The forgotten veterans

The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta/Makassar/Surabaya

War veteran Amat Mukmin still clearly remembers when he took part in the guerrilla struggle against the Dutch in Yogyakarta in 1948. Along with hundreds of freedom fighters, the Bantul resident fought the Dutch with any weapon available, including bambu runcing (sharpened bamboo). "We once burned down a sugar cane plantation belonging to the Dutch," he proudly said.

But, for Amat, now 78, all that seems fruitless now. He feels the situation in the country has not improved since independence was proclaimed on Aug. 17 1945. Corruption has been rampant for years and the gap between the haves and have nots is getting wider.

The lives of the poor are getting tougher, and Amat, the father of seven children, is no exception. Amat, who still has to care for his wife and two children, feels that life for elderly people like him is hard. He still rides his bicycle along the streets offering to solder cooking utensils for households. He does this as his pension as a veteran of Rp 450,000 (US$47) a month is not enough to cover the family expenses. Work is getting harder as fewer people need soldering services.

However, Amat is more fortunate than a group of dozens of veterans who now live in decrepit houses in Paropo subdistrict, Panakkukang district, Makassar city. They earlier lived in houses on other plots of lands in the subdistrict, but they, who helped bring freedom to the country, were evicted in 2003 as a developer, backed by the Supreme Court, claimed that the land belonged to the company.

The veterans were granted plots of land by the government on Jl. Swadaya in the subdistrict, in March 2004 so that they could build houses, but unfortunately, the area is prone to flooding. As the Independence Day celebrations on Aug. 17 draw near, the veterans feel that they have been treated as second-class citizens. "This is the fate of the veterans. We have been forgotten," said war veteran, Andi Jemma, 85.