Fading Nationalism

Every year, the Indonesian people celebrate our country's Independence Day on 17 August.

During that day, the Red and White national flag are all over the country, at office buildings, factories, schools, houses, and public places.

Besides, people participate in various competitions like Sports, Krupuk/Cracker eating contest, Sack Race or Climb a greasy Pole.

In this connection, I read an article written by Desi Anwar on The Jakarta Globe (below) which assume that people do not seem to have such kind of spirit and energy anymore in celebrating Indonesia's 67th anniversary last 17 August.

As an example, Desi said that her friend who lead the flag-raising ceremony at her office told her that the company had to entice its staffs with Door-Prizes consisting of iPads and other gadgets to make them come and stand in the sun and salute the Red and White Flag.

Is this a sign of fading nationalism ? I really don't know.

Happy reading.

Writer's Block: Independence Spirit 
Desi Anwar | August 18, 2012

There’s a red and white flag flying on my front gate. That’s about the extent of my participation in celebrating Independence Day. Unless you’re still at school or work at an office or institution that holds a flag-raising ceremony, the day feels like any other weekend. And it being the fasting month and the beginning of the holiday traffic, one might as well postpone or cancel this year’s celebration altogether, as I don’t think anyone is really up for a sack race, a krupuk eating contest or a climb up a greasy pole.

After all, the spirit and energy just doesn’t seem to be there. A friend of mine who has to lead the flag-raising ceremony at her office says the company had to entice the staff with door prizes consisting of iPads and other gadgets to get them to come and stand in the sun and salute the Red and White.

Maybe we’re all just a bit tired of this same old routine, year after year, and talking about the same things and griping about the same old problems. What does independence mean, what is the country all about and why is everything still a mess, etc.

For the older generation who experienced the predemocracy era (and that includes me), beneath the momentary pride of seeing the flag being raised runs a cynicism that is a constant feature since the authoritarian New Order regime. That Indonesia has never been truly free from oppression, first by the Dutch, then the Japanese, and then by our fellow countrymen.

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