Throwing together independence parties

Throwing together independence parties

JAKARTA (JP): If you remember, one subject in my scrawlings last Sunday was dirty flags, the numerous rags -- national and foreign -- you see flapping from many a pole throughout the city.

Would a rap on the knuckles of the owners help improve the situation? It may help, but of course a directive to the effect will have to come from on high, and it wouldn't be a bad idea if the "on high" muses about this a bit, if only because Indonesia's golden anniversary is knocking at the front door.

But enough about flags already. Let's touch a bit on the 50 year bit and the significance attached to it. You and I, perhaps you more than I, agree that jubilees are very important. You know, like Mr. & Mrs. Sucahyo from around the corner who have just celebrated their silver wedding anniversary, or the big bash the company that has been making toothpaste for 60 years threw last year. Of course it's not the number of years that count, but the fact that Mr. & Mrs. Sucahyo (the Smiths) and the toothpaste company have gone through a period in which they enjoyed the good, withstood the bad, and have generally emerged unscathed.

Like Indonesia, which celebrates 50 years of independence this year. True, the first two decades weren't very enjoyable. But during the past thirty years things have come up roses. Although rose bushes -- being rose bushes -- deal-out a couple of nasty pricks from time to time. This reminds us that -- in the words of a former prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Fraser -- life wasn't meant to be easy.

On the whole, however, Indonesia can look back on its first 50 years with satisfaction and is entitled to celebrate it with more vigor than in the years before.

Fifty years is referred to as a golden jubilee and most countries begin preparing for the auspicious occasion when they are 48. I, for one, was wondering last year whether any large scale celebration was in the offing. Surely, some major event for the occasion would have been announced by now. Or perhaps something on a smaller scale, like, for instance, the issue of first day covers. Something more substantial than the tiny logo blocking out the right hand corner of your TV screen, which displays the national flag with the number 50 superimposed on it.

Nothing has come up so far, except a calendar. But that aroused a bit of pique when it came into my hands some time during the first week of January. Not that it is unpleasing to the eye. In fact, it is a beautiful calendar which shows every sign of having been prepared with a lot of care. It's large, it's printed on thick, luxurious, cream-colored paper, and each of its twelve pages is adorned with a beautiful watercolor accompanied by an extensive and well researched caption. Both watercolors and caption texts were the work of one of Indonesia's leading savants, Kuntjaraningrat, and the calendar was printed by the Government Printing Office (Percetakan Negara). Printed in large letters at the bottom of the first page (January) are the words 50 Tahun Kemerdekaan Indonesia (50 Years of Indonesian Independence).

So why the pique if it's such a beautiful thing? Because it wasn't the brainchild of Indonesia or Indonesians, that's why. The Netherlands, the losers 50 years ago, produced the beautiful calender. And that isn't all. I saw on an Erasmus Huis notice board an announcement for an exhibition to be held in the Netherlands "to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Indonesia's independence". The exhibition, which involves the world-renowned Museum Voor Volkenkunde (Museum of Ethnology) begins in March and will last three months.

Now, calendars and exhibitions have one thing in common, whoever conceives of one or the other doesn't simply wake up one morning and decide to have one right after breakfast. A lot of time and effort has gone into preparing this special calendar. Preparing an exhibition would take an even longer period, I'm sure.

The Dutch Embassy and Cultural Center have actually been working towards the 50th anniversary of Indonesian independence for at least two years. Some may remember the series of talks, painting exhibitions and films that have been held since 1993 under the banner of 400 Years of Contact Between Indonesia and the Netherlands. This also happens to be the sub-theme of the calendar.

We still don't know of any special plans to celebrate Indonesia's golden jubilee. But no doubt, something to the effect will be announced ... one day.

-- Jak Jaunt