Parada Harahap (born 1899 in Sipirok, Dutch East Indies, died 1959 in Jakarta) was an important journalist and writer from the late colonial period and early independence era in Indonesia. In the 1930s, he was called the "king of the Java press". He pioneered a new kind of politically neutral Malay language newspaper in the 1930s which would cater to the rising middle class of the Indies. Biography Early life Parada was born on December 15, 1899, into a Batak family in Pargarutan, Sipirok, South Tapanuli Regency, Dutch East Indies, now part of North Sumatra province in Indonesia. Although most Batak people are Christians, Harahap was a Muslim Batak. He was largely self-taught and an enthusiastic reader from a young age, mainly reading materials sent to him by his sister who lived in Bukittinggi. However, he did also get a formal education, studying at the Teacher's Training School (Kweekschool) in Bukittinggi. At the age of 15 he became a clerk at a rubber plantation Rubber Cultuur Mij. Amsterdam in the Jambi area of Sumatra. During his teen years he gained an interest in newspapers, subscribing to Pewarta Deli and Andalas, and often writing letters to Soetan Palindoengan, editor of Pewarta Deli. Newspaper career Harahap's career in newspapers started in 1918 when he became editor of Sinar Merdeka in Padang, as well as editor of a Batak language paper in Sibolga called Poestaka. During this time he was also active in the Sarekat Islam in Padang. In 1922 Harahap relocated from Sumatra to Java. He started as a low-level printing assistant at Sin Po in Batavia. With the recommendation of some Sumatran journalist notables, he then became head editor of a competing paper, Neratja. There, he learned a lot about the business from Abdul Muis, Agus Salim and Djojosoediro. After 9 months there he launched his own newspaper, Bintang Hindia. He soon expanded his news holdings, founding the wire service Algemene Pers en Nieuws Agentschaap (Alpena). He then founded a series of new papers: Bintang Timoer, Djawa Barat, Sinar Pasundan, Semangat, as well as Dutch-language De Volks Courant. Of those papers, Bintang Timoer, launched in September 1926, quickly became the most successful, not least due to the popular writing of Abdoel Rivai. Even before its first issue, the Dutch language newspaper Algemeen handelsblad voor Nederlandsch-Indië was already recommending it to "the natives" due to Harahap's reputation for hard work and dedication