Second Sergeant Usman bin Haji Muhammad Ali (18 March 1943 – 17 October 1968), also spelt Osman bin Haji Mohamed Ali, was an Indonesian marine and convicted murderer. He uses the aliases Janatin or Usman Janatin during his task of bombing the MacDonald House, which killed three people and injured 33 other people. Usman was executed alongside his accomplice Harun Said for the murders of the three deceased victims from the MacDonald House bombing.

Early life and career

Usman Haji Muhammad Ali was born in Jatisaba, Purbalingga, on 18 March 1943. He graduated from middle school in 1962. On 1 June 1962, he entered the Indonesian Marine Corps, and was appointed as one of three volunteers to serve in the military operation ''Komando Siaga'' (later renamed ''Komando Mandala Siaga''), led by Air Force Vice Admiral Omar Dhani, during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. Usman was later stationed at Sambu Island,

Riau Riau (Jawi script, Jawi: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the central eastern coast of the island of Sumatra, and extends from the eastern slopes of the Barisan Mountains to the Malacca Strait, including s ...

MacDonald House bombing

Usman and Harun were instructed to bomb a power station by their superiors, but they were unable to accomplish that mission since their target was tightly guarded and proceeded to find an easier target—an office building crowded with workers and the general public in Orchard Road. The team detonated a 12-kilogram high explosive, placed inside a blue traveling bag, inside the MacDonald House at 3:07 pm local time on 10 March 1965, killing three civilians, a Malay Muslim driver (Muhammad Yasin Kesit) and two Chinese women (Elizabeth Susie Choo Kay Hoi and Juliet Goh Hwee Kuang), who were office staff of a bank.

Capture and conviction

Usman and Harun subsequently escaped to a beach, while Gani disappeared and presumably returned to Indonesia. After seizing a motorboat, which broke down at sea, they were rescued by another boat and subsequently handed over to the Singapore

Marine Police Water police, also called bay constables, coastal police, harbor patrols, marine/maritime police/patrol, nautical patrols, port police, or river police are a Specialist law enforcement agency, specialty law enforcement portion of a larger polic ...

on 13 March 1965. Initially claiming to be engaged in fishing, they were however arrested and interrogated by the local police. Usman and Harun were convicted of murder as they had been wearing civilian clothes at the time and had targeted a civilian building; both men were sentenced to death by a Singapore court. The two were hanged in Changi Prison on 17 October 1968. Usman's remains were taken back to Indonesia and buried in Kalibata Heroes' Cemetery, Jakarta.

National hero status

They were awarded the status of Indonesian national heroes on 17 October 1968 (the same day they were hanged) and were posthumously promoted to one rank higher than those they held prior to their last operation.

KRI ''Usman Harun'' (359)

In 2014, one of three ships of the ''Bung Tomo''-class corvette of the

Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy (, TNI-AL) is the Navy, naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol Indonesia's lengthy coastline, to enforce and patrol the territorial waters and Exclus ...

(initially built for

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

but later sold to Indonesia) was named after Usman and Harun as the KRI ''Usman Harun'' (bearing the pennant number 359). The ship's name caused controversy between Indonesia and Singapore due to the bombing attack of 1965 and its immediate after-effects. Indonesia has not reversed its naming decision; in response, the Singapore government has banned the ship from entering its waters or docking in the country.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Authority control 1943 births 1968 deaths Indonesian military personnel National Heroes of Indonesia 20th-century executions by Singapore Indonesian people executed abroad Indonesian people convicted of murder