Prof Greg Barton on Wimar Witoelar. Even as an old man Wimar had the spirit of a young man

On Wednesday 19 May Indonesia lost a champion for democracy and a brilliant but modest communicator.

Although he had a sharp wit, Wimar Witoelar was kind, humble and sensitive to the needs and feelings of others. Source: Source Siska.Doviana/Creative Commons.

Wimar Witoelar was best known as a popular critic of Indonesia’s New Order government. But somehow he avoided being hounded. Later, as the spokesperson for former President Abdurrahman Wahid, he was also close to the President Wahid’s biographer, Professor Greg Barton, from Deakin University. Barton explains his admiration for Wimar and why he was a person of extraordinarily broad appeal.

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Wimar Witoelar was an in-demand public intellectual in Indonesia and abroad. Where do his ideals and ideas fit in contemporary Indonesia? Source: Image by CIFOR/Creative Commons.