Saeroen
| Saeroen | |
|---|---|
Saeroen, c. 1958
|
|
| Born | Yogyakarta, Dutch East Indies |
| Died | 6 October 1962 Bogor, Indonesia |
| Nationality | Indonesian |
| Other names | Kampret (pen name) |
| Occupation | Journalist, screenwriter |
| Notable work | Terang Boelan |
Saeroen (Perfected Spelling: Saerun; fl. 1920s–1962) was an Indonesian journalist and screenwriter. Born in Yogyakarta, he became a journalist after a time working at a railway station. By the mid-1930s he had established the daily Pemandangan with Raden Hajji Djunaedi and was writing editorials with the pen name Kampret. When the paper was dissolved, Saeroen drifted into the film industry as a writer, making his debut with Albert Balink's Terang Boelan (1937). Much of his later life was spent working with several minor publications.
Saeroen was born in Yogyakarta, Dutch East Indies, to a courtier (abdi dalem) and his wife. After failing to complete his schooling at two different elementary schools, during which time he worked cleaning horse-drawn carriages and delivering newspapers, he passed a written test equivalent to an elementary school diploma. He then went to Batavia (modern-day Jakarta) to work at a train station. After several months he was asked to work at the railway employees' news publication, Vereniging van Spoor-en TramPersoneel.
Interested in the press, Saeroen left his job and became involved with several mainstream publications, including the Chinese-owned Siang Po and Keng Po. He later established the daily Pemandangan with Raden Hajji Djunaedi, writing heated editorials with the pen name Kampret (the Indonesian word for microbats). At the time editorials were mainstays of minor publications, and several reporters were better known by their pen names than their birth names. Although the newspaper's circulation grew quickly, Saeroen's editorials led to Pemandangan being closed by the Dutch colonial government in the mid-1930s. This reportedly followed a nationalist editorial in which Saeroen described Mohammad Husni Thamrin as prime minister of a "United Indonesian Republic".
With Pemandangan closed and the newly established Antara news agency gaining greater strength, Saeroen was asked to head the native desk at the Dutch-run news agency Aneta, where he also served as a translator. Around 1936 Saeroen was approached by Albert Balink and the Wong brothers to work on their new film collaboration, Terang Boelan (Full Moon), reportedly first only to improve the dialogue but later as the primary scriptwriter. As Saeroen had had experience with the popular toneel theatrical troupes, he was able to write a story which drew on theatre traditions and became popular among natives. The film, a love story starring Rd. Mochtar and Roekiah, was a commercial success, earning 200,000 Straits dollars in British Malaya; it proved to be the most successful production in the area until 1953's Krisis (Crisis), released after Indonesia had become independent.
...
Wikipedia