Thursday, August 23, 2012

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.

Read more ..........................

16 comments:

Unknown said...

Semoga kesadaran untuk berbangsa dan negara cepat kembali lagi. Karena akan sebagaimanapun kalau mereka sadar, hidup mati kita ada di bumi pertiwi tercinta ini.

tapi memang semua kembali pada para pemimpin bangsa ini yg harus benar benar mau peduli sama masa depan bangsa ini.

saya sangat bersedih membaca berita ini.. met malam aja pak

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Hi Harry, National pride must be celebrated to grow the nation, but first it needs something to be proud of. Perhaps this year with Idul Fitri next to Independance day people were too excited about breaking fast and seeing their relatives rather than celebrating the birth of their nation

Sorry, my last post had an error.

colson said...

Over the years perhaps people have grown to take Independence for granted. And tightly so. The rituals paying honour, the expression of pride and emotions of nationalism connected to it fade. That's just normal.

The festivities, the people's entertainment on this specific national day, will always be popular though. However the present tools of entertainment may have also gradually grown a little outdated. Cheesy even.

I think they just ought to be updated. new generations love new "toys".

Unknown said...

@Wisata Murah,
Percaya atau tidak, hal itu memang terjadi. Kalau tidak ada upaya serius untuk meningkatkan kebanggaan nasional maka akan semakin pudar.

@Luke,
I agree with you. Efforts must be made to make people proud of the country.

@Colson,
Yes you are right, new generations may perhaps be bored with the old tools for festive, therefore must be updated.

rental mobil said...

Nice article, thanks for sharing.

Fahrizi Noer Fajar Azman said...

May it's true thats the feel of Nasonalism is fade in our life, exactly for Indonesian people.

But..I think We must start from our self to evolving the nasionalism feel.

Okay, It;s just my point of view :)

Unknown said...

@Rental Mobil,
Thank you for your visit & comment.

@Fahrizi,
Yes as citizens we must safeguard nationalism, for that the government must do its best to make people proud of the country.

denny said...

very awesome article...thanks

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semoga semangat nasionalis muncul lagi..

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