TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Unsung newscaster of newly independent Indonesia
The 2017 book tells the story of the role the Arabian Press Board (APB) played in press diplomacy to win Arab endorsement for Indonesia’s proclamation of independence on Aug. 17, 1945.
Change Size
The book “Newscaster of Indonesia’s Proclamation of Independence: M. Asad Shahab’s Fight & the Arabian Press Board” tells the story of the role the Arabian Press Board (APB) played in press diplomacy to win Arab endorsement for Indonesia’s proclamation of independence in 1945. (Courtesy of /A.M. Shahab)
A
n incognito flight in 1947 from Singapore to Yogyakarta succeeded to evade the Dutch blockade. On that mystery plane was Egypt’s consul general in Bombay, Muhammad Abdul Mun’im.
He was in the provisional capital of Indonesia, which had proclaimed its independence two years earlier. Mun’im stayed in Yogyakarta on March 13-16, 1947. On March 15, the Arab emissary presented himself to president Sukarno to convey a message from the Arab League.
Mun’im informed of an Arab League council meeting Nov. 18, 1946. It called on all member-states to “recognize the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia based on the bonds of religion, fraternity and family relationship”.
On April 10, 1947, a four-person Indonesian government delegation visited Egypt. The mission members were Agus Salim, A.R. Baswedan, Nasir Pamuntjak and Rasyidi. An Egyptian-Indonesian friendship agreement was signed June 10 of that year.
“All this happened through the serious efforts of APB under the leadership of M. Asad Shahab.”
The above narrative and the affirmative quote are taken from Newscaster of Indonesia’s Proclamation of Independence: M. Asad Shahab’s Fight & the Arabian Press Board.
The 2017 book tells the story of the role the Arabian Press Board (APB) played in press diplomacy to win Arab endorsement for Indonesia’s proclamation of independence on Aug. 17, 1945.
