Rais Abin

Rais Abin (15 August 1926 – 25 March 2021) was an Indonesian military officer and diplomat who served as the Commander of the Second United Nations Emergency Force in Egypt from 1976 until 1979, Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia from 1981 until 1984, and Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore from 1984 until 1986.

Early life and education Rais Abin was born on 15 August 1926 as the son of Abin Sutan Mangkuto and Rangkayo Saadi binti Hamzah. His father worked as an intercity bus agent in Lubuk Sikaping, a job which barely fed him and his family. He went to Schakelschool (People's School, equivalent to elementary school) and graduated at the age of 14. Rais then continued to study at the Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (equivalent to Junior High School) near Mount Singgalang. Although he passed the entrance test for the school, his father did not have enough money to pay for his tuition and put him instead at an agricultural junior high school in Sukabumi. Rais then took a ferry from the Port of Teluk Bayur to Sukabumi along with his cousin, Mishar. During his studies in the school, his father died in 1942, and he did not have a chance to visit his late father.

After serving for two years in South Sulawesi, Rais Abin was instructed by his superior to pursue further military education in the Australian Army Staff College, Queenscliff. Rais used his time in the college to refine his English skills. Rais later also assumed the post of the Deputy Commander of the Second United Nations Emergency Force on 5 June, making him an UN official.

One of his actions as the chief of staff was to take over the communications process with Egypt and Israel. The commander at that time, Bengt Liljestrand, experienced deadlock while trying to communicate formally with both sides. Rais then engaged on an intensive informal communication with liaison officers from Egypt named Maghdub and from Israel named Simon Levinson. At some point, Levinson invited him to visit Jerusalem along with his wife. Unexpectedly, Israel's minister of defence, Shimon Peres, also met him. Rais ended his duty on 11 September 1979.

Assistant to the Commander-in-Chief After returning to Indonesia, Rais received a letter that Brian Urquhart requested to the government to deploy him at another UN peacekeeping mission in Namibia. Rais Abin made a letter rejecting the offer and he was made by Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Mohammad Jusuf as his personal staff. After four months without any formal posts, Rais was made as the Assistant for Politics, Strategy, and General Planning in 1980. He held the post for a year, as in 1981 he had reached the mandatory military retirement age. He was promoted from the rank of major general to lieutenant general two days after his appointment. Rais oversaw the 1982 election for Indonesians in Malaysia. The ruling party in Indonesia, Golkar, lost in the country with only 40% of the votes, resulting in him being questioned by Leonardus Benjamin Moerdani, the Head of the Strategic Intelligence Agency at that time. Although most ambassadors at that time would have been removed from their post with such electoral loss, Rais still maintained his post for another two years until 22 September 1984. Afterwards, he was moved from Malaysia and became Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore from September 1984 until 25 August 1988.

Rais returned from Malaysia to Indonesia and held the office of the Director of the Bumi Daya Bank in 1981. In 1991, he was made as the Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit for a one-year term.

Rais was appointed by the General Elections Commission as a member of the People's Consultative Assembly from the groups delegation, representing veterans. Rais was inaugurated on 1 October 1999 for a five-year term. Rais was one of the members of the assembly who refused to report his wealth to the Commission for the Supervision of State Officials' Wealth. He argued that reporting his wealth to the committee "were of no use" and that it would be better for the committee to eradicate corruption instead of inspecting the wealth of state officials.

Veteran's organization Rais had been a member of the Veterans' Legion of Indonesia since his retirement in 1981. Rais Abin was appointed as the head of the politics and security affairs of the Veterans' Legion of Indonesia. He was elected as the chairman of the organization at its 9th congress in 2007 and again at the 10th congress in 2012. Although he had announced his intentions to resign at the 11th congress in 2017, his successors, Ari Sudewo and Sukotjo Tjokroatmodjo died before the congress was held and he was elected for the third time. He eventually passed the chairman seat to Saiful Sulun in 2019. After his resignation, Rais was made as the Honorary Chairman of the organization until his death.

Rais also held the seat of the Presiden of VECONAC (Veterans Confederation of ASEAN Countries) from 2010 until 2012.

Personal life Rais was married to Dewi Asiah on 20 September 1951. Dewi's mother, Ratu Aminah, was a women's rights activist who became an MP and Deputy Speaker of the Constitutional Assembly of Indonesia, while her father, Hidajat Martaatmadja, was a military officer with the rank of lieutenant general and had served several cabinet posts in Sukarno's government. The marriage resulted in three children, namely Radianti Lukman, Radimita Manusama Rais Abin, and Andy Achmad Hidayat. He was buried the next day at the Kalibata Heroes' Cemetery with a ceremony led by the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army Bakti Agus Fadjari.