A Test of Loyalty Behind Bars: Wife's Food Packages Sustained Imprisoned Minister

For 11 years, Oei Tjoe Tat found solace in food packages from his wife, Kwee Loan Nio, during his imprisonment under the New Order regime. The meals, though often mangled by prison guards during inspections, offered a vital respite from the meager and nutritionally deficient prison rations.

These shared meals became a lifeline for a small communal dining group within the Budi Utomo Military Detention Center in Central Jakarta. Oei, a former State Minister, shared food sent by families with other political prisoners. Rika, as Kwee Loan Nio was known, and the wives of other detainees regularly delivered these provisions.

Oei's youngest son, Tikki Budiman, recalled the meticulous inspections by guards who feared hidden messages or items. "The guards poked through the rice and sliced open the papayas because they were afraid something was being hidden," he said. Among Oei's dining companions were notable figures such as former Deputy Attorney General Brig. Gen. Soenaryo and former Indonesian military attaché to the UN Col. Partono Karnen, alongside Indonesian Communist Party leaders Soepono Marsudidjojo and Gatot Soetarjo.

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We packed enough food in stacked containers to last a week. The guards poked through the rice and sliced open the papayas because they were afraid something was being hidden.