The nation's primary commodity: Nationalistic pride
The nation's primary commodity: Nationalistic pride
Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post
Every May 20, the nation commemorates National Awakening Day,
where all of the country's presidents past and current, are
expected -- through a speech -- to fire up a sense of nationalism
among citizens.
When asked, "who is Indonesia's most nationalistic president?"
I will immediately point to the country's third president: B.J.
Habibie. He replaced Soeharto on May 21, 1998, after a series of
riots and violent anti-Soeharto demonstrations nationwide. He
served the country until October 1999.
Narrow-minded nationalists may condemn his decision to end the
country's occupation of East Timor by allowing a referendum there
a few months before his term ended. But he perfectly carried out
the 1945 Constitution's mandate that Indonesia should help other
nations liberate themselves from imperialism and colonialism.
To encourage a nationalistic spirit, Habibie even obliged all
Cabinet ministers and journalists who covered the palace to wear
the traditional peci (hat).
Soeharto's golden boy established state-owned aircraft
manufacturer PT IPTN in the early 1970s. He wanted to prove that
Indonesia could export sophisticated planes, not just traditional
agricultural products or housemaids. The airplanes were exported
to many countries. From one aircraft, Indonesia got glutinous
rice from Thailand as part of a countertrade deal. Javanese
people are fond of snacks made from glutinous rice. Isn't it a
very efficient way to do business?
As the company nearly went bankrupt in 2001 the company
stopped its core business and produced bowls, but received a cool
market reaction. Regardless of the results and the costs we had
to pay, the nation should still be proud of Habibie's efforts to
bring glory for his country.
How about Soeharto's efforts to produce sophisticated goods?
Soeharto asked his youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra
to produce a national car. The method was very simple: Just
import KIA cars from South Korea and name them Timor. However
perhaps only the air for the tires was actually taken from
Indonesia. The ambitious plan failed, but at least many of the
cars still operate as taxis.
How about President Susilo?
East Java Governor Imam Utomo is evidently more enthusiastic
than President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono not just to commemorate
National Awakening Day, but also to use the celebration as a
magic momentum to combat the country's most chronic disease:
Corruption.
According to the province's official website, the governor
requires all civil servants in the province to wear batik from
May 17 to May 23. Probably because wearing batik is regarded as a
perfect symbol of nationalism, although former South African
president Nelson Mandela seems more passionate about wearing
batik than Indonesian leaders.
"With the soul and spirit of National Awakening Day, we build
a democratic, civilized and corruption-free Indonesia" is the
theme of celebration for the province. For the governor, the war
on corruption is very simple. Just make it the theme of
celebrations, and like a voodoo ritual the country's most chronic
disease will immediately disappear after the ceremony.
The President will attend a simple commemorative ceremony at
the State Palace on Friday morning, before flying to Bali to open
his Democratic Party congress there.
Of course he too is a nationalistic leader. He is also very
eager to create peace in the world. He seems overly ambitious in
stepping into the international spotlight despite a lot of
domestic problems.
Nationalists are always proud to be Indonesians no matter how
messy the country's condition is. Indonesia is a great country,
although for the time being it can only defeat industrialized
countries in producing new babies.
Despite our weakness and prevalence in corruption, we still
claim ourselves to be a great nation!