30 Bhisma definitely knows his job. In Indonesian political chaos, he does not wait
for his patients to come, but he visits the patients in camp. As a political prisoner, Bhisma is responsible with his duty. In Buru, he
must work together. He does many task s, “Most of the time my tasks range from
the mundane to the thankless, and there is nothing new to this” p. 488. However, he has a special position due to his proffesion. He tells it in his letter on
7 December 1973, a letter to Amba. He tells, “Because I’m a doctor, and by extension
a responsible person though I’m not sure this is the only reason, I’m treated somewhat differently in Tefaat Buru Tempat Pemanfaatan, literally place
of exploitation ” p. 457. Bhisma is always responsible to everything, especially
with his duty which is closely related to public service.
5. Friendly
Bhisma is a friendly person. He is easy to interact with other people, for instance, when he moves to Netherlands and lives with
Lipalasy’s family, he says, “they were always friendly and gracious to me” p. 245. He considers Lipalasy’s
family as his own family similarly. Another evidence is while he studies in Leipzig, German, he has many
friends. For example, when he tries to look for Liz, a woman whom he loves in Germany, he meets Gera
rd Mannuhutu, Liz’s cousin. In the short time, Gerard becomes Bhisma’s best friend, “More months passed and Gerard hadn’t only his
friend, he was also his window to a new world” p. 252. They almost spend their days together discussing revolution, socialism, communism, and Rosa
31 Luxemburg. They do many activities together: watching movie, salivating books
that they cannot buy, and riding a bike during their study break. Besides, Bhisma has a good relation with some important and popular
people, particularly when he is in Germany. He tells Amba that in the summer he comes to the World Youth Festival which began in 1947 in Prague. He meets
Indonesian artist, he tells “The festival offered the chance to meet those great
Indonesian artists like Sudjojono, Hendra Gunawan, and Sunar di” p. 268. It
makes him forthcoming to live with many people from various backgrounds. Furthermore, Bhisma opens himself to a lot of young people. He has
friends from Lekra Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat , the Institute of People’s
Culture and CGMI Concentrasi Gerakan Mahasiswa Indonesia, the Unified Movement of Students of Indonesia. He is well accepted even he has a special
position from them. One of the evidences from his Lekra friends is when Bhisma with Amba come to Bumi Tarung, his friends welcome them. It is proven,
“A man with long frizzy silver hair rose and greeted them with open arms. He said,
genuinely surprised and happy to see Bhisma” p. 270. His Lekra friends allow him to stay in Bumi Tarung. Moreover, CGMI people respect Bhisma, mainly
Untarto, the leader of CGMI.
6. Open-Minded
Bhisma is an open-minded person. He opens himself to everything in accordance with his life principle. He does not follow others, but he stands on his
own belief. However, he is willing to listen to and accept different ideas from other people whom he meets. For instance, when he comes to Yogyakarta and
