Senior citizens<\/p>\n
From Merdeka<\/p>\n
Though late, it is not wrong, I presume, for me to support the
\nstatement made by the Jakarta governor regarding senior citizens
\nas published in Kompas daily (July 5) under the title of I
\nappreciate and respect senior citizens.<\/p>\n
The governor must have had a strong reason and a fitting
\nbackground when making the statement. Many government officials,
\nincluding President Soeharto who often reminds the young never to
\nforget senior citizens of the 1945 generation, have recently been
\ncommenting on senior citizens because senior citizens established
\na most impressive milestone in Indonesia's struggle for
\nindependence against the Dutch colonial rulers and the Japanese
\noccupational forces.<\/p>\n
When they were young, these senior citizens consistently gave
\nup their all for the struggle for independence. It stands to
\nreason that independence fighters still alive now always remind
\nthe young, their heirs in the life of the state and the nation,
\nnever to forget the pioneers of the country's independence
\nstruggle. A long time before Indonesia's independence was
\nproclaimed on Aug. 17, 1945, freedom fighters blazed the trail
\nfor independent Indonesia. They sustained hardship brought about
\nby the Dutch colonial rulers and the Japanese occupational
\nadministration, who treated Indonesians as slaves. Indonesians
\nwere then assumed to be able to live on 2.5 cents a day while a
\nmember of the colonial rulers spent 250 cents a day, a
\nheaven-and-earth difference.<\/p>\n
Being put in jail was also a common thing for our freedom
\nfighters then. In an extreme case, the colonial rulers would not
\nhesitate to kill these freedom fighters.<\/p>\n
That was how Indonesians lived under the Dutch colonial
\nrulers.<\/p>\n
Right after the independence of Indonesia was proclaimed on
\nAug. 17, 1945, all adult Indonesians shouldered the task of
\nexpelling the Dutch colonial rulers and Japanese occupational
\nadministration from their mother land and joined the struggle to
\ndefend Indonesia's independence, directly or otherwise.<\/p>\n
On senior citizens in general, it is appropriate to say that
\nthey receive enough attention from the government and that the
\ngovernment does not practice favoritism in this respect.<\/p>\n
However, we wish to draw the government's attention to senior
\ncitizens who were previously recruited by the Japanese military
\nadministration, which occupied Indonesia in World War II. For
\nfive years now these former recruits have been demanding
\ncompensation and three quarters of their salaries from when they
\nwere assigned as Heihos. Until now the Japanese government does
\nnot seem to be in a position to settle this matter. One may
\nsuspect that the Japanese side is finding reasons to stall for
\ntime and that they may not be willing to settle the matter, let
\nalone make the payment, as demanded, to the people concerned.<\/p>\n
We, senior citizens who are former Japanese Heihos and freedom
\nfighters of 1945, earnestly hope that the government will give
\nits assistance by urging the Japanese government to find a
\nsatisfactory settlement to our demand.<\/p>\n
AR DAENG KULLE<\/p>\n
Former Heiho<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/senior-citizens-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }