Tzu Chi Jakarta Volunteer: Prof. DR. Dr. Satyanegara, Sp.BS (K) Senior Director of Tzu Chi Hospital in Indonesia
Inspiring Journey
Meet Prof. DR. Dr. Satyanegara, Sp.BS (K), senior neurosurgeon in Indonesia. Obtaining a medical and doctoral degree as well as a professor in Japan, he returned to Indonesia and briefly became the Indonesian Presidential doctor. Now with extensive experiences in the medical field, he still took the opportunity to continue his medical journey with Tzu Chi Hospital.
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Since October 2021, Tzu Chi Hospital PIK has finally been operating. Deep gratitude to all the support given from various parties, both the Indonesian Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation and the entire development team, as well as other qualified human resources. Prof. DR. Dr. Satyanegara, Sp.BS (K) has been one of the proficient experts who took a very important part in the birth of the first Tzu Chi hospital outside Taiwan.
Since the construction of Tzu Chi Hospital is still in his dreams, Prof. Satya (his nickname – ed) has met several times with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation to participate in planning the Tzu Chi Hospital. He admitted that he was amazed by Tzu Chi's principles in establishing this hospital, namely: respecting the soul, prioritizing life and love. That is also one of the reasons Prof. Satya wants to join Tzu Chi.
"Yes, it’s exactly in 2013, when I received an invitation from Mr. Aguan (Sugianto Kusuma, Deputy Chair of Tzu Chi) to meet Master Cheng Yen in Taiwan, that was my initial gateway to Tzu Chi," said Prof. Satya.
Currently, at the age of 83, Prof. Satya still serves as Senior Director of Tzu Chi Hospital and practices at the Neurosurgery Polyclinic at Tzu Chi Hospital. Regardless of his age, he has shown a great enthusiasm in working professionally and managing the hospital wholeheartedly.
"I still feel physically healthy, but maybe my memory is slightly lacking," he joked with a loud laugh when he started telling his story.
Fulfilling Mother's Dream
Prof. Satya grew up in Welahan District, Jepara, Central Java with the name Oei Kim Seng. His father is from Semarang, while his mother is from Shanghai, China. Since childhood, tough upbringing and the cultivation of independence have enabled this eldest of three siblings to endure and to travel the world.
Since high school, Oei Kim Seng has migrated from Semarang to Surabaya to study in a big city. He said he wanted to fulfill one of his mother's dreams of having a doctor as descendants in the family.
In his senior age, Prof. Satyanegara still seized the day with his knowledge by becoming Senior Director of Tzu Chi Hospital. He also opens a practice and serves patients at the Surgical Clinic every day.
“Useful people are like doctor Y (mentioning initials). "Be a human like that," said Oei Kim Seng, remembering his mother's words. Doctor Y himself was a doctor from Shanghai who was assigned by the United Nations (UN) to come to Semarang in 1954. A doctor that his mother seemed proud of because there were only about four or five people from Shanghai at that time.
In order to fulfill her mother’s dream, he had the courage to venture even further after graduating from high school, namely to Japan. Oei Kim Seng, with a limited amount of money, went alone to Japan on the Tjitjalengka ship, which took about 2 months. Even at that time he did not understand Japanese. But what made him even more determined to fend himself were the words his father said when he dropped him off at the dock.
"My father said, 'Son, if you don't succeed, this meeting will be the last meeting!'" said Prof. Satya imitating his father's words. When telling the story, he remembered the incident with a happy laugh, but when the incident happened, Prof. Satya admitted that he felt very depressed. However, these words then became a whip for him as the high school graduate who had been studying independently. Like it or not, he must be able to succeed.
In Japan, Oei Kim Seng firstly took the language class for one year and four months. He also lives in a boarding house of a family in Japan to improve his conversation ability and increase his vocabulary. He needed to take the exam prior to entry to the University. Finally, on March 3rd 1960 he took the medical college entrance exam and was announced successful in passing the exam at Kyushu University on March 15th. Then he continued to take the entrance exam at a different university, Tokyo Medical & Dental University on March 23rd. Again, his name was listed on the list of prospective students who passed the entrance exam. Yet, he then decided to study at Kyushu University.
Oei Kim Seng completed his medical college on March 26th 1966. He then continued at Tokyo University with a Masters and a Doctorate degree in Neurosurgery. Furthermore, he also completed his Professor degree in Japan. On September 18th 1972, he returned back to Indonesia after 14 years in Japan, using the name Satyanegara and became part of the doctors team for the Indonesian Presidency.
Deepen the Meaning of Tzu Chi
In his journey of 60 years as a medical worker and director of various large hospitals, he has never felt any unusual. After knowing Tzu Chi and working on the health mission while having the opportunity to build good relationships with others, Prof. Satyanegara started to experience something different.
"My connection with Tzu Chi has deepened after knowing Tzu Chi’s philosophy. I was able to hear directly the teachings of Master Cheng Yen." Most of the teachings are very touching and I believe it is the Right Teachings that in line with my thoughts," said Prof. Satya. In Tzu Chi, Master Cheng Yen has taught the most basic thing in life, that is love. According to Prof. Satya, what makes Tzu Chi special is that Master Cheng Yen not only teaches love but also provides a platform to practice love in action to society.
“In here (Tzu Chi Hospital), there are very good principles. Those three principles (respecting the soul, prioritizing life and love) really have to be instilled in the medical field," said Prof. Satya, "with real practice, I think that's what is called Tzu Chi."
Prof. Satyanegara delivered a speech at the Opening of the Palliative Cluster Service, which is one of the five superior services at Tzu Chi Hospital. He hopes that the entire team at Tzu Chi Hospital can provide the best for people in need.
Tzu Chi as known by Prof. Satya refers to the literal meaning. “Tzu” means love and “Chi” means giving help. So “Tzu Chi” means giving with love. This is in accordance with the aim of establishing Tzu Chi Hospital which is not merely for commercialization in the health sector.
"In here, we are patient-oriented and at the same time can enrich ourselves with various philosophies of kindness (Tzu Chi's humanist culture) itself," said Prof. Satya, "For myself, I got to learn a lesson to reassess the extent to which I have followed Master Cheng Yen's teachings, whether they are appropriate or not."
Live Well and Usefully
From there, Prof. Satya improved his previous character that he felt was not ideal because he was too busy with hospital matters. In his youth, Prof. Satya served his time when his children were still very young.
During his children’s childhood, he explained that he hardly had enough time to meet them due to his heavy agenda that required him to get home at 1 or 2 in the morning. Meanwhile, at 6 in the morning, he had to get back to his duties. In the past, his family members did not dare to complain because they saw him as a strong and fierce figure. In fact, fierce was not the actual character of Prof. Satya. But rather because of the heavy workload conditions at that time, from all the medical services that he has to deliver and also the duty in the hospital management.
“But I really look up to my family who continues to accompany me. "I also feel that I used to live an unhealthy life," admitted Prof. Satya, "then I apologize to them because I am an imperfect father figure."
As a result, now there are none of of Prof. Satya’s children follow his journey to become a doctor. One chose to pursue engineering, while the other pursued economics. But for him, their choice is not a problem because the most important thing is to be good and useful for other people. Prof. Satya felt that way when he became a doctor, he was most delighted especially when he heard that patients' illnesses could be cured.
“Whatever you want to be, the goal must be good. It's okay to be a cook, but be a good one, cook delicious food for other people. The important thing is that it is useful for society, useful for fellow human beings, and doesn't harm other people," he said.
By becoming a doctor, Prof. Satya feels needed by other people, from the smallest levels of society to the government. That's why, even during his senior age, he doesn't want to waste the opportunity to become someone who continues to provide a positive impact to society. He also advised the Tzu Chi Hospital family to continue to treat patients like family and provide services wholeheartedly.
"However, to achieve something good we have to take it slowly, because there are a lot of tasks to do, but we have one goal, which is not easy and the challenge as a leader is whether we can manage to get there or not," he explained. "One more thing, don't be angry, because being angry is not compatible with Tzu Chi's values," he laughed in full.
Writer: Metta Wulandari
Photographer: Anand Yahya
Translator: Olivia (Tzu Chi PIK)
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