spelling of Surabaya) during the Dutch colonial era, granted in 1931.

Western Surabaya at dusk (late 2015).

The Heroes Monument in downtown Surabaya. Erected in memory of the Battle of Surabaya in 10 November 1945.

The Latihan Hall of Wisma Subud Surabaya at Jalan Manyar Rejo 18-22, Eastern Surabaya.

The Blauran-Embong Malang area of Surabaya. The big white building in center is the Grand Empire Palace Hotel where the 30th Subud Indonesia National Congress will take place.