Youth Pledge museum stands alone after 75 years

Youth Pledge museum stands alone after 75 years

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The old house on Jl. Kramat 106, Central Jakarta, looks strange
amid the concrete and glass buildings that surround and dwarf it
in the bustling Senen district.

Few know that the building was the place where the historical
Sumpah Pemuda (Youth Pledge) was taken, in which young people
vowed in 1928 to unite, despite their different ethnic,
religious, social and political backgrounds, to found an
independent Indonesia.

On Oct. 28 this year, the country will commemorate the 75th
anniversary of the pledge. However, as of Monday, not much was
happening inside the house, which was converted into a museum and
categorized as a national monument in 1974.

Curator of the museum, Momon Abdurrahman, said that very few
people bothered to visit the museum.

"Each year, only around 8,000 visitors at the most come here,"
he said, adding that the museum only charged an admission fee of
Rp 250 (3 U.S. cents) for students and Rp 750 for others.

With 33 employees, the museum is funded by the Office of the
State Minister for Tourism and Culture.

However, Momon refused to say how much funding the museum
received each year.

A replica of a violin belonging to Wage Rudolph Supratman --
the composer of the national anthem Indonesia Raya (Great
Indonesia) first sung to mark the historical event -- is
displayed along with replicas of furniture.

The management is holding an exhibition on the museum at the
Jakarta State University (UNJ) in Rawamangun, East Jakarta.

The house used to be a boarding house for students of the
School tot Opleiding van Inlandsche Artsen (STOVIA) medical
school and the Recht Schoogeschool (RHS) law school.

Unlike most middle class homes at the time, which had large
rooms and spacious grounds, this particular house, which was
owned by Sie Kong Liang at that time, had very small rooms -- not
surprising given that it was a boarding house. It also had an
airy veranda at the back. The property was large enough to
accommodate the approximately 1,000 youths attending the second
youth congress back then.

The house, which covers an area of 1,284 square meter, also
served as the Indonesische Clubgebouw (Indonesia Clubhouse),
where the members of the club came to meet and pass the time.
Their activities included reading -- the house had a small
library full of books and newspapers -- holding political
discussions and playing billiards.

After dinner, they usually discussed various topics ranging
from the qualities of the ideal national leader to how young
people from different areas could understand other cultures and
languages in order to create a spirit of nationalism.

Within a short period of time, they organized their first
youth congress.

This was held in Batavia (as Jakarta was known during the
Netherlands Indies days) on April 30, 1926, and later became
known as the 1st Youth Congress. It focused on the importance of
consolidation among youth organizations.

The second congress was held on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28, 1928, at
a number of different locations. The first session was held at
the Katholieke Jongelingen Bond (Catholic Youth Organization)
building on Waterlooplein (now Lapangan Banteng, Central
Jakarta), while the second was held at Oost Java Bioscoop (East
Java Cinema) on Koningsplein Noord (the present Jl. Medan Merdeka
Utara, Central Jakarta).

The last session on the night of Oct. 28 was held on the
veranda at the back of the house on Jl. Kramat. It was closed
with the famous Youth Pledge:

"First, we the young men and women of Indonesia profess one
homeland, the land of Indonesia. Second, we the young men and
women of Indonesia profess one people, the people of Indonesia.
Third, we the young men and women of Indonesia hold in high
esteem one language, the Indonesian language."

The pledge is still there, even 75 years later. However, the
spirit of unity has been slowly faded away as the problems faced
by the country have increased.