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.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsActivist Usman, singer Once commemorate Munir’s death in new song
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Protesters wear masks showing the face of the assassinated human rights activist Munir Said Thalib on Sept. 7, 2017, during the weekly Kamisan silent protest in front of the State Palace in Jakarta. (JP/Ibrahim Irsyad)
A
ctivist Usman Hamid and his band, The Blackstones, along with singer Once Mekel, released a song to commemorate human rights icon Munir Said Thalib, 19 years after his murder.
Munir, the founder of rights group the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and a vocal activist during Indonesia’s early Reform years, was poisoned with arsenic and died on Sept. 7, 2004, aboard a Garuda Indonesia flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam.
His death is remembered by many, not only because of the mysterious circumstances under which it occurred, but also as a reminder of the chilling repercussions that might face anyone who speaks up against state injustices, even after the fall of the authoritarian New Order.
In honor of Munir’s human rights legacy, Usman and The Blackstones teamed up with prominent soloist Once and the Trisakti University Student Choir (PSMUT) to record a tribute song titled "Munir”.
“The song tells us that even though we might be exhausted by violence and lies, we cannot give up the humanitarian struggle,” Usman, who is also the executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, said in a press release last week, as quoted by kompas.com.
The song was released on streaming services on Sept. 6 and joins the list of songs about human rights that Usman has written and performed with The Blackstones after “Sa Kong Sa” and “Terlepas” (Detached), which were also released this year.
Once, who is a former vocalist of famed Indonesian rock band Dewa, noted how proud he is to be included, adding that the song is a “meaningful contribution to the struggle for human rights in the country".
More from The Weekender
The price you pay for living in Jakarta
It doesn't really matter where you live, Jakarta is expensive everywhere. The only real choice is what you're willing to pay with: your money, your time or your sanity.
Success isn’t at the top of the corporate ladder anymore
My generation watched our parents give everything to a company. We decided to give it to ourselves instead. But it's more complicated than that.
Our second Instagram account is the real one
In an act of rebellion against overexposure and performative social media, Gen Z are turning to smaller, controlled spaces on social media where they can be their authentic selves.
