PERAN RADEN SAID SOEKANTO TJOKRODIATMODJO TERHADAP PERKEMBANGAN YAYASAN OLAHRAGA HIDUP BARU (ORHIBA) DI INDONESIA TAHUN 1968 – 1992

Abstract

This study analyzes Raden Said Soekanto Tjokrodiatmodjo’s role in developing the Yayasan Olahraga Hidup

Baru (ORHIBA) in Indonesia from 1968 to 1992. It asks how Soekanto managed the organization, safeguarded its

operating space, and expanded public acceptance of ORHIBA’s breathing-and-movement practice as a social-health

initiative. The analysis focuses on leadership strategies, organizational consolidation, network expansion, and the

construction of social legitimacy under the New Order, when civic organizations operated under close supervision. The

research uses a critical historical method consisting of topic selection, heuristics, source criticism and verification

(external and internal), interpretation, and historiography. Primary data were drawn from interviews with foundation

stakeholders and ORHIBA’s internal archives, including establishment documents, governance structures, teaching

manuals, activity correspondence, and training documentation. These were triangulated with photographs and

documents from the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia, and with secondary literature on the New Order,

policing history, foundations, and nonprofit organizations. The findings show three main directions of Soekanto’s

leadership: (1) institutional consolidation through administrative standardization and relocating the center of activity

to Jakarta; (2) expansion of branches and cross-institutional partnerships through facilitated training, cadre building,

and social programs; (3) legitimacy strengthening through standardized instructional materials, public lectures, and

the reaffirmation of non-commercial and inclusive principles so that ORHIBA appeared apolitical and socially

acceptable. Together, these strategies enabled ORHIBA to survive, grow, and maintain continuity into the early 1990s.

The study maps Soekanto’s contribution across three time phases and offers contextual material relevant to local

history education.