Page 6 - BUKU A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE IN INDONESIA

FOREWORD FROM THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

ALL praises to God almighty for we have managed to publish a new, ab-
ridged version of “A Century of Parliamentary Life in Indonesia”, a history
book that was originally published in 2019. Published by the office of the
Secretary-General of the House of Representatives of the Republic of
Indonesia, the original version was packaged as a series of five books
totaling more than 2,000 pages. The series feature the dynamics of parli-
amentary life in Indonesia, starting from Volksraad in the 18th century to
the post-reformation era. Therefore, compared to any other history book
that highlighted only particular periods, “A Century of Parliamentary Life
in Indonesia” offers a more comprehensive history of the parliament.

The book recounts the century-old journey of the Indonesian parliament
in chronological order and in great detail.

Alas, a good book without readers is meaningless. Therefore, we have
long wished to republish “A Century of Parliamentary Life in Indonesia”
in a more concise format, with just a little more than 250 pages. The new
book was meant to complement the original version so readers can cho-
ose whichever they wish to read and to attract readers to dive deeper
into the history of parliament in the original series after reading this new
version.

I admit that it is no easy feat to rewrite five books into one while still of-
fering a flowing narrative that fully and proportionally represents all peri-
ods in the history of our parliament. Hence, I would like to extend my sin-
cere appreciation and gratitude to the Matair Rumah Kreatif team, who
has been working diligently to ensure that this book remains interesting
and pleasant to read.

“Never, ever, forget history,” Indonesia’s first president, Soekarno, once
said. I sincerely hope you will find reading the history of our parliament in
this book to be enjoyable. I also hope that this book can deepen the love
of all Indonesians, including the younger generation, for our nation and
ignite interest in collecting parliamentary books.

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