JCP FEATURES: ROAD TO VICTORY

“Everything seems to be its’ place, while it isn’t”

August is the month of celebration for some countries. According to the list on Wikipedia, there are around 20 countries that celebrate Independence Day in August, such as South Korea, Singapore, India, and Indonesia. I celebrate my birthday this month and I truly agree that August is the month of celebration (P.S: I share my birthday with Singapore National Day lol).

Just like any other holidays in 2020, because of the pandemic this year Independence Day is not as vibrant, exciting as before. In Indonesia, we usually held a competition event as a celebration of Independence Day. Obviously, it did not happen. I couldn't remember what I did on that day since it wasn't significant enough. When I was in school, I really look forward to watching the competitions held. It’s because no classes that day and you can wear other clothes other than the uniform. My favorite competition is “Tug of War”. I don’t know why, but it’s just fun to have your whole classmates joining the game (see, it’s one of the good things going to offline school. Refer to my previous post to know why, here). It's been a long time since I ever participated in those kinds of competitions. Since I entered university, I didn't get any chance to join. Thinking back, it was such a good old day. 

As I grew up, I started to learn the essentials of those competitions. It was meant to picture and implement the five principles of Indonesia called, Pancasila. It consisted of: Belief in God, Humanitarianism, the Unity of Indonesia, Democracy, and Social Justice (rsis.edu.sg). I think Indonesia has a great principle but rarely implemented in our daily life. What makes it different from the other country is principle number four. The literal translation is "citizenship that is lead through wisdom in representative deliberation". This means that every decision should be discussed and approved by everyone. But, there are several reasons why it doesn't apply as we pictured such as lack of knowledge (not every citizen learns about this) or the higher-ups make it complicated when it can be simple. But, well, in reality, we couldn’t really live according to our vision or what we dream of. So, I guess the governments try to make guidelines that will be helpful to achieve the principles. But, unfortunately not every citizen understands and follows the guidelines.

Well, in this post I’m not going to discuss the principles Indonesia has. It is a quite sensitive topic and I’m not in the capacity to argue or makes critic of it. I wanted to reflect those principles in daily life among Indonesian, including me as well.

There is one quote from the first President of Indonesia, Soekarno that can be found every time around Independence Day or National Heroes Day: 

“My fight is easier because I fought to chase away colonizer. But, yours will be harder because you have to fight your own people”. 

What he said is so true because lately there are lots of debates among Indonesian. Well, actually debating is a good thing if the purpose is to empower each party. But, what is happening, in reality, was debate is to show-off. Show-off skills, information, and many more. Sometimes, I saw the debate is not even worth fighting for. I don’t know why, but as I got older, I became less care about nationalism, government, politics, whatever it is, apathetic.

During the pandemic, each country characteristic and abilities can be seen by how each country handle it. Well, there is no perfect country in this world, since there is no one is perfect. Since a country is ruled by somebody and that body is not perfect either, so there will be no perfect country. But at least, every country should strive to be better each day. What I feel right now is Indonesia’s progress seems to be stagnant. Is it because I live inside the country? You know that you know too much detail, you became too critical and hate the fact of it? Or it is true that we are going nowhere? I still couldn't find the answer yet. Maybe we have reached the comfort zone, where everything seems to be its’ place, while it isn’t. The way I see about Indonesia and you who are not living here might be different. Same as I see the other countries because I don't live there.

I look up the word “independence”, it is not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself (dictionary.com). Yes, we are not controlled by other countries or nations, but we are still influenced by others. I don’t see Indonesia as a really independent country. Well, every country in this world is connected and need support from each other. So, I don’t think the word independent suits well with the current situation, especially when the world right now faces the same problem. This is the influencing era, where most of our opinions and thoughts are influenced by others. No matter who and where you are.

As we shifting from era to era, we are actually building a relationship, connecting one to the other. Internet is the best example. Yes, every country is sovereign of its own, but also we still need each other. Being dependent is not always a bad thing, it’s just don’t make them took over you. We should be responsible for our own, but asking others to help and receive their help is not considered as being weak. It is proof that we know our capability and it makes us stronger and had a great attitude to be able to admit our weaknesses. It is the path that we should be taking to be a victorious country.

What I see and think about Indonesia is, we are not able to stand alone by ourselves but acted like we are already one. Compared to other countries, Indonesia is like a teenager going through the adolescent period. I find the number 75 as a big number, but still strong enough to try out new challenges and get better each day. So, Indonesia are you ready for new challenges to change this country to have a better quality of life for everyone? I repeat. Everyone. From the south to north, west to east, even to the one in rural areas.

Dear our (and also around the world) government parliaments, please don’t turn a blind eye to those people. They might not be able to pay the taxes (so you might not get benefits from them), but they have rights to have it. Instead of acting like you have achieved many things, please relearn our basic principles and restructure them accordingly. You won’t be able to fit everyone's cups of tea, but at least make it fair and reasonable.

The bottom line is every country has the right to stay for what they believed in, but it doesn’t mean have to shoo away other country acting as if they are the right one. Every country has its’ own pace and doesn't compare one to another. It’s okay to depend on another country, but do not let them take over the steer. As a citizen, it’s the right thing to voice your opinion, but always to think not only about yourself but also the others that are not like you. Remember all the principles by heart and implement them according to the guidelines. It’s not easy to be an obedient citizen since we already do the judging that the government going to spend our money for themselves. But have faith, since they will be responsible for their actions and God definitely has a plan for everything. Recently, I’m reading “Judges” from the Bible and it taught me that it’s not easy to lead a nation. God had provided all the 10 Commandments, but when the leader leaves them for a while, they started to do the bad things. So, what we need to do is to build trust with each other. Definitely, there will be thousands of people who opposed to your opinions or actions but let’s try to believe that everything will work out. Just be patient. Know your own capability (yes I’m talking to you Indonesia). It doesn’t mean that we are incompetent, but please know our strengths and weakness and then we can know how to act. And the most important thing is, think before act. This kind of bad habit is what makes Indonesia looks like a fool and get into trouble.

There are 4 more upcoming posts and I will see you there. Thank you for reading all the way to this part. This topic isn't my forte, but I tried my best and I would like to sharpen my critical skills that have been hibernating for a while now. Hope this post helps you to get the insights of celebrating National Days or Independence Days and be a good citizen. See ya!

Reference:

https://www.rsis.edu.sg/rsis-publication/rsis/pancasila-guidance-bill-tweaking-indonesias-ideology/#.X8-IGqeB06U

VISIT INDONESIA: Independence Day Specials!

August is popular with celebrating independence day. I don’t know why there are few countries that celebrate their independence day in August. Few examples are Singapore, South Korea, and Switzerland. Indonesia also celebrate their independence day on August. For some people who knows the struggle of being ruled by other party, Indonesia’s history can be a painful one. Getting our independence has shred blood, tears, and sweats (like BTS’s song) of our founders and heroes. That's why on this year’s Independence Day, I tried to make a special edition content. I visited historical places regarding the independence day in Jakarta. You can checked the footage of my friends and I visiting Proclamator Monument (Tugu Proklamasi) and National Monument (MONAS).

I had so much fun visiting those places. My OOTD that day was also matching with our country’s flag, red and white. I made “Kemerdekaan Fun Fact” o my video, hope it help the viewers to know a little bit of our history and how smart is our first President. On this blog post, I’m going to write more about the behind the scene of this travel diary. So, watch my video to know what I’m talking about.

Actually, my friends and I went to those places last year. I treated them a buffet lunch as my birthday celebration last year. Since, we are bored with our usual hanging out activities, I suggest them to visit those places. Even though they live in Jakarta, they never went to Monas. I’ve been to Monas for several time, but I’ve never been to Taman Proklamasi. This idea came from an article I saw from an inflight magazine when I went to Jogja last year.

Since we have lunch in Grand Indonesia Mall, going to those places are not far. After lunch, we went to Taman Proklamator first. The park is located on Jalan Proklamasi no.56. It used to be Jalan Pegangsaan Timur no.56, where Soekarno lived before. They demolished his house and made it into this park. Use Google Maps to find this place. I’m not good in giving direction with public transport in Indonesia.

 

Mr. Soekarno, Indonesia first President

Mr. Mohamad Hatta, Indonesia first Vice President

Waited for some time to get this group photo

This will happened if you don't have your monopod

There weren’t a lot of people coming here because this place is less popular than Monas. But, it’s nice since we can take lots of photos without any photo-bomb and look too touristy. The downside is, when we want to take a group photo, we took a long time to ask people passing by to take picture for us. The best time to visit this park is in the morning or around 4PM. We stayed for 40 minutes. There weren’t much to do there beside sightseeing or just to sat down for relaxation. Maybe, you should bring monopod to help you take a group photo if you came here.

#shotwithiphone

Then we drove for 15-20 minutes to Monas from Taman Proklmator. Monas is the icon of Indonesia, specifically Jakarta. Soekarno himself initiated the construction of this icon. This monument is located strategically, in the heart of Jakarta. You can see it from the south, east, west, and north side. Soekarno himself intentionally build Monas on that specific location, because it is near the Istana Merdeka (President’s palace) and other government offices. So, if you go to Monas, you can also visit other attractions such as, National Museum, Cathedral, Istiqlal Mosque, Pasar Baru, Lapangan Banteng, Radio Republik Indonesia (the first radio in Indonesia, also the one who spread the Independence news to the whole world!), Gambir Station, several shopping malls in Jakarta, and much more. You can search the surrounding of Monas on Google Maps.

Oh, there is also double-deck bus for sightseeing! AND IT IS FREE! More info about the route can be seen from here.

Since I’ve been to Monas few times, it isn’t a new thing for me. But it is for my friends. Monas was under renovation for few months before I came here last year. Because this year, there was an event for Countdown to Asian Games 2018 held on Monas on the 18th of August. That’s why they did some renovation. The one you saw on my video was so much better than before the renovation. Stalls and food court are placed nicely BEFORE entering the Monas area. The area is quite big, so if you want to go to the monument, you should take the shuttle train provided. Well, if you want, you can walk, but I’m not sure you will do that because it is quite far and hot. No matter what time you go there, it will be always HOT.

our kind of group photo, girls vs boys

If you want to go to the inside of the monument, where there is museum underground and you can go to the top of it, you need to pay IDR 27,500 (adults) and IDR 13,500 (kids). These price is a total price if you want to go up to the top. If not, you only need to pay 20,000 for adults or 10,000 for kids. The underground museum have air conditioner installed, so you will not feel too hot. But, on the second floor, where you can hear the proclamation speech of Soekarno, there doesn't have air conditioner. The area is also smaller than the underground museum.

Inside the museum, you can see around 51 dioramas (a 3D display). Each diorama tells a different story but all of it are connected. From the beginning of human evolution till Indonesia’s development. You can see how painful Indonesia’s struggle to get independence.

After strolling around the museum, we went upstairs to go to the “Ruang Kemerdekaan”. There, you can hear Soekarno’s voice recording when he read the proclamation speech. Fyi, the space does not have AC, so you won't stay long there. The recording plays every hour from 9am to 5pm. When I went there, it was around 7pm, so there is no recording. We just went through the room.

At the time we are waiting for the lift to the cone, it was almost raining. At the time we are at the top, it was raining heavily. We couldn’t enjoy the skyline of Jakarta, because it was too crowded and rainy. We went down after few minutes. We waited for an hour before we decided to go back. The rain doesn’t stop for few hours. Andddd my friend just bought his new shoes, so he doesn’t want it gets wet. We waited until the rain is less heavy. We waited for the train shuttle and then suddenly the heavy rain pour down again. Entering the train was also a struggle, we have to fight with other people who wants to ride the train ASAP. My friends and I were separated. Then after we arrived, we faced another problem. We couldn’t see the floor. It was flooding around an ankle-high. In the end, my friends have to remove their shoes. LOL. We ran to the food court to wash our hands, but the water was so dirty. So we ran to the car, use a lot of tissue and wet tissue to clean ourselves and our shoes. It was a roller coaster ending of our day trip. We finished our trip with a good McDonald meal to save our stomach.

Do bring monopod and have fun!

Nevertheless, it was one of the best day trip I’ve done, because I can share the insights of Independence Day with my friends. Also, we tried to get rid the habit of spending money to the mall or watching movie. Let’s try to appreciate the small little things that are big in value, like visiting historical places near you. Get to know your country history and feel proud about it. I hope you enjoyed my Travel Diary and behind the scene of it. Have a nice day, all!