Des was a good friend and colleague, full of idealism and always in an exuberant mood, regardless of what happened. He was a master of jokes. From the beginning we clicked famously. He assisted Pak Ali in his efforts to end Indonesia and Malaysia’s konfrontasi.

Just after Pak Yani (one of the generals killed during the 1965 coup attempt) and Pak Harto (former president Soeharto) asked Pak Ali to bring the konfrontasi to an end, the latter immediately contacted his ex-PRRI/Permesta (1950s anti-Jakarta rebellion) friends — M. Simbolon, Achmad Husein, Ventje Sumual, Daan Jahja, Jan Walandouw and Willy Pesik — for advice and assistance. They suggested he contact Des, who then lived in Kuala Lumpur and was very good friends with Tun Abdul Razak, Malaysia’s then-deputy prime minister and foreign minister. They had been friends since their student days in London. Pak A.R. Ramly, one of Pak Ali’s trusted assistants, was sent to Hong Kong to meet with Des.

For three days straight, the two walked past each other at all the spots where they were supposed to meet, i.e. at the old Hong Kong Hilton Hotel, on the former Queen’s Road, Central, because they had never met each other.

They finally bumped into each other at the hotel lift.

The talks on Indonesia-Malaysia relations were held in Bangkok starting at the end of 1964. Pak Benny Moerdani (the late former chief of the Indonesian military) had been sent there for that purpose, as an undercover agent but officially as a Garuda Indonesia employee. Discussions between Pak Ghazali Shafie, the permanent secretary of the Foreign Ministry, and Pak Ali Moertopo were held at Amarin Hotel.

Des, as the trusted friend of Tun Razak, assisted as a liaison officer for the two delegations.

In Kuala Lumpur, Tengku Abdul Rachman (later the first prime minister of Malaysia) did not know about the strategy, and while Indonesia’s foreign minister Soebandrio suspected that Pak Ali was up to something, his intelligence services could not detect what was happening. In the meantime, Des, who had an amateur radio station at Petaling Jaya, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, kept hammering at Bung Karno (President Sukarno).

Finally, an agreement to normalize relations between Indonesia and Malaysia was signed on Aug. 15, 1965 in Jakarta, and Tun Razak was invited as the guest of honor for Indonesia’s Independence Day on
Aug. 17, 1965 — which made Bung Karno furious.

The process was very quick for two reasons. First, Pak Harto chaired the presidium that foreign minister Pak Adam Malik — who fully supported Pak Harto’s and Pak Ali’s efforts — was also a member of.

Second, power changed hands from Bung Karno to Pak Harto based on the March 11, 1966 Decree. For all these efforts, the government of Malaysia conferred a “Tun” honorific on Pak Adam, a “Tan Sri” title on Pak Ali and Pak Benny, and “Datuk” then “Tan Sri” titles on Des Alwi.

At Des’ advice, Pak Ghazali invited me to visit Kuala Lumpur after 1969 to build a network with Malaysian officials, politicians, MPs, intellectuals, and businesspeople. I had made regular visits to Kuala Lumpur from then until the 1980s when Pak Mahathir Mohamad came to office.

One of my most fruitful contacts in Kuala Lumpur was the late Dr. Noordin Sopiee, the founder and chair of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS). Together CSIS and ISIS ran many joint programs on Indonesia-Malaysia bilateral conferences and on ASEAN issues.

I am convinced Des was a 100-percent nationalist who also had a soft spot for Malaysia, a country that supported him during his most difficult years. He was sometimes just as critical of Malaysia’s government as he was of Indonesia’s, even when it was under Soeharto. He would become very sad when tension or even small conflicts flared up between Malaysia and Indonesia.

When I asked Des about his pro-PRRI standpoint which made him a fugitive during the Sukarno regime, he told me he hadn’t left his Manila posting for Indonesia to back the rebels. He said he was on leave with his family when the allegation was made, and had to leave Indonesia in a rush with his family before the police could detain them.

The end of 1950s was indeed full of tension, frightening threats and acts, and had you been in Des’ position, you would have understood and accepted his reactions.

Des always paid attention to CSIS activities and was close to us until the end. He helped make documentaries of our conferences, and was always proud to show us his invaluable documentaries of Indonesia’s journey as a nation since our independence.

He was also very close to his family, his wife Ann, and their four children. I remember Des visiting Ann every day when she had a stroke and was in a coma for a long time.

My one and only regret is that I never made it to Bandaneira with him. He invited me many times. First to the opening of his hotel, but back then flights were very irregular. And then later, but I was just too busy travelling around the world. And now I can no longer share jokes or good times with Des.

Some years ago, we dreamed of having a pub together, after we retired, like the Jaya Pub located across the Sarinah department store behind one of the buildings on Jl Thamrin. Des would have been the bartender, Pak Benny and my colleague Sabam Siagian the hosts telling political stories and jokes to keep our clients coming back, and Fikri Jufri the crooner or DJ. I would have received the guests. We imagined our pub would be full every night.

But our team members have passed away one by one: Pak Benny, now Des. I am sure God will welcome Des. He was so humane and good to everybody.

May his children have the strength to always stay close together, and live a life modeled on that of Des.
We have all become better people thanks to him.

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