On August 17, 1945, Indonesia declared its independence and no longer held the status as a colonized nation. The declaration of independence was proclaimed by Soekarno and Hatta, two of the most important founding fathers of Indonesia. Since the day onwards, August 17 become the official independence day of Indonesia.
Each year on August, Indonesians celebrate the independence day with various kind of activities. Unlike Americans who celebrate their independence day on July 4 with parties and fireworks, Indonesians do it mostly with contemplation and prayer. Each individu must remember and commemorate national heroes that have sacrifice their lives to uphold the independence of Indonesia.
The celebrations begin at early August with competition of various kind of game, race, and contest. The most notable competition of all surely is the “lari karung” or sack race. Lari karung is basically a sprint race competition, but the participants must run with their legs wrapped inside a sack. So they don’t run, but leap and jumping around like a frog.
Another popular contest at the celebration of independence day is the “makan kerupuk” (eating the flavored chips). Here the contestants must race each other to eat the kerupuk, Indonesian traditional flavored chips. But it’s not an easy job at all, since they must do it with their hands tied up behind their back. And to make it even ridiculous, the chips is hung by a thread approximately 1,5 metres above the ground.
The competition is held by local citizens inside a close range neighborhood, especially in one RT or RW (see my article about what are RT and RW in local governmental administration in Indonesia). They do it only for fun, not for a serious competition like in sports. But the winners still receive prizes, mostly in the form of daily consumer goods such as soap, shampoo, or chili sauce.
Before or after the competition day, the citizens held a massive work of cleaning the vicinity of their house and environment. This work is called a ”kerja bakti”. Kerja means work, whereas bakti means homage or devotion. They do it voluntarily. No salary, no fee, no commission whatsoever. And they do it in a “gotong royong” way, which means work together hand in hand each other.
Starting at August 14 or usually a week before August 17, each citizen must erect and display the Merah Putih (red and white), Indonesia national flag, in the front yard or in front of their house. People also install little flags in their cars, their bicycle, their motorcycle, and in the public transportation vehicles like taxis and buses.
On the night of August 16, citizens will gather in the streets or local convention building to have a “malam tasyakuran” or contemplation night. They will pray together and commemorate the merit of the national heroes. The contemplation night usually begin at 9 PM until nearly dawn. After the female citizens go home at around 11 PM, the male ones continue to hang out until late morning while they talk, chit-chat, playing cards, playing chess, or watching movie together via VCD or DVD.
The next morning, starting at 9.30 AM, schools, universities, and official government offices and agencies held an “upacara bendera” or flag ceremony. They will rekindle and recreate the moment when Soekarno and Hatta declared the independence of the Republic of Indonesia back in August 17, 1945, at East Pegangsaan Street, Jakarta.
The ceremony participants will erect the Merah Putih, sing the national anthem Indonesia Raya (Great Indonesia) together, reread the Proclamation Manuscript written by Soekarno and Hatta, go to one minute silence to commemorate national heroes, pray together for prosperity and safe, and finally sing heroic old songs like Garuda Pancasila, Halo-halo Bandung (Hello, hello, Bandung), Maju Tak Gentar (Untrembled Forward), Sorak-sorak Bergembira (Happy Cheerings), or Indonesia Merdeka (Free Indonesia).
Similar flag ceremony is held in the presidential palace, the Istana Merdeka (Freedom Palace) in Jakarta. The ceremony is lead by the Indonesia president and attended by the chief of parliaments, ministers, former presidents and vice presidents, and foreign ambassadors. Citizens throughout the country watch the presidential flag ceremony live from television.
For Indonesians, the moment of independence day is always a remembrance of hard work, sacrifices, and struggles, not something that celebrated with lavish dishes and glamorous parties. The independence is not a grant from anyone, but a result of years and centuries of resilient fight against the colonizer nations.
Each year on August, Indonesians celebrate the independence day with various kind of activities. Unlike Americans who celebrate their independence day on July 4 with parties and fireworks, Indonesians do it mostly with contemplation and prayer. Each individu must remember and commemorate national heroes that have sacrifice their lives to uphold the independence of Indonesia.
The celebrations begin at early August with competition of various kind of game, race, and contest. The most notable competition of all surely is the “lari karung” or sack race. Lari karung is basically a sprint race competition, but the participants must run with their legs wrapped inside a sack. So they don’t run, but leap and jumping around like a frog.
Another popular contest at the celebration of independence day is the “makan kerupuk” (eating the flavored chips). Here the contestants must race each other to eat the kerupuk, Indonesian traditional flavored chips. But it’s not an easy job at all, since they must do it with their hands tied up behind their back. And to make it even ridiculous, the chips is hung by a thread approximately 1,5 metres above the ground.
The competition is held by local citizens inside a close range neighborhood, especially in one RT or RW (see my article about what are RT and RW in local governmental administration in Indonesia). They do it only for fun, not for a serious competition like in sports. But the winners still receive prizes, mostly in the form of daily consumer goods such as soap, shampoo, or chili sauce.
Before or after the competition day, the citizens held a massive work of cleaning the vicinity of their house and environment. This work is called a ”kerja bakti”. Kerja means work, whereas bakti means homage or devotion. They do it voluntarily. No salary, no fee, no commission whatsoever. And they do it in a “gotong royong” way, which means work together hand in hand each other.
Starting at August 14 or usually a week before August 17, each citizen must erect and display the Merah Putih (red and white), Indonesia national flag, in the front yard or in front of their house. People also install little flags in their cars, their bicycle, their motorcycle, and in the public transportation vehicles like taxis and buses.
On the night of August 16, citizens will gather in the streets or local convention building to have a “malam tasyakuran” or contemplation night. They will pray together and commemorate the merit of the national heroes. The contemplation night usually begin at 9 PM until nearly dawn. After the female citizens go home at around 11 PM, the male ones continue to hang out until late morning while they talk, chit-chat, playing cards, playing chess, or watching movie together via VCD or DVD.
The next morning, starting at 9.30 AM, schools, universities, and official government offices and agencies held an “upacara bendera” or flag ceremony. They will rekindle and recreate the moment when Soekarno and Hatta declared the independence of the Republic of Indonesia back in August 17, 1945, at East Pegangsaan Street, Jakarta.
The ceremony participants will erect the Merah Putih, sing the national anthem Indonesia Raya (Great Indonesia) together, reread the Proclamation Manuscript written by Soekarno and Hatta, go to one minute silence to commemorate national heroes, pray together for prosperity and safe, and finally sing heroic old songs like Garuda Pancasila, Halo-halo Bandung (Hello, hello, Bandung), Maju Tak Gentar (Untrembled Forward), Sorak-sorak Bergembira (Happy Cheerings), or Indonesia Merdeka (Free Indonesia).
Similar flag ceremony is held in the presidential palace, the Istana Merdeka (Freedom Palace) in Jakarta. The ceremony is lead by the Indonesia president and attended by the chief of parliaments, ministers, former presidents and vice presidents, and foreign ambassadors. Citizens throughout the country watch the presidential flag ceremony live from television.
For Indonesians, the moment of independence day is always a remembrance of hard work, sacrifices, and struggles, not something that celebrated with lavish dishes and glamorous parties. The independence is not a grant from anyone, but a result of years and centuries of resilient fight against the colonizer nations.
