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