Petrus Kanisius Ojong (25 July 1920 – 31 May 1980), better known as P. K. Ojong, was an Indonesian journalist and businessman who was one of the founders of

Kompas Gramedia Group Kompas Gramedia is an Indonesian conglomerate. It has focused on several businesses, predominantly mass media, as well as hospitality, manufacturing, and event organizing. The company's businesses comprises multiple divisions, such as media ass ...

, Indonesia's largest conglomerates and ''

Kompas ''Kompas'' () is an Indonesian national newspaper from Jakarta which was founded on 28 June 1965. The paper is published by PT Kompas Media Nusantara, which is a part of Kompas Gramedia Group. Its head office is located at the Kompas Multime ...

'', one of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

's most circulated daily newspapers, together with

Jakob Oetama Jakob Oetama (27 September 1931 – 9 September 2020) was an Indonesian teacher, journalist, and businessman who was one of the co-founders and owners of Kompas Gramedia Group, the largest media group in Indonesia, together with P. K. Ojong. He ...

Early life

Auwjong Peng Koen was born in

Bukittinggi Bukittinggi ( min, Bukiktinggi, Jawi: , formerly nl, Fort de Kock) is the third largest city in West Sumatra, Indonesia, with a population of 111,312 in 2010 and 121,028 in 2020, and an area of 25.24 km2. It is in the Minangkabau Highla ...

on July 25, 1920. He belonged to the Minnan (Hokkien) ethnic group with ancestry from

Kinmen Kinmen, alternatively known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed as a county by the Republic of China (Taiwan), off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It lies roughly east of the city of Xiamen in Fujian, from which it is separat ...

(Quemoy) island. Since childhood, his father, Auwjong Pauw, always taught him to be disciplined, economical, and hard working. His father was a farmer in

Quemoy Kinmen, alternatively known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed as a county by the Republic of China (Taiwan), off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It lies roughly east of the city of Xiamen in Fujian, from which it is separate ...

Island (part of

Fujian Province Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

, Taiwan). He moved to Sumatra, Dutch East Indies (now

) to get a better job. Even though eventually Auwjong Pauw became a successful tobacco lord, he never pampered his children. His teachings had really shaped Peng Koen's character. He became a serious and very straightforward person. Peng Koen attended the Hollandsche Chineesche School (primary school for the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

). During this time he was introduced to

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

teachings, and finally converted to Catholicism and received the baptismal name of Andreas.

Higher education

Peng Koen went to Hollandsche Chineesche Kweekschool to pursue his study. During this time, he was appointed as a leader of students organization. His task was to prepare reading material for the members. Other than that, he also planned the Chinese New Year celebration and year-end picnic. He loved to read newspapers and magazines. Whereas other students just read the articles, Peng Koen tried to digest the writing styles and the ideas of every article. It is said that Peng Koen was a bit 'stiff' when he faced the opposite sex. One of his ex-classmates, Oei Yin Hwa, who owned a sweets shop in

Cianjur Cianjur ( su, ᮎᮤᮃᮔ᮪ᮏᮥᮁ) is a town and district in the West Java province of Indonesia, and is the seat of Cianjur Regency. The district of Cianjur is located along one of the main roads between Jakarta (120 km to the north ...

, still remembers that Peng Koen was known as ''verstrooide professor'' or "forgetful professor". He was also known for having a serious demeanor.

Career life

Peng Koen was a teacher before he became a journalist. He studied at a teacher's college in Jakarta and worked as a teacher from 1940 to 1942. His career as teacher was ended when Japan attacked Indonesia and closed all the existing schools at that time. He also worked for ''

Star Weekly The ''Star Weekly'' magazine was a Canadian periodical published from 1910 until 1973. The publication was read widely in rural Canada where delivery of daily newspapers was infrequent. History Formation The newspaper was founded as the ''Toronto ...

'', a Malay-language weekly which targeted non-Chinese-speaking

Indonesian Chinese Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have l ...

, starting in 1946. He continued working there (while sometimes working for other magazines as well) until it was banned in 1960. During that time he also had an opportunity to work with Felix Tan.

Social Work

PK Ojong actively took part in a social organization called Sin Ming Hui, which was established by

Khoe Woen Sioe Maharishi International University (MIU), formerly Maharishi University of Management, is a private university in Fairfield, Iowa. It was founded in 1973 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and features a "consciousness-based education" system that include ...

and Injo Beng Goat. The organisation was housed in one of Jakarta's best-known historic landmarks, Candra Naya.

Post life

PK Ojong died in Jakarta in 1980. His biography, ''PK Ojong: Hidup Sederhana, Berpikir Mulia'' was published in 2001. The author of the book is Helen Ishwara. The book contains PK Ojong's experiences with the background of Old Order and New Order

References

External links

* ''PK OJONG Salah Satu Pendiri Kompas'' (http://www.solusihukum.com/tokoh/tokoh44.php) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ojong, P. K. 1920 births 1980 deaths 20th-century journalists Hokkien people Indonesian Christians Indonesian Hokkien people Indonesian journalists Indonesian people of Chinese descent Indonesian Roman Catholics Indonesian writers Kompas Gramedia Group