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.