Suhandan Umar

Tubagus Suhandan Umar was an Indonesian bureaucrat who served as the Regent of Bekasi from 1949 until 1951.

Regent of Jatinegara During the mid-1949, Jatinegara (the old name for Bekasi) was a war-torn place, still marred with in-fightings between Indonesian army and rebel forces. Jatinegara was put under the control of a military resident. Following the resignation of the previous regent, Oja Sumantri, the military resident handed over the authority of appointing a new regent to Moh. Mu'min, the resident of Jakarta. Mu'min appointed Suhandan with a decree on 2 August 1949. Suhandan's Bekasi government was under the supervision of the military resident and effective control of the region was under military commander Second Lieutenant R. Yusuf.

By late 1949, Suhandan's office was located in Jatinegara, which is now the headquarters of the East Jakarta Military District. Nearing the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference, conflict occurred between pro-Indonesian and pro-State of Pasundan (Dutch puppet state) officials. As a result, Suhandan's office had to be moved to the Malino shoe factory, which was located at an alleyway in the Pisangan Baru subdistrict.

Regent of Bekasi Suhandan continued to serve as the regent after Jatinegara changed its name to Bekasi on 15 August 1950. His appointment was made permanent a few months later. As the regent, Suhandan also chaired the six-member regional governing body, which was responsible for the day-to-day government of Bekasi. His deputy chairman in the governing body was former regent Noer Alie. Suhandan was the chair of the committee for the formation of the Provisional Regional People's Representative Council of Bekasi (the regency's regional parliament) and oversaw the indirect elections for the regional parliament sometime in the late 1950. The local parliament was officially formed with 35 members on 10 October 1950, with Madnuin Hasibuan, representing Masyumi, as its chair. During his tenure, there were little to no developments in Bekasi. Suhandan rejected proposals by the local parliament to build a junior high school in Bekasi, stating that "the construction of schools is the authority of the Department of Education and Culture, and the local government has no right to interfere."

Although the formation of local parliament was welcomed by the Bekasi populace and the central government, Suhandan viewed the parliament as its competitor. At a reception commemorating the formation of the local parliament in Bekasi's pavilion on 10 November 1950, Suhandan arrogantly stated that "the local parliament doesn't rule to overthrow people. If the regional parliament can overthrow me, don't think I couldn't retaliate." Relations between Suhandan and the Madnuin-led parliament got worse ever since. Suhandan never attended the parliament's session and instructed his employees to cut off ties with the regional parliament. Suhandan accused Madnuin of monopolizing fisheries, while Madnuin accused Suhandan of maintaining contacts with the Bambu Runcing separatist group. Suhandan retaliated by accusing several members of the regional parliament of extortion and threatened to take action against members of the parliament who were involved. His actions were backed by the district chieftains of Bekasi, who on 9 May held a meeting in support of Suhandan.

The conflict culminated in the dismissal of Sanusi, Bekasi's regional secretary, following accusations of embezzlement from the regional parliament. Suhandan was officially dismissed from his office on 19 October 1951 and was assigned to the Department of Home Affairs. Noer Alie was appointed by Suhandan from the prison to assume the office in an acting capacity.