Senior citizens
Senior citizens
From Merdeka
Though late, it is not wrong, I presume, for me to support the
statement made by the Jakarta governor regarding senior citizens
as published in Kompas daily (July 5) under the title of I
appreciate and respect senior citizens.
The governor must have had a strong reason and a fitting
background when making the statement. Many government officials,
including President Soeharto who often reminds the young never to
forget senior citizens of the 1945 generation, have recently been
commenting on senior citizens because senior citizens established
a most impressive milestone in Indonesia's struggle for
independence against the Dutch colonial rulers and the Japanese
occupational forces.
When they were young, these senior citizens consistently gave
up their all for the struggle for independence. It stands to
reason that independence fighters still alive now always remind
the young, their heirs in the life of the state and the nation,
never to forget the pioneers of the country's independence
struggle. A long time before Indonesia's independence was
proclaimed on Aug. 17, 1945, freedom fighters blazed the trail
for independent Indonesia. They sustained hardship brought about
by the Dutch colonial rulers and the Japanese occupational
administration, who treated Indonesians as slaves. Indonesians
were then assumed to be able to live on 2.5 cents a day while a
member of the colonial rulers spent 250 cents a day, a
heaven-and-earth difference.
Being put in jail was also a common thing for our freedom
fighters then. In an extreme case, the colonial rulers would not
hesitate to kill these freedom fighters.
That was how Indonesians lived under the Dutch colonial
rulers.
Right after the independence of Indonesia was proclaimed on
Aug. 17, 1945, all adult Indonesians shouldered the task of
expelling the Dutch colonial rulers and Japanese occupational
administration from their mother land and joined the struggle to
defend Indonesia's independence, directly or otherwise.
On senior citizens in general, it is appropriate to say that
they receive enough attention from the government and that the
government does not practice favoritism in this respect.
However, we wish to draw the government's attention to senior
citizens who were previously recruited by the Japanese military
administration, which occupied Indonesia in World War II. For
five years now these former recruits have been demanding
compensation and three quarters of their salaries from when they
were assigned as Heihos. Until now the Japanese government does
not seem to be in a position to settle this matter. One may
suspect that the Japanese side is finding reasons to stall for
time and that they may not be willing to settle the matter, let
alone make the payment, as demanded, to the people concerned.
We, senior citizens who are former Japanese Heihos and freedom
fighters of 1945, earnestly hope that the government will give
its assistance by urging the Japanese government to find a
satisfactory settlement to our demand.
AR DAENG KULLE
Former Heiho
Jakarta