I was released one day before Soeharto stepped down. They are critical. They deeply care about upholding the truth, and about the importance to defend and respect humanity, the worthiness of a human being. But an artist must also possess the virtue of courage. Throughout the course of my life as an artist I have been convinced that for an artist, courage is a conditio sine qua non.
Courage here pertains to creative, moral and social perspectives.
In my view, it is such empathy that every artist should have as a basic potential to complement the artist's talent. At present, I am in the process of preparing the staging of a play entitled 'ALIA, the Wound of Serambi Mekah'. Serambi Mekah is another term for Aceh, the most nortern province on Sumatra island. Based on various human tragedies occurring in Aceh, I started writing the script while I was incarcerated. The answer is Yes.