In this article My Neighbour, The Dictator Tari Lang
By John Kampfner, originally published in The New World
Jul 08, 2026
Read the full article here. / Subscription may be required.
By John Kampfner, originally published in The New World
Jul 08, 2026
Tari Lang’s memoir discusses growing up under Indonesia's military dictatorship while much of society carried on as normal
“The Establishment is largely unchanged. Nothing changes in this universe. They continue to live in their big houses, shop in the malls, eat in smart restaurants.” In My Neighbour, The Dictator, a captivating memoir of her teen years in Suharto’s Indonesia after the military takeover of 1965, Tari Lang shines a fresh light on the banality of evil.
She was 14 when the tanks came to the front door and the soldiers came for her parents. Her father spent most of the next 13 years in jail, her mother a shorter time, for being “left wing”, which they were, and for being subversive, which they weren’t. (He was a deputy minister in the Ministry for Maritime Affairs; she was an official in the Foreign Ministry).
“The Establishment is largely unchanged. Nothing changes in this universe. They continue to live in their big houses, shop in the malls, eat in smart restaurants.” In My Neighbour, The Dictator, a captivating memoir of her teen years in Suharto’s Indonesia after the military takeover of 1965, Tari Lang shines a fresh light on the banality of evil.
She was 14 when the tanks came to the front door and the soldiers came for her parents. Her father spent most of the next 13 years in jail, her mother a shorter time, for being “left wing”, which they were, and for being subversive, which they weren’t. (He was a deputy minister in the Ministry for Maritime Affairs; she was an official in the Foreign Ministry).
Read the full article here. / Subscription may be required.
Carol Goldstein / Keystone/Getty
