He was active in church and close to the military. But his present whereabouts are unknown.
Please, pray for me," was the SMS received from Ongen Latuihamallo's cellular telephone number, as received by one of his friends early last week. After that, his number became inactive.
Ongen has been the subject of much interest since he was identified by a number of witnesses as the mysterious man talking with Munir at Changi Airport, Singapore, moments before Garuda flight GA-974 took off for Amsterdam, The Netherlands. It was on this flight, nine hours later, that Munir died of poisoning. Three years after the killing, police confirm that Munir ingested a lethal dose of arsenic while he was in transit at Changi Airport.
Ongen Latuihamallo, an Ambonese, is known as a musician. He is associated closely with other musicians since arriving in the Indonesian capital in the early 1980s. He actively composed songs, some of which he sang himself. "I don't believe he killed Munir," said a singer from Ambon, at the end of last week. This singer asked that their name not be printed, due to concerns for their safety. This artist- who comes from Ongen's hometown in Porto, Saparua, -is not alone. Most of Ongen's friends, whether in Holland or Indonesia, who were contacted by Tempo, requested that their names not be published.
They all generally had the same thing to say: they were surprised when they found out that Ongen was connected with the Munir murder case. "I started shaking," said one friend.
In Jakarta, Ongen lived in the vicinity of Bintaro, Tangerang, together with his wife and two children. This man in his 50s usually drives an Opel Blazer. His wife works at a government bank. One of Ongen's friends, Donny Pattinasarany, turned down Tempo's request to help us speak with Ongen's family. "In the near future the family is going to retain a lawyer, and he will be the one who will speak for the family," he said.
Friends in Ongen's inner circle feel that he is not cut out to be a criminal. "He is friendly and easy to get along with," said one person from Maluku in Holland. This person knows the long-haired Ongen because he often performs in musical events held by people from Maluku over in Holland. This source also accompanied the Maluku musician from Holland to perform in various musical events in Indonesia.
In addition to having a pleasing personality, Ongen is also known to be fashionable. "His hair is always neat, never messy," said the source. To keep his hair neat, he always wears his sunglasses on top of his head, like a hair ribbon. "He really takes care of his appearance," said another one of Ongen's friends. "He speaks slowly and softly, not like most people from Maluku."
In addition to singing, one of Ongen's high-profile activities in Jakarta is performing in church events. Last December, for instance, he sang at the Christmas night celebrations at the Silo West Indonesia Protestant Church (GPIB), in Kampung Ambon, West Jakarta. Although he is not a member of the congregation, "We always invite Ongen every time there is an event here," said a Silo Church official, last week. Before disappearing, according to this official, Ongen had sung a duet with Joan Tanamal during Easter early last April.
It is usually not very difficult to track down Ongen's whereabouts when he is not performing in musical events outside Jakarta. He ordinarily goes to the Gemini Records recording studio in the vicinity of Gudang Peluru, South Jakarta. "We always hang out there, from morning until night," said one singer from Ambon who once recorded with Ongen. He has made over a dozen cassette recordings at the studio. Most of them are spiritual songs and Maluku songs. In addition to cassettes, Ongen has also released video recordings.
Ongen comes from Porto village, Saparua. His father was an employee at Pertamina in Maluku. Before rioting took place in Pattimura in 1999, Ongen was often seen together with his older sister near the vicinity of Ponegoro, Urimessing subdistrict, Sirimau. This sister later married Richard Louhenapessy, who is currently the Speaker of the Maluku Regional House of Representatives (DPRD).
When the rioting began to spread, it was reported that Ongen often traveled back and forth between Jakarta and Ambon. Whenever in Ambon, he would stay at the Mutiara Hotel, on Jalan Pattimura, or at the Grand Soya Hotel behind the neighborhood of Soya, Ambon. "He usually stays here, but he hasn't been here for almost a month," said the Mutiara Hotel receptionist.
A number of Maluku residents met by Tempo last week said that Ongen has a dark history. For instance, it was said that he is close with an Amsterdam-Jakarta network of drug smugglers, in addition to also working for a military group-, two stories which were denied outright by Ongen's friends.
Reportedly, Ongen started getting close with a TNI intelligence officer with the initials HR back in the 1990s. It is suspected that this officer brought Ongen into the intelligence fold. "After the rioting, many Ambonese in Jakarta were recruited to be agents," said a Tempo source, a Maluku native in Jakarta.
They say he was active in the event-organizing committee for the declaration of the United Youths of Maluku, which was held at a star-rated hotel in Jakarta in early 2006. This organization was formed to sustain the reconciliation between the social groups in Maluku. One of its founders was Lt. Gen. (ret) Suaidy Marasabessy, former Commander of the Pattimura Regional Military Command, who was once the Chief of General Staff of the Indonesian Military (TNI). Ongen once joined activities of the Artists of Maluku (Ina Ama)-, an organization which brings together singers from his native Maluku. However, according to Harry Souisa, Chairman of Ina Ama, Ongen has not been a member since December 2005.
In November 2006, Ongen joined the Indonesian Association of Singers, Songwriters, and Musical Recording Arrangers (Pappma). Suaidy Marasabessy is an advisor for this association. To Tempo, Suaidy confirmed that he is an advisor for both the United Youths of Maluku and Pappma. However, he said, Ongen is not involved in these two associations. "So don't make any connections," said Suaidy. "It will upset a lot of people."
Is it true that through these "associations" Ongen came by a lot of money, which he uses to travel back and forth between Jakarta and Amsterdam? No one could confirm this.
A number of Ambon artists met by Tempo generally asked where Ongen's money came from. "His payment for a single performance in a Pasar Malam event in Holland would not be much," said one Ambon musician in Holland. "However, last year, Ongen would fly to Europe two or three times." Each time he went, he stayed for two weeks to a month. According to a number of Tempo sources, Ongen frequented two locations in his travels to The Netherlands. The first was the "Ambon neighborhood" in Breda, a small town in the south of Holland. There he was often seen at the residence of the Pattinasarany family. The second location was in Waalwigk, not far from Breda. In this second location, Ongen stayed at the home of the Latuihamallo family. Also living in Waalwigk is an activist of the Republic of South Maluku (RMS) named Umar Santi. "I think Umar knows Ongen," said the source.
Interestingly, when he met Suciwati, Munir's wife, at Changi Airport in June 2005, Ongen introduced himself as Johan. At the end of this encounter, he offered to help Suci and wrote his contact numbers on a scrap of paper. On it, he wrote his name as Anton Saija (not Anton Saijah, as written in Tempo last week) plus his telephone number and email address.
A Tempo source from the Ambon community in Jakarta, shook his head when he heard this news. Anton Saija is not a fictitious name. In Holland, in addition to being a businessman, Anton is known as a figure of the once-rebellious RMS. Tempo confirmed that Ongen had attended an RMS anniversary event in Holland on one occasion. Unfortunately, not a single person from this group was willing to make any comment. As a result, the true identity of this key witness in the Munir case remains a mystery.
Wahyu Dhyatmika, Wenseslaus Manggot (Jakarta), Mochtar Touwe (Ambon)