Stereotypes

My sister shared this post on Facebook. Well, in short, they'd like to see what happens when an adult is put in a room with a baby. How would they play with the baby. It turns out, people are instantly stereotyping. They gave dolls and soft toys to the baby girl, while to the baby boy, they give puzzles and other toys I see as "more stimulating."

I just hope we don't fall into this stereotyping practice. My daughter is girly by nature, but she is free to play with her brothers' toys. I hope nobody will consider her strange that way.

This got me thinking. I am lucky that my parents are relatively open minded about this. Sure, I had Barbie dolls as a girl, but they don't freak out when I prefer to take the Dream House apart and putting it together again, rather than dressing up the dolls and play pretend. Nor did they freak out when I decided 'enough with Barbie, I like to put together fighter jet kits much better.'

As I grow up, obviously I need to make adjustments. Make-ups are compulsory to some events, as much as I deem it as an 'unnecessary inconvenience,' sometimes there is just no way getting around it. Same goes with traveling. I've had 3D2N trips with multiple dress codes, calling for three times as much stuff to bring as I normally would.

Until recently, I thought I have grown out of my old interests, especially ones that do not directly involve my daily job. Apparently it only took a small nudge for me to get back. The feeling when I realized I have sucked back into it, is like coming home after a very long trip.

(Not) An Average Hari Bhakti Trip

It's been too long since I post a real entry here. The post a few days ago was simply a copy-paste thing, with a prayer that it would do good to a particular someone. Well anywaaaaay....

I had a flu onset since I got back from Yogyakarta last weekend, and for three contiguous days, I came home with a fever. So I figure a sick leave is inevitable. And now I'm bored to death (hence the rantings on this blog).

Yogyakarta. That was my third visit in 9 months. There's always been something about that city. I never lived there, nobody in my extended family ever did, but I always feel a longing to be there. Reminds me of a recurring conversations with one of my former bosses. Typically, it goes like this:

Boss: So, Riga, are you going home to Yogyakarta for the holidays?
Me: No, why should I?
Boss: Well, you're from there, silly!
Me: No I'm not, I'm from Jakarta
Boss: Yeah, but your father is from Yogyakarta, right?
Me: Nope
Boss: So where is your family from?
Me: Jakarta
Boss: No, I mean like, originally. Your grandfather. Where was he born?
Me: Jakarta (yep, I'm telling the truth. Google him up, and you'll see).

Such convo can be funny at first, but when you've gone through the exact same lines for the 3rd time with the very same person, it's plain annoying.

I have been looking forward to another Hari Bhakti AU visit to Yogyakarta for a few months. I had a low point in April, around the time of the governatorial election. At first I only thought of it as a political matter. It will go away after the election. But it didn't.

Everything just seems too much. I have friends who walked out of the mosques during Friday khotbah because it was more like a hate speech. Late one night, my husband and I heard a hate speech blaring from a nearby small mosque. All this time I would just ignore such speeches. But during that period, I also saw some friends treating others differently; more of my friends had to deal with their children being outcast by their neighbours' children simply because they have different faiths. However, you just had to be in Jakarta at that time to see the negativity.

One day in May, I was on my daily commute, passing through the Police Headquarters. There were rows and rows of flower arrangements. One of them reads, "Maju terus, Pak Tito. Kami mendukungmu menjaga keutuhan NKRI." And so it hit me,  that's what is at stake: our unity. The past few months had shown that breaking communities apart through differences is actually easier than anybody previously thought.

That 50-minute commute was very overwhelming. I thought of my friends, who were on the brinks of despair. Then Eyang flashed in my mind. My grandfather, who gave his life for the freedom of this country. Is this all that my generation can do? I skimmed through my Photo Library. I found a picture of my sister and I, sitting by our grandparents' graves, in the monument complex.
At that, I actually broke down, then tried to disguise my tears from the Uber driver. Suddenly I really want to meet my grandparents. Just to chat with them. Do I live to their expectations? Are they disappointed? I reposted that photo to my Instagram, and making a promise to visit the grave in July.

So I insisted on going on the trip, despite the fact that my husband had conflicting schedules and cancelled a few days prior to the departure. I NEED THIS TRIP. It's not just for my grandparents, to honour them, this time it's also for me.

This year, there were more participants than ever, so logistics is a bit limited. We had an LO shared between our family, Adisucipto's and Kaput's. He is a Major, when in the past it had been one LO ( First Lieutenant) for each invitation. I missed a detail about dresscode that cost me one event in the Museum. But I still enjoyed the trip, very much.

goodbye

I was chatting with my sister this afternoon, discussing my visit to my unfortunate friend who is going through litigation against some medical service provider. I told her about news regarding another case involving the same provider. To ensure I convey the correct details of the news, I opened a news website.

There, among other news, was this title about Lettu (First Lieutenant) Wisnu being buried today. I heard about the Super Puma crash yesterday afternoon, but yesterday was a hectic day at work that didn't manage to read the details. I decided to procrastinate and clicked the link. Then it felt as if I got struck by lightning, reading the full name: Lettu (Pnb) Wisnu Murtiwardana.

Flash back to Yogyakarta, 28 July, 2006. It was the first time I joined the entourage for Hari Bakti Angkatan Udara. There is one little story I left out on that post. After my parents and I got back to the hotel from Godean, before dinner at Handrawina, I had a casual chat with one of the Liaison Officers. He told me that he was born and grew up in Solo, got into Taruna Nusantara, then the Air Force Academy. He was finishing flight school. I know Taruna Nusantara quite well, so I asked him what batch he was in, and he said, batch 9. From there I know that he's six years younger than me. Knowing that, he kept calling me Mbak, even when I told him he can call me by my first name only.

We exchanged mobile numbers, and having several Wisnus on my address book, I asked him for his full name, silently thinking, "Let's see if he's a Wisnu Wardana, or a Wisnu Murti". Those two combinations seem to be very popular. He replied, "Aku Wisnu Murtiwardana, Mbak." Right. Both, combined.

One day, a few months later, I got a text message from him that he graduated from flight school and becoming a helicopter pilot.

Good Heavens... it can't be... not "that" Wisnu... but he's so young, he had his life ahead of him. But this photo confirmed it.

Sabtu, 13/06/2009 17:58 WIB
Heli TNI Jatuh di Bogor
Jenazah Lettu Wisnu Dimakamkan
Muchus Budi R. - detikNews

Jenasah(sic) Lettu Wisnu Murti Wardana(sic), Sabtu (13/6/2009), dimakamkan dalam suasana khidmat dan penuh keharuan. Salah satu korban kecelakaan helikopter puma milik TNI AU tersebut dimakamkan di makam keluarga di Sukoharjo.

Jenasah diberangkatkan dari rumah duka Jalan Apel IIII/3 No 5, Jajar, Solo, menuju pemakaman keluarga di Pabelan, Katosuro, Sukoharjo. Pemakaman perwira pertama TNI AU tersebut dilakukan secara militer dipimpin Dan Lanud Adi Soemarmo, Kol Heri Irsal.

Selain dihadiri keluarga dan kerabat, tampak hadir rekan-rekan almarhum dari TNI maupun beberapa pejabat TNI dan Polri setempat. Karangan bunga juga datang dari kesatuan tempatnya bertugas.

Wisnu adalah lulusan Akmil AU tahun 2004 dan langsung melanjutkan ke pendidikan penerbang. Dia bertindak selaku co-pilot pesawat helikopter jenis puma yang mengalami naas di Lenud(sic) Atang Sendjaja kemarin.

(mbr/djo)

eid with the flu at an unfamiliar town

Eid mubarak, everyone!
I am currently spending my eid holiday at Indra's hometown. It's a whole new experience, with 5 meals a day, it's a tough challenge for my diet.
It would have been fun, but I have the flu, which is a b*tch when you're traveling. Now it's down to the stage that if I show up to work in this condition, bocil would send me home by lunch time.
All I can think about is curling up in my own cosy bed, sleeping in the whole day. And taking that soothing cough medicine from the ginormous bottle that's been sitting on my bedside table since the last time I have the cough.

numb

Coming home today, I couldn't help recalling a piece of conversation taking place a few years back. Back then I used to stay up late doing assignments while going online, and usually a friend of mine would keep me company over MSN, after he gets off work or basketball practice.

"Do you ever feel like everything's too much?"
"Too much? what do you mean?"
"As in people expect you to do a lot of things and you just think you can't handle it anymore"

Now I get you, Brett. Although I'm sure Bocil will hang in there and handle it, nobody deserves what he went through today. I've never felt so PO'ed, disrespected and helpless all at the same time.

Kenangan Mbah Tini

Today I received another e-mail regarding my great-grandfather. This time it's my grandfather's youngest sibling, Mbah Tini, who wrote about him.
I. SEMANGAT BANGKIT
Di usiaku yang masih sangat belia, suatu pagi di tahun 1937 ada yang menarik perhatianku tentang Bapak. Tidak seperti biasanya aku melihat Bapak sedang berada di garasi dengan masih mengenakan pakaian tidur, piyama kesukaannya. Aku bertanya dalam hati mengapa Bapak ada di sana, biasanya pada pagi hari seperti ini Bapak berada di meja makan, duduk minum secangkir kopi dengan sarapan kecil dua helai roti tawar yang terselip isi telur ceplok kegemarannya. Koran pagi yang selalu menemani masih terlipat rapi di meja makan.
Rasa penasaran itu mendorong aku mendekati garasi. Seperti anak-anak pada umumnya, aku selalu ingin tahu apa yang sedang dikerjakan oleh Bapak di sana. Aku hanya memandang tanpa bertanya apapun pada Bapak yang sedang mengotak-atik kaca sebelah dalam mobilnya, seperti sedang melekatkan sesuatu. Lebih dekat aku lihat dari bagian luar kaca mobil, ternyata Bapak sedang menempelkan selembar kertas berbentuk bulat berwarna hijau-merah-putih melingkar.
Yang terlintas dalam pikiranku saat itu kertas itu kan lambang PARINDRA (Paartij Indonesia Raya), Partai di mana Bapak menjadi salah satu pengurusnya. Sebatas yang aku dengar dan ketahui kegiatan organisasi ini tidak dilakukan secara terbuka karena tidak disukai oleh Belanda. Nekat benar Bapak ini? Sedangkan selama ini keluarga kami senantiasa diintai oleh PID (PID = Politieke Inlichtingen Dienst, Dinas Intel Belanda). Namun demikian aku tetap tidak bertanya apapun pada Bapak tentang apa yang sedang aku pikirkan.
Tiba-tiba saja Bapak keluar dari mobil dan tersenyum kecil melihatku, akupun membalas senyum Bapak. Aku mengira Bapak sudah selesai dan akan segera kembali ke meja makan... akupun berbalik mendahuluinya… Ternyata tidak! Bapak masih berdiri tegak di samping mobilnya, aku melihat dengan jelas Bapak meletakkan telapak kanannya ke dada sebelah kirinya sambil berucap: "MERDEKA!!" Entah mengapa tiba-tiba saja ada rasa bangga melihat Bapak, meskipun belum sepenuhnya aku mengerti makna yang terkandung di dalamnya.

II. SEMANGAT REVOLUSI
Pada masa revolusi seluruh rakyat bahu membahu menyusun kekuatan dengan satu tujuan: Merdeka.
Atas kuasa dan kebesaran Allah SWT telah bangkit semangat juang dari seluruh rakyat Indonesia yang ingin melepaskan diri dari belenggu penjajahan. Apapun yang mereka miliki, sekecil apapun kemampuan dan pengetahuan yang ada, dan dengan segala keterbatasan, mereka tetap memiliki satu semangat yang sama.
Seperti yang aku alami di lingkup kecil sekitar kehidupanku, salah satu elemen masyarakat yang gigih berjuang adalah para pemuda pejuang, yang disebut Tentara Pelajar. Mereka mampu melakukan perlawanan dengan dukungan rakyat. Di antara rakyat yang mendukung perjuangan, ada tiga orang yang aku ketahui ikut terjun sebagai mata rantai perjuangan. Mereka berprofesi sebagai kusir delman dari 3 desa di sekitar Gunung Bromo, yang bertugas sebagai kurir bagi pemuda pejuang yang tergabung dalam Tentara Pelajar dengan basis gerilya di daerah Gunung Bromo.
Karena Bapak berprofesi sebagai dokter, pada saat-saat tertentu secara bergantian mereka datang ke rumah yang sekaligus tempat praktek Bapak dan berpura-pura mendaftarkan diri sebagai pasien yang akan berobat. Pada saat giliran mereka masuk untuk diperiksa, maka mereka mengucapkan kata sandi tertentu kepada Bapak. Dan Bapak pun segera tahu apa yang harus dilakukan, yaitu membantu obat-obatan untuk para pejuang melalui kurir kusir delman tersebut. Pada awalnya semua berjalan dengan baik dan lancar, berbagai obat-obatan yang diperlukan bisa diterima oleh para pejuang di lapangan. Sampai suatu saat kegiatan ini diketahui oleh pihak Belanda. Di tengah kesibukan Bapak melayani pasiennya di ruang praktek, datanglah 3 orang polisi dan mereka membawa Bapak pergi. Kami sekeluaga cemas dengan kejadian itu, sementara di kantor polisi diperlihatkan kepada Bapak berbagai macam obat-obatan yang pernah dititipkan melalui kurir. Menurut cerita Bapak kemudian pada kami, pada saat itu Bapak berusaha bersikap tenang dan bukti-bukti yang diperlihatkan diakui olehnya. Bapak berusaha tegar dan percaya diri, karena mengetahui bahwa apa yang diperbuatnya adalah benar, sesuai kode etik kedokteran siapapun yang membutuhkan tindakan medis wajib dibantu.
Keesokan harinya Bapak diperbolehkan pulang dan peristiwa itu langsung terdengar oleh para pejuang yang berada di basis-basis pertempuran, mereka yakin ini semua adalah perbuatan mata-mata. Tiga hari setelah Bapak pulang datang seorang pasien dari kantor polisi ke rumah kami. Tapi pasien itu tidak bermaksud menemui Bapak, melainkan bermaksud menemui saya. Akupun bertanya-tanya siapa dia dan dengan maksud apa dia berniat menemuiku. Di ruang kantor Bapak yang letaknya bersebelahan dengan ruang praktek, saya temui pasien tersebut. Dia membawa berita singkat saja bahwa para pejuang telah menemukan orang yang menjerumuskan Bapak. Pengkhianat itu adalah salah satu teman wanitaku dan saat ini telah mengakui semua perbuatannya.
Sudah tentu berita ini membuatku sangat kaget dan tak mampu berkata apapun. Kemudian dia melajutkan: "Kami akan memberi pelajaran setimpal kepada pengkhianat tersebut, karena kami tidak bisa terima atas pengkhianatannya terhadap Pak Dokter." Pengkhianat itu ternyata teman sekelasku di MULO dulu. (MULO = Meer Uitgebreid Lagere Onderwijs, SMP)
Keringat dingin langsung membasahi tubuhku pada saat pejuang itu mengatakan : "Mbak, kita menunggu instruksi dari Mbak untuk mengeksekusi mati pengkhianat itu."Saat itu aku berucap, "Tidak, Bapak telah kembali di tengah-tengah kami dengan selamat, beri saja pengertian padanya apa arti kemerdekaan bagi bangsa dan ajak dia berjuang bersama kami." Pejuang itu diam sejenak, kemudian pamit untuk kembali.
Keesokan harinya aku menerima secarik kertas berisi pesan singkat: "Kami telah melaksanakan tugas kami, pesan terakhirnya almarhumah meminta maaf pada Mbak Tini dan keluarga."
Inna Lilahi wa Inna Illaihi Rojiun... Begitulah perjuangan, tidak ada tempat bagi mereka yang mengkhianati perjuangan kemerdekaan.

III. SEMANGAT HARGA DIRI
Bapak selalu membangkitkan rasa cinta tanah air kepada anak-anaknya sejak kecil. Salah satu yang masih teringat adalah pada saat aku masih duduk di bangku Sekolah Dasar (Lagere School), semua buku pelajaran kami dapatkan dari sekolah. Dan semua murid diwajibkan memberi sampul buku-buku itu, dengan judul ditulis di bagian luar sampul.
Pada suatu malam di saat itu aku sedang belajar sejarah. Ada dua buku sejarah, yaitu Sejarah Belanda dan Sejarah Indonesia. Kebiasaan Bapak menemani duduk di dekatku saat sedang belajar, lalu terbaca oleh Bapak di buku itu tertulis: "Inlandse Geschiedenis" (Geschiedenis= Sejarah). Bapak bertanya: "Tien, apa kamu tahu artinya Inlandse?" Aku jawab, "Pribumi. "
Kemudian Bapak menjelaskan, "Inlandse adalah kata sifat dari Inlander, kamu mau disebut Inlander!?"
Lalu sambil meninggalkan aku Bapak berujar, "Ganti dulu judul sampul buku itu."
Malam harinya setelah selesai belajar, Bapak memelukku dan berkata : "Nah ini baru anak Bapak." Judul buku sejarah itu sudah aku ganti dengan: "Indonesische Geschiedenis." Istilah kecil berupa kata yang memiliki arti penting menyangkut harga diri bangsa.
19 April 2008.

Update: Mbah Tini wafat pada tanggal 4 Agustus 2012

Boedi Oetomo : The Magnificent Nine

Below is an e-mail I received from Oom Djoni, my father’s cousin. It was written in English, because he also sent it to the Dutch Salehs. All this time, I had no idea of this particular involvement of my great-grandfather. Well, reading the history books back in school, I’ve always thought that it was some other Mohammad Saleh they were referring to.

This year of Anno Domini 2008 marks the 100th year anniversary of our National Awakening (Kebangkitan National). A hundred years ago, at 20 May 1908, nine students of the STOVIA medical school in Batavia, now Jakarta, founded Boedi Oetomo, the first organization of national nature in Netherlands East Indies, the geographical region in Southeast Asia that eventually become Indonesia. From this first milestone in the nation's stride toward self determination, started the storm of independence movement that peaked in the next milestone, the Youth Pledge (Sumpah Pemuda) event on 28 October 1928, and then snowballed into the Proclamation of Independence on 17 August 1945.

In the wake this centennial commemoration of the National Awakening Day which is due within the coming 25 days, some 3 months ago a number people, descendants of the founders of Boedi Oetomo have established a social gathering club (Paguyuban). They have so far been successful in identifying the descendants of 6 out of the 9 Boedi Oetomo founders.

A week ago, at the afternoon of Thursday 10 April, my cellular phone beeped, the LCD screen showed an unknown number as the caller. When reluctantly I answered the call, a voice of a lady spoke from the other end:

"Are you Pak Djoni Saleh?".

"Yes", I replied, "And who might this be?"

But instead of replying my question, she continued:

"Are you then a grandchild of dr. Mohammad Saleh?"

"Yeesss..." I replied again, this time too much taken aback to repeat requesting her name.

"Then, Pak Djoni, you should be a part of us, the Paguyuban of the Descendants of the Founders of Boedi Oetomo," and without a pause, she continued:

"My name is Dr. Puspita Laksmintarsih, and I'm calling from Klaten, Central Java, since I work here in the 'Dr. Soeradji' Hospital, a hospital that bore the name of one of the nine founders of Boedi Oetomo. While me myself is a grandchild of Dr. Mohammad Soeleiman, another founder of Boedi Oetomo, along with Dr. Soetomo and six others STOVIA students. We have so far been able to identified the descendants of six Boedi Oetomo founders, and I'm very glad today that we now have found a descendant of the seventh founder, you Pak Djoni, as the descendant of your grandfather, Dr. Mohammad Saleh!"

Wow! This is the first time that somebody tell me so convincingly that Eyang Kakung was one out of the only less than a single digit number of founding fathers of this 4th biggest nation in the world! During the last 10 years, the late Oom Tutut sometime vaguely mentioned abut Eyang Kakung roles in the founding of Boedi Oetomo, but never so positively.

Dr. Puspita then explained briefly about the Paguyuban, and asked me to attend a meeting of the Jakarta's part of the Paguyuban, hers being the Central Java part, that was to be started only 1 hour after she called me at that time!

When I came to the meeting place, it turned out to be the house of Arbaningsih Soeleiman, nicknamed Arbi, an older sister of Puspita. Arbi happened to be an old friend of mine from my high school days, but we never knew that we are related by way of this Boedi Oetomo connection! And present also there were the descendants of Dr. Soetomo, Dr. Soeradji, Dr. Angka, and Dr. Goenawan Mangoenkoesoemo. The chairman of the Paguyuban is Wargono Soekarno, a grandchild of Dr. Soeradji, who later on we found out as a high school class mate of Rahman Saleh back in their Bandung days.

Being a lonely late comer in their circle, I was briefed more thoroughly about the Paguyuban than what Puspita had told me. How did they started it, what are their goals, and what have been achieved so far. By then I got the impression that although Dr. Saleh's descendants were late comers to this circle, we are not left out behind in nothing at all! So little they have achieved and so much are to be done. When the meeting was adjourned with a plan to meet again on Sunday 13 April, I went home with high excitement. I called some others Salehs, told them about this Boedi Oetomo glorious thing. I asked them to come along to the Sunday meeting.

Come Sunday, that was the invasion day of the Salehs army! Wangki, Mim, Ira, Rahman, Sri, Santi, Nini, Nanda and Winda had taken the meeting by storm. All the proceedings of the meeting were dominated by us, and from then on we are looking forward to meaningful celebration, yet still low key due to short time left, of our nation's centennial!

Yesterday there came an invitation for an interview with TVRI to be held today afternoon. As they scheduled to interview only four people, it was decided that the grandchildren of Dr. Soetomo, Dr. Moh. Soeleiman, Dr. Soeradji and Dr. Moh. Saleh would represent the Paguyuban. It has actually been decided that either Nini, PhD. or Nanda, PhD. would be the Saleh's representative. Maar helaas... they have an earlier appointment with the First Lady, Ani SBY, which schedule coincided with the TVRI interview. I had exhaustively tried to convince our two doctors to dump the First Lady thing, even went as far as telling them that she is not important, as she has only a year left as the First Lady, since next year SBY will for sure not be re-elected! But all in vain...

So I had to jump into their seat as a stopgap measure, and be interviewed by TVRI. I wish it were one of the major channels interviewing me, and not the aging and dimming TVRI... Well, anyway be prepared to free your time on Sunday, 27 April 2008, at 19:30 hour, to watch the screening of my ugly face on the TVRI program of "Melacak Jejak".

To be able to follow what would be talked about at that interview, I have written in here below a somewhat brief history of Boedi Oetomo, collected from various sources of references.

Wasalam. Jakarta, 16 April 2008.

Medical education in the Netherlands East Indies started way back in 1851 with the Javaansche Artsen Opleiding, or Pendidikan Tabib Jawa, which was a vocational Senior High School (SMA) level education. Then it was brought upward to became the School Tot Opleiding Van Inlandsche Artsen (STOVIA), or Sekolah Pendidikan Tabib Bumiputera, in the year 1898, in which the 1st to the 3rd year were on Senior High School level, and the 4th up to the 9th year were of higher learning (university) level. And then on 1927 it was again upgraded to become the Geneeskundig Hogeschool (GH), or Sekolah Tinggi Kedokteran, a full university scheme.

At the dawn of the 20th century, the STOVIA alumnae, dr. Wahidin Soedirohoesodo and dr. Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo, as government medical officers which they have become by then, often visited villages in remote districts, where they witnessed the sufferings of the colonialized people, and therefore became aggravated. Because of that, they saw to it that when they had a chance to visit Batavia, they came over to STOVIA campus to encourage their juniors, the STOVIA students, to start doing meaningful deeds in response to the suffering message of the people, student being a potential force of young and energetic mass.

Emboldened by the inducements of these two mentors, nine students of the 4th and 5th year classes, in their 19 and 20 years of age, arranged a get together of STOVIA student on Sunday morning, 20 May 1908, where at 9 o'clock they declared the formation of Boedi Oetomo, the first national organization in the East Indies. Those nine students, with their respective position in the organization's first board, are:

• Voorzitter: Soetomo
• Vizevoozitter: Mohammad Soeleiman
• 1ste Secretaris: Gondo Soewarno (Soewarno-I)
• 2de Secretaris: Goenawan Mangoenkoesoemo
• Penningmeester: Angka Prodjosoedirdjo
• Commissaris: Mohammad Saleh, Soewarno-II
• Bestuur-lid:Soeradji, Goembrek.
  

The name "boedi oetomo" was proposed by Soeradji, based on a sentence spoken by dr. Wahidin Soedirohoesodo on a previous discussion with him and Soetomo. Wahidin told them about the deeds that has to be done by the student the enlighten the people's sufferings: "Menika satunggaling padamelan sae sarta nelakaken budi utami" - This is a good deed and promote noble conduct / het schone streven. And "boedi oetomo" is the common level words in Javanese language for the subtle level words kromo of "boedi oetami".

In this political movement, the nine students did not involve STOVIA's 1st to 3rd year students as they are considered as minor kids. They did not involve the 6th to 9th year students as well, to free these senior of them from the burden of organizational hard works as they have already a heavy academic burden in their last years as medical students. Notwithstandingly, these nine pioneers of national awakening were also fully aware themselves that their status as university student limited their ability to promote further the organization into the desired development. Therefore, from the beginning of their board positioning, they have presumed that it was a temporary tenure.

Still within the same year, on October 2008, when the organization had developed rapidly, its membership rose to 1200 people in only 5 months, they held the 1st Boedi Oetomo Congress in Jogyakarta. In this occasion they handed over the leadership of the organization to more senior and eminent people. And the term "voorzitter" for chairman was also changed to "president". So that Boedi Oetomo got a more political movement colour, than the previous nuance of educational and social welfare institution. Raden Ario Tirtokoesoemo, Regent of Karanganyar was elected as the first President of Boedi Oetomo.