Have we lost our patriotic feeling?
Indonesia turns 56 on Friday, a coming of age that has been hampered by trouble. Is Independence Day still a reason for pride for our people, particularly the young? The Jakarta Post's reporters Ivy Susanti and Hera Diani, as well as Ainur R. Sophiaan, Israr Ardiansyah and Yuli Tri Suwarni find out.
JAKARTA (JP): In his last speech as president, on Aug. 17, 1966, Sukarno warned the country's youth never to forget the past.
"If you forget history, you will stand in a vacuum, and your struggle will merely turn out to be running amok, like a monkey trapped in the dark."
Thirty-five years later, with the country now under Sukarno's oldest daughter Megawati Soekarnoputri, his words probably mean little to many of the country's young people.
The passage of time, combined with a traumatic and sometimes distorted history, has opened up a gap among the generations. Today's young people only consider the current conflicts affecting their lives, and have little realization of the struggle for independence and the values that the struggle entailed.
The feeling of detachment from what their forefathers lived and fought for was compounded during the former president Soeharto years, when young people were denied a role in the political process.
Historian Taufik Abdullah, 65, still remembers vividly when Sukarno proclaimed independence and all the events that preceded the day.
He said those who lived through those tough times could still feel the sense of pride from making an independent country, and it affects them deeply when they see what is happening to the country today.
"I was a third-year student in elementary school. I was too young to get involved but I can remember the event. I easily burst into tears when I hear about the killings in Ambon, Kalimantan and Aceh. I am easily touched because I remember when my school was fired on by Dutch soldiers, which forced me and my classmates to lie face down to avoid being shot. On the way home, I saw a corpse."
The chairman of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said he remembered how his father donated his shirt during a meeting to help the independence war effort.
It's not the same for today's 20-somethings, many of whom feel disconnected from the past. The history taught in the classrooms about the fight of their forefathers has little relation to the problems -- unrest, violence, political struggles, poverty -- which are the realities of their lives.
In separate interviews with The Jakarta Post, young people associated Independence Day with parades, ceremonies at schools and the palace, a day to remember that Indonesia became a free country on this date. And, of course, a day off.
Some of them, mostly from Java, also stressed the importance of being a united Indonesia, but their peers from other islands voiced different aspirations.
"I don't feel any different every time Aug. 17 is celebrated. It's just a day to remind us that we still have a country," said Timbul Sunoto, 28, a distributor of independent literary titles in Yogyakarta.
"We still need to live side by side as a nation. Every region or province has its own character and resources. Every province could be a partner and complement to others, and vice versa."
Esti, 26, an employee at a private company here, showed her indifference about the day. "Nothing. For me it's just a holiday with a lot of games. Nothing more."
With the country's economic and political turmoil, Bandung- based student Rinny Dewi Safitri, 23, expressed doubts about the future.
"It's terrible to live here because we don't know where our leaders are taking us. When Indonesia was founded, the former leaders still felt free to decide where we would go, but now there are only a few (members of) the political elite who struggle in the name of the people to win their confidence and authority to lead the country."
The issue of keeping the country together preyed on some of the people's minds.
"We still remain united with some conditions: The citizens are aware of their rights and duties, there is law enforcement and fair government," said Febriani Niva Damayanti, 22, a student of economics at state-run Airlangga University in Surabaya.
For Cut Feroza, 23, who works at a bank here, the real meaning of the day is lost. She said children enjoyed the day for its parties and festivities, while busy adults were happy to have a day off.
The meaning of Independence Day is a sore point for Cut, who was born in Lhokseumawe in strife-torn Aceh and came to Jakarta in 1996.
"We are also not independent in our state of mind. If Indonesia is an independent country, why do the Acehnese still cry for independence? Why should they commemorate Aug. 17 but they don't feel like Indonesians?"
Cut and Arnold Thenu, a Maluku youth activist, do not see the point of celebrating Aug. 17 when their own people's struggle is still going on.
"Aug. 17 has no special meaning for me," said Arnold, 24. "Since the unrest broke out in Ambon in 1999, I told my relatives there not to raise the red and white national flag on that day or join the festivities.
"It's also a time for Indonesians to accept the fact that there is no unity and not to boast of a united Indonesia."
History
Taufik said that there was a vacuum of history that emerged between the 1945 generation and its successors.
"History should be regarded as a foreign country. Whether history can impress someone depends on how it is taught to them. Revolution in the United States is so real (to young Americans) because each year, there are writing contests on the topic ... The topic is explored and taught in a proper way.
"But here, the teaching of the revolution means remembering the years. It's very useless -- history must be considered an academic enterprise. When one becomes detached from history, he or she will become ruthless."
Taufik criticized the younger generation for failing to count their blessings. He remembered how difficult life was during his youth, and how all he wanted as a university student was, above all, a typewriter. He never got his typewriter, but his own son had a laptop when he was in university.
For all their material gains, the young have also dealt with stifling repression.
"They are accustomed to living under oppression. They lack the willingness to find different perspectives," Taufik said.
"Imagine what happened during the struggle for independence. All Indonesians had a dream for freedom which developed the courage to use sharpened bamboo to defy the Dutch who carried rifles. They fought together for an uncertain future."
Sociologist Imam Prasodjo said that youngsters could not be blamed for being indifferent toward nationalism.
"The generation of the 1940s has something that can bind them together, that is the struggle for independence from colonialism. Today's generation doesn't have that," said the 41-year-old lecturer at the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Indonesia.
He agreed with Taufik that the importance of the historical moment could not be transferred to ensuing generations due to the poor teaching of the subject. The indifference, Imam noted, was also the result of the "plundering of the generation".
"We've been ruled by authoritarianism for too long. And young people have never been given space or roles to get involved in the government. That's what I call plundering," he said.
"It's good that we now have several young politicians. But the roles of young people are still being limited. Government still consists of people from the older generation."
The young generation, Imam said, is in the first stage of defining the concept of this country after the repression of the Soeharto years.
"Young people in the regions are demanding their independence. If we want to reembrace them, we have to redefine the concept of nationality, the Indonesian dream. And we need to give young people as much space, opportunities and as many roles as possible in overcoming this country's problems."