Lighten up please, it's the golden anniversary<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It certainly looks as if it's getting somewhere
\n-- "it" being the celebrations to mark Indonesia's 50th
\nanniversary, or, as you see and hear in every type of media,
\n"Indonesia's golden anniversary."<\/p>\n
Somehow I do not seem to be able to dissociate those two words
\nfrom marriages that have lasted 50 years (well on the way of
\nbecoming a rarity) which, in turn, are closely linked with the
\nages of the pairs who have sworn to be together "until death do
\nus part," while in the background an organ goes on about Oh,
\nPromise Me, or The Voice That Breath'd O'er Eden.<\/p>\n
What I mean is that the stars in such a performance would be
\nwell past the three score and ten years allotted to man (and
\nwoman, of course), so they would also be well past the age of 70
\n-- a time when it's pointless to dye the remaining 91 strands of
\nhair, eating peanuts is a painful, rather than pleasant
\nexperience and bending down is absolutely out of the question.<\/p>\n
But what Indonesia is actually celebrating on Aug. 17 is a
\ndivorce, getting out of a marriage concluded at the point of a
\ngun and a 300-year-period that was unhappy, to put it extremely
\nmildly. Anyway, I'm sticking to plain 50th anniversary. Besides,
\nfor a country, 50 years is nothing compared to, say, the age of
\nChina or Egypt.<\/p>\n
However, Indonesia's 50 years constitutes a period which its
\ncitizens may rightly regard with a degree of satisfaction. Not
\npride -- there are many aspects that do not as yet, if ever,
\njustify that sentiment. What aspects? Well, let's leave that to
\nthe distinguished experts, whose writings and commentaries you
\ncome across in this paper every day.<\/p>\n
Anyway, 1995 is party time for all Indonesians. So how come
\nMrs. Malik, my next door neighbor, isn't so thrilled with it all?
\nThere she stood in her front yard one morning, arms akimbo, head
\ncovered with a scarf to hide curlers, and obviously very angry.<\/p>\n
"Look at it. Just look at it! I've already gone through two
\nlots of bulbs!"<\/p>\n
"What's all this, Mrs. Malik?"<\/p>\n
"Colored bulbs, that's what! I must've replaced a dozen of the
\ndamn things by now. This morning I noticed another three gone!"<\/p>\n
I'm sure you haven't missed those bamboo poles that have been
\nsprouting from every front yard of every building in the city, to
\nwhich are attached a dozen or more colored bulbs, that in the
\nevening create a pretty and festive atmosphere in the streets. I
\nnoticed them first in mid-May returning home from a weekend trip,
\nand thought they were erected to celebrate Waisak, the Buddhist
\nnew year. That wasn't the case, however.<\/p>\n
I don't think they were put up because of a sudden burst of
\nexcessive patriotic ardor on the part of home owners like Mrs.
\nMalik. We had received a letter from the chief of our district
\n(I'm sure everyone in Jakarta received one from theirs), which
\nurged one and all to do their bit to commemorate the
\nanniversaries: "... we are celebrating... as of the first of
\nJune... it would be appreciated if..." and so on and so forth.
\nThe letter included all manner of suggestions, descriptions and
\ndirectives regarding bamboo poles and bulbs, which homeowners
\nwere asked to install in their yards. The poles should be curved
\nat the top end and turned towards the street, so that in the
\nevening they would create a corridor of colored lights. The
\nchief's wish being the command of everyone in the district, poles
\nbegan shooting up from every yard, including mine. I can't quite
\nremember how long those lovely lights -- which, by the way, are
\nplugged into the power supply of the house in front of which they
\nstand -- are supposed to be up for, but it certainly would be
\nwell past Aug. 17.<\/p>\n
All went well, and come nightfall the street did indeed look
\nquite lovely with all those colored lights. But on the morning of
\nthe third day I noticed that there were two bulbs missing from my
\npole. They were duly replaced, but the next morning another had
\ngone, and the day after... need I go on? You can't point an
\naccusing finger in any direction, of course, and it would be
\nsheer idiocy to go through the entire district in search of the
\nmissing bulbs.<\/p>\n
I commiserated with Mrs. Malik, and, pointing to my semi-naked
\npole (there were only five bulbs left of the twelve I'd strung
\nup), invited her to join the club. I also pointed to other houses
\nin the street that were sporting de-bulbed poles and indicated to
\nher that there wasn't much one could do, was there?<\/p>\n
"Oh yes, there is," Mrs. Malik said. "I'm going to stop
\nreplacing missing bulbs. What's more, I'm going to disconnect the
\nthing. Electricity rates are high enough!" What else could I do
\nbut thank her for the suggestion.<\/p>\n
-- Jak Jaunt<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/lighten-up-please-its-the-golden-anniversary-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }