dialita

Source : Jakarta Globe, august 17, 2016

Indonesian choir Dialita, whose members are made up of former political prisoners and families of the victims of the 1965-1966 communist pogrom, timed the release of its debut album to coincide with Indonesia’s Independence Day on Aug. 17.

Antara news agency reported that the album “Dunia Milik Kita” (The World is Ours) was written as a reminder for the 1965 tragedy — to encourage the younger generation to speak out about the past to prevent it from happening again.

Dialita is an acronym for “Di Atas Lima Puluh Tahun” (Over Fifty Years).

Most of the songs on the album were written by the Dialita members themselves, and some were written before 1965 and make allusions to other important events in Indonesian history.

“Di Kaki-Kaki Tangkuban Perahu” (At the Foot of Mount Tangkuban Perahu) was written by another former political prisoner, the poet and novelist Putu Oka Sutanta, with music composed by M. Karatem, in 1964. It was a compulsory song for a choir competition on state radio network Radio Republik Indonesia in 1965 and 1967.

“Viva Ganefo” by Asmoro was written for the Games of New Emerging Forces in 1963, a sporting event to rival the Olympics initiated by Indonesia’s first president Soekarno and a symbol of the Non-Aligned Movement.

“Padi Untuk India” (Rice for India) by A. Alie is a song about Prime Minister Sjahrir’s “rice diplomacy” — the new republic sending 700 tons of rice to the then famine-stricken British India in 1946.

The album can be downloaded for free at www.yesnowave.com.

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