Seroja Memorial honors troops, civilians killed in East Timor
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri inaugurated on Sunday the Seroja Memorial, located inside the compound of the Indonesian Military (TNI) Headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, as part of a ceremony commemorating National Heroes Day.
The memorial is dedicated to soldiers and civilians who died during the integration of East Timor into Indonesia in 1976.
After more than two decades, East Timor seceded from Indonesia through a United Nations-sponsored ballot on Aug. 30, 1999. East Timor became independent on May 20, 2002, in a ceremony also attended by Megawati.
During the ceremony, only TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto delivered a speech.
"Relatives of soldiers are allowed to visit the memorial anytime," Endriartono said.
Also present at the ceremony were Megawati's husband Taufik Kiemas, House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno and National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief A.M. Hendropriyono.
Several soldiers who took part in the operation in East Timor in 1976 also attended the ceremony.
The memorial was built on an area of 126 meters by 92.5 meters. Its construction started on June 6 of this year and finished on Nov. 5.
The memorial has several walls providing a description of the history of East Timor from its integration into Indonesia in 1976 until its secession in 1999.
The names of 1,527 soldiers, police personnel and civilians who were killed during the operation are engraved on the 23 walls of the memorial.
Earlier in the day, Akbar presided over a ceremony at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in South Jakarta, while Coordinating Minister for Peoples' Welfare Jusuf Kalla led a ceremony aboard the Tanjung Kambani warship in Jakarta Bay, Antara reported.
Present at the occasion were Minister of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno, State Minister of Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif, and Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Bernard Kent Sondakh.
Other ceremonies commemorating National Heroes Day were held at government offices in Jakarta and in regional areas.
Historian Aswi Warman Adam of the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said that the ceremonies were necessary to remind the nation of its struggle for independence.
However, Aswi questioned the criteria used to decide if someone was a hero.
A presidential decree issued in 1964 classifies heroes into two categories: those who died in the struggle for independence and those who made a significant achievement for the nation.
With this classification, there are more heroes from the military than those who are civilians, Aswi said.
"We have to change that criteria and the standard has to be in line with current conditions," Aswi told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
The President, Aswi said, had to make public the names of nominees up for the national hero award to prevent corrupters from taking it.
Aswi said about 7,000 people had been buried at Kalibata Heroes Cemetery, of which 6,000 were military and police personnel, while the rest were civilians.
Of the 6,000 military and police personnel, 5,000 were from the Army, and the remaining 1,000 were from the Air Force, Navy, and police.
"I think it would be more precise to call it the Army's cemetery," he said.
The ceremonies commemorating National Heroes Day were aimed at remembering and paying tribute to those who fell during the struggle for independence. The date Nov. 10 was named National Heroes Day because of a battle against colonial forces in Surabaya, East Java, on the same day in 1945, three months after Indonesia declared its independence on Aug. 17, 1945.