Charlotte Clayton Maramis was born at home in Waverly (near Sydney) in Australia on November 28, 1927, and spent a happy childhood there. As a young girl, she attended Saint Catherine’s Ladies’ College and was not quite a teenager when World War II broke out. When she was 16, Charlotte met Anton Maramis, a future husband and Indonesian freedom fighter. She finished school shortly before her 17th birthday but, with the threat of Japanese invasion of Australia considered imminent, she dropped out of school. Charlotte is the author of three books which chronicle the years she spent in the early years of Indonesia’s independence.
What is the most vivid memory of your childhood?
When I was about 12 years old, I would hold concerts in my back yard. I’d write short skits and my friends would act them out. The money raised was sent to a radio station to be passed on to different charities. My proudest moment was when my name was read out over the air.
What is your professional/educational background?
When I was a teenager I worked as a rehearsal scrip annotator at a theatre in Kings Cross in Sydney, where I met many who were later acclaimed by Hollywood including Rod Taylor and Chips Rafferty. Starting in 1954, I spent four years studying journalism while working on the English-language newspaper The Indonesian Observer.
What are your hobbies?
Writing and playing Mah Jong.
What person has had the biggest influence in your life?
Outside my family, that would be Mrs Herawati Diah, editor and first owner of The Indonesian Observer.
Why and how did you first become interested in Indonesia?
At the age of 16 years I met Anton Maramis, my future husband and others involved in the struggle for the independence of their country.
When was your first trip to Indonesia?
In 1949 when I joined my husband who was living then in Djakarta.
What’s the most unforgettable moment in your career as a journalist?
During the time I covered the first Afro-Asian Conference in Bandung in 1955, I was lucky enough to have an encounter with China’s Chou En Lai. At that time Chou was so well guarded that it was impossible to get near the man. My luck came when I decided to go to the Ladies’ Room. And to my, and certainly Chou’s surprise, as I rounded a corner, I came face to face with him. We stood and stared at one another until I was gently pushed aside by his guards. I wrote a lengthy article about that unexpected meeting.
What’s the most provocative interview you’ve ever conducted?
The one I had with a famous Hollywood hairdresser who was on a stopover in Jakarta. He asked if I would like to be beautiful. When I said ‘yes,’ he carted me off to his hotel’s salon where he announced, “Then I will make you beautiful!” The world’s richest could only afford this man but I got a terrific haircut and style for free.
Who is the most charismatic Indonesian political leader you’ve ever met?
President Soekarno. As a journalist I saw the President on several occasions and always marveled at his oratory skill. I was also privileged to witness his historic entry into the Presidential Palace in Djakarta.
During Indonesia’s war of independence, was there a time when you thought the Dutch would prevail?
No. It was too obvious that the world was undergoing great changes and that countries held by foreign powers would know freedom.
What was the darkest period of Indonesia’s post-war history?
The fall of President Soekarno and the circumstances preceding the 1965 Coup.
Did Australia play a role in the country’s independence?
Australians in Sydney supported the Indonesian revolution. The Australia Indonesia Association, of which I was a founding member, was formed in 1945. In 1947, a delegation from Australia led by Tom Critchley partitioned for Indonesia’s independence at the United Nations.
What are the most significant insights about people that you took away with you from your years as a journalist?
That deep down, no matter where we hail from, all of us share many more similarities than differences.
Looking back on it all, what was the most exciting period of your life?
The years 1949 to1962 when I witnessed the birth of the Indonesian nation and saw those for whom free speech and education had hitherto been denied able to enjoy these simple life’s blessings.
Is there anything you would’ve done over again?
If one could eliminate the death of loved ones then I would willingly do it all over again.
What are you doing now?
Writing books, continuing my 25 years of volunteer work with Vision Australia, being an active patron of the Australia Indonesian Association, assisting the blind in Manado in the school I helped set up, and assisting Bali Hati Foundation’s Mas school with a percentage of direct sales of my books.
Do you have any future plans?
I hope to write more books and travel.
May readers contact you?
Yes. My email is: charlotte.meramis@bigpond.com.
Editor’s note: Charlotte’s Echoes: Book One (2006) and Echoes: Book Two: My years in Indonesia 1949—1962 (2005), and Life’s Way (2007) can all be bought at Ubud’s Ganesha Bookshop.
For anyone interested in being considered for Siapa, please contact: <pakbill2003@yahoo.com>
