Remembering Peter A. Rohi, The Journalist To Be Adopted

JAKARTA - The sad news came from journalists. Senior journalist and press figure Peter A. Rohi passed away, Wednesday, June 6 at 6.45 WIB, at Saint A Paulo RKZ Hospital, Jalan Diponegoro, Surabaya.

It's not enough in this one article to tell the figure. However, the man who was born on November 14, 1942 in East Nusa Tenggara is an exemplary figure.

How could I not, Peter is a determined journalist. Thoman Hutasoit, a friend of his profession, shares a little story about Peter. Thoman told VOI that Peter was a true Sukarnoist.

Peter was very involved in tracing the footsteps of the first President of the Republic of Indonesia. In fact, he wrote two books about Soekarno, entitled Soekarno As Manoesia and Father and Mother of Bung Karno.

While working at Suara Pembaruan Koran, Peter also kept many of Soekarno's writings, one of which was a collection of drama works made by Soekarno while he was in exile in Ende, NTT.

Unfortunately, that time was the New Order era. Where it is very difficult to get the story of Soekarno and his works to be revealed to the public.

"So Bung Karno's documents are just kept at home. They are very simple, I don't know where the documents are stored," said Thoman to VOI, Wednesday, June 10.

Thoman said that Peter was a traveling journalist who was determined to continue his journalistic work. Thoman first got to know Peter while working at Voices of Renewal in the 1990s. At that time, Peter had worked there for years.

"Then together we moved from Suara Pembaruan in the 2000s and founded the evening newspaper Suara Bangsa, but a few years later this newspaper died. Then, he moved again to pioneer the new Sinar Harapan," said Thoman.

Since then, Thoman has rarely communicated with Peter. Every now and then, they gave each other news. "There are unique things that Peter told me," said Thoman. For example, when he made a chair from a collection of his writings in the newspaper.

"This person is unique. So, he keeps his writings published in the newspaper. The clippings of these writings are used as chairs, as guest seats at his house in Surabaya," he said.

Peter, for Thoman, is no ordinary journalist. In working on investigative journalism, Peter is good at digging a case in depth. The spirit of life that can be learned from Peter, said Thoman, is being able to make small things big through the process of the investigation. "His journalistic instincts are extraordinary," he said.

Thoman has one of the most memorable experiences in life while working with Peter. In the 1990s, Peter heard the news that a ship had sunk to the bottom of the Indonesian sea and kept antiques such as porcelain.

Peter then invited Thoman to investigate this case. Thoman clearly felt that it was difficult to find information about the case because of the lack of sources that could be extracted.

"We have been writing for months about the treasures in the Indonesian sea, reportedly a ship from China carrying dynastic porcelain there. This case is not easy to inform. But, he can say that it becomes big news and is reviewed every day as a serial article in the newspaper. afternoon, "he said.

Peter's writing at that time finally shocked the public. The treasure that was reported was a struggle and a question about who had the right to own the treasure. This is because antiques stored on the seabed can be traded and made money. Finally, the Indonesian Navy at that time sent a team to investigate the treasure at sea that Peter had revealed.

"So, he is not an ordinary reporter in my opinion," he concluded.