Jakartass Home thoughts from abroad. Alien thoughts from home.

Tomorrow is Indonesia’s Independence Day and our flag is fluttering in front of Jakartass Towers.
The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence (Indonesian: Proklamasi Kemerdekaan Indonesia) was read by Soekarno at 10.00 a.m. on Friday, August 17, 1945.

However, simply stating that Indonesia was independent did not make it so. The Dutch colonial rulers and pro-Dutch civilians did not accept it and faced the armed resistance of the Indonesian National Revolution.

It was not until December 27, 1949 that Indonesia truly became independent thanks to international diplomatic efforts and the mediation of the United Nations. That is the date that the United Nations formally acknowledge as the date of Indonesia’s independence.

It wasn’t until 2005 during a period of introspection about their colonial history, and after some prodding from Indonesian nationalists, that the Netherlands declared that they had decided to accept de facto August 17, 1945 as Indonesia’s independence date. What they seemed to have overlooked is that the Netherlands had always considered Indonesia to have become independent on 29 December 1949 because it was on that date that Queen Wilhelmina formally handed over sovereignty to Indonesia.

Indonesia becomes 60th member of the United Nations

Independence from colonial rule is one thing, but Merdeka translates as ‘freedom’, and the key question remains:  “What is ‘freedom’?”

On any search engine you’ll get a variety of definitions. I like this one: Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint, and the absence of a despotic government (or anyone one else) telling you how to act, speak or think.

Suharto’s despotic government is no more, but Jokowi’s government is an apparent front for Sukarno’s daughter. His government and the self-seeking members of parliament want to ‘build character’ by telling citizens and residents how to act by curtailing, for example, the right to buy legal alcohol, now calling for a lèse-majesté law so that no-one can be rude about the President, and even forming a reservist force of 100 million to face “real and latent threats”.

On August 28 1963, Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream” speech, that “all men should be treated equally.” (Watch it here.) “Men” can be taken inclusively to include gender, class, race, religion, and colour, and he was addressing Afro-Americans, “the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners.”

Photograph: Antara Foto/Reuters

These job seekers were free to dream about an income at Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, last Tuesday. They were more fortunate than the many hundreds of thousands worldwide who are still slaves, entrapped by human traffickers.

And those who have had to leave their lands without compensation because of blind religious fanaticism, deforestation, property speculators ..,

And those still seeking an act of repentance from the authorities who’ve committed human rights abuses through successive years in the past seventy years …
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Feel free to download a selection of songs and music about freedom on my music blog, none of which you can expect to hear on TV, the radio, or blaring out from loudspeakers at the family fun celebrations held throughout the nation.