Proud to be an Indonesian

Proud to be an Indonesian

I was very disappointed to learn that Eka Dewi (The Jakarta
Post, Oct. 29, 2003) does not respect our country and does not
feel proud to be an Indonesian. A student of the London School of
Public Relations, she cannot make the distinction between a state
and a government.

Corruption, collusion and nepotism are practiced by some
government officials, who, ironically, used to condemn corruptors
when they were younger. Now that they enjoy important government
positions, their corrupt practices are worse than their
predecessors.

If Eka and the like do not feel proud to be Indonesian and are
reluctant to sing the national anthem, Indonesia does not need
them and they may move abroad.

These people do not have any gratitude for the older
generation and their sacrifices in defending our independence.
Thousands of them died fighting the Dutch colonial soldiers, who
also killed thousands of civilians.

When I was in elementary school, I was bitterly angry upon
seeing a picture of the transportation by sea of our freedom
fighters to Boven Digul (now Irian Jaya), their land of
banishment. Their legs chained, these people were also chained to
one another to prevent them from jumping into the sea.

In the colonial era, there were only five elementary schools
for indigenous Indonesian children and children of Chinese and
Arabic origin in Surakarta, but today there are innumerable
government elementary schools there.

Yuki, of Chinese descent, feels she has been discriminated
against. If so, she should move to another country where there is
no discrimination. Chinese-Indonesians, while being discriminated
against, also practice discrimination. Few indigenous Indonesians
are found in the top management of large companies owned by
Chinese-Indonesians.

Contrary to the youngsters, I am proud to be Indonesian. In
this respect we must always remember how our independence was
achieved.

Some countries were lucky enough to receive their independence
from their former colonizers. Indonesia, however, had to fight
hard and bitterly to gain its freedom, both through diplomatic
channels and armed resistance.

As a schoolboy I joined the independence war. Armed with only
primitive weapons, we defeated the Dutch soldiers who were
equipped with modern weapons.

SUNARTO PRAWIROSUJANTO
Jakarta