ndonesians on Monday bid a final farewell to esteemed diplomat Hasjim Djalal, who passed away at the age of 90. The West Sumatra-born figure dedicated decades of his life to fiercely defending and advancing the country’s maritime rights on the global stage.
As an envoy, Hasjim was prominently known for his indispensable contribution to advancing negotiations for the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and in establishing the concept of an archipelagic state, both of which allowed Indonesia to nearly triple the size of its sovereign maritime jurisdiction.
According to his son and former Indonesian envoy to the United States Dino Patti Djalal, Hasjim passed away peacefully on Sunday afternoon surrounded by his family members in South Jakarta’s Pondok Indah Hospital after spending several months battling various illnesses.
“Today, Indonesia has lost one of its patriots; a diplomatic hero, a true intellectual and a good-hearted man,” Dino said in his eulogy.
“He has spent 90 years devoting his life to public service. He always said that there was something honorable, something beautiful about service. We could see this sentiment throughout his life,” he continued.
Hasjim received a military funeral at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in South Jakarta, attended by a slew of high-ranking officials, diplomats and representatives from around the world who came to pay their respects to the man widely remembered as a down-to-earth yet relentless envoy.
Read also: Hasjim Djalal: Standing for a maritime nation
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