Non ! Rien de rien
Non ! Je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien qu’on m’a fait
Ni le mal tout ça m’est bien égal !
Non ! Rien de rien
Non ! Je ne regrette rien
C’est payé, balayé, oublié
Je me fous du passé !
Avec mes souvenirs
J’ai allumé le feu
Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs
Je n’ai plus besoin d’eux !
Balayées les amours
Et tous leurs trémolos
Balayés pour toujours
Je repars à zéro
Non ! Rien de rien
Non ! Je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien, qu’on m’a fait
Ni le mal, tout ça m’est bien égal !
Non ! Rien de rien
Non ! Je ne regrette rien
Car ma vie, car mes joies
Aujourd’hui, ça commence avec toi !
No Regrets, the song which originally was written in French and sung by Édith Piaf, is now being used in a Specsaver commercial on British TVs. Édith dedicated the song to the French Foreign Legion who in April 1961 helped the Premier Regiment Etranger de Parachutistes in Algerian independence conflict. I’m not going to praise her for supporting the Legion against the Algerian Muslims, nor to criticise the Legion over-actingly taking Edith’s video off YouTube. What I want you to remember is that the same song had inspired Johan Cornelis Princen – ex KNIL soldier – who joined the Indonesian guerillas against the Dutch Colonial Goverment. It is not clear whether he reverted to Islam before joining the Indonesians fighting for their independence, but it is crystal clear that Princen is a true hero who always fights for what he believes is right – a sort of the Islamic principle of social responsibility based on the concept of amar bi al-maruf wa nahi an al-munkar (commanding right and prohibiting wrong).
He was initially imprisoned by German Nazi for trying to flee to Spain, to sneak to the UK, in order to enlist to the British Allied Army who was fighting against the Hitler’s Germany. He was later imprisoned (at Schoonhoven) by the Dutch for deserting the KNIL. He later on was also imprisoned by President Soekarno for criticising his policies, e.g. the unequal division of national resources and income between the central island of Java and the outlying islands, being an MP for IPKI. Finally, he was also imprisoned by President Soeharto for criticising his human right abuses, especially on those communist supporter victims in Purwodadi, Central Java.
He is a real hero who can never be allured with gold and silver (unlike Soeharto) or pretty faces (unlike Soekarno). Yet, all heroes must suffer, including him. Laksamana.net stated that Princen’s work as a lawyer never earned him much in the way of material wealth. Unlike other prominent human rights lawyers whose careers benefited from their high profile on the human rights front, Princen remained a figure whose only interest was in defending the rights of the small. Visitors to his succession of poky offices in the early ’90s remember calling on him to find themselves welcomed by Princen resting in his underwear, and his close friends recall that it was seldom that they were able to leave before parting with a contribution to help pay his driver or his phone bill.
Well, to close today’s blog, I’d like to quote a French song for my big sister who I assume has forgotten the French language which we learned at Jakarta’s CCF about two decades ago. This romantic song was her favourite one, unfortunately at that time her French native speaker teacher could not jot down the lyrics in full.
Aline (by Christophe)
J’avais dessiné
Sur le sable
Son doux visage
Qui me souriait
Puis il a plu
Sur cette plage
Dans cet orage
Elle a disparu
Et j’ai crié, crié, Aline!
Pour qu’elle revienne
Et j’ai pleuré, pleuré
Oh, j’avais trop de peine
Je me suis assis
Auprès de son âme
Mais la belle dame
S’était enfuie
Je l’ai cherchée
Sans plus y croire
Et sans un espoir
Pour me guider
Et j’ai crié, crié, Aline!
Pour qu’elle revienne
Et j’ai pleuré, pleuré
Oh, j’avais trop de peine
Je n’ai gardé
Que ce doux visage
Comme une épave
Sur le sable mouillé
Et j’ai crié, crié, Aline!
Pour qu’elle revienne
Et j’ai pleuré, pleuré
Oh, j’avais trop de peine
