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 ..........................

Happy Birthday Indonesia

On 17 August 1945, the people of Indonesia declared its independence from Japanese occupation forces after the end of the World War II.

This declaration started a five year armed-resistance and diplomatic efforts by the new Republic of Indonesia against the Netherlands who wanted to recapture their East Indies colony from the Japanese, until they finally recognized Indonesia's independence in 1949.

The celebration of Independence Day is a very big event for the people of Indonesia, and it is a public holiday. Its preparations start weeks before the 17th of August. All public buildings are decorated with large banners and lighted designs. Fences around the government offices are draped in red and white streamers. The malls are all decorated in red and white and hold Independence Day sales for the people. Lots of money is spend by the central and regional governments to create a unique series of red and white lighted decorations.

The President, Vice President, Cabinet Ministers, Speaker of the House of Representatives, other officials of the state, and other VIPs including ambassadors of foreign countries, attend the raising of the Red and White flag at the State Palace in Jakarta in the morning.

Public places glitters in red and white and the all over one can see and hear the words "Happy Birthday Indonesia" and "Long Live Indonesia"

Many games are played during the celebration, the most popular being " Panjat Pinang " i.e palm trunk greased with a mixture of clay and oil is erected in a public place. Various prizes like Bikes, TVs etc. are hung at the top and many people would climb over each other struggling to get those prizes.

At the end of the day, many people failed to get the prizes but they are all happy and smiling after the event. Even the crowd are happy watching the event.

Photo: Courtesy of Wikipedia

The Threat to Raise Malaysian Flag

Villagers in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan were very disappointed at  the government that they threatened to raise Malaysian flag during the celebration of  Independence Day on 17 August 2011.

MetroTV quoted a village chief as saying that there is hardly any development of public facilities on the area, the roads have been damaged for many years. They also complained at the economic inequality.

He further said the Malaysian government have been providing them with clean water facilities for many years.

I hope that the government of West Kalimantan Province and the Central government in Jakarta would take this matter very seriously and take immediate actions to continuously provide everything needed by the villagers i.e good roads, transportation, clean water, electricity, telephone, etc. at affordable prices.