Visiting Pak Khing - 1

Last Wednesday, I took Dhanu (after school) to Haarlem. I had an appointment with Thé Tjong-Khing, because it's been a long time since I visited him; besides, we had a lot of plans to talk about. I got to know Pak Khing (this is how I call him) around the year 2001, when Pak Sudjoko, a professor from our faculty (Fakultas Seni Rupa & Desain ITB), asked me to track his old friends who left to The Netherlands about 50 years ago. Pak Djoko was actually looking for Sie Hau-Tjong(?) but I couldn't find him. I 'bumped' into Pak Khing instead; another name Pak Djoko mentioned. How? Well, his name is familiar - Sybrand remembered that such name was at the member list of BNO (Association of Dutch Professional Designer). Besides, he is already well-known in Holland as a children's book illustrator. I could easily find his name and contact address from the telephone guide at the Internet and gave him a call.
He answered the phone himself, and I spoke English. He could hear and response to me clearly, and I wondered if he could still speak Indonesian. But he couldn't. I mentioned about Pak Sudjoko looking for old friends, but then before chatting too long I got his e-mail address and promised to tell more about Pak Sudjoko, myself and our old FSRD ITB school. It's really been about 50 years that anyone from his past in Bandung contacted him again!

So the story goes.. we mailed each other, exchanging stories. A pity that Sie Hau-Tjong whom Pak Djoko was looking for has passed away, but having Pak Khing as an acquintance is really more than pleasant. This Pak Khing is, indeed, the well-known children's book illustrator who has won several highest awards for his works of comic/strips and illustration. Our relationship got more intense when I and some friends arranged Madjoe! (an Indonesian comics exhibition) for Stripdagen Haarlem 2002. We visited him, he filmed us and made a videotape of our exhibition, we made a chain-comix together (still continuing!) and, in short, we become friends inspite of the 40+ years gap in our ages. But, really, we can learn a lot from Pak Khing. I'm going to write this anyway eventhough he might read this, too, and feel that I flatter him too much. First of all, eventhough he is famous nation-wide, he's not at all arrogant. In the contrary, he's very friendly, and his sense of humour is always fresh. Another thing we can learn from him is his spirit. You can hardly tell that he is in his 70s just looking at his performance: he is still very energetic and quick, both body and mind. Being and working with him, we could just feel his contagious energy towards us. Not a bad thing, indeed. Then there's his diligence and dedication to his works. Persistence and consistence in doing what he likes. You can almost see him pouring all his affection to his works. Moreover if you know the history of his career - you would see that he's the kind who doesn't give up easilly, who takes up every opportunity to develop himself (eventhough Luck has always been on his side - which, I think, he deserves all the same). Pak Khing is the kind of guy that would make you think: I want to grow 'old' like him; somebody who is doing what he always wanted to do, and enjoying every minute of it.
OK that's about Pak Khing so far. The next part will be about our visit that afternoon. The photo's are Pak Khing's collection, from when he was still studying in Bandung. Pak Khing is the one wearing a cap, third from the left (the guy at the far right is "Pak Raden" Soejadi). On the boat, Pak Khing is the one at the most front. The black & white drawing is from a comic series created by Pak Khing in the 1970s.