Whose independence are we celebrating today, again?

Today, Indonesia is celebrating its Independence Day. Today is a day of celebration.

Last night, I had a slight fever. I had planned to spend August 17th at the gym. Working out makes me feel good and enhances my sense of well-being. But the fever apparently had ruined my plans. So I woke up at 9 in the morning and sat down with an absent-minded grin on my face. Today is supposed to be a big day. But why am I feeling so hollow inside?

I ate my breakfast and turned on the TV. Lots of funny, or trying to be, quizzes on various channels. The usual stuffs. Lots of patriotic advertisements by big companies. There were also governmental advertisements. One of which is about how all Indonesians can now access to a free 9-year education. I felt good watching that. I smiled. Then I switched the channel.

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A little boy was collecting raw fish from the street. He was a boy living near the shore. Everyday after school, he and his friends would collect raw fish spilt unknowingly by fishermen. They then sold the fish to the nearest cheap market in which they sell low-quality (what I mean by low-quality are actually inappropriate to consume) food to poor people. The boy, Arif, does this everyday to help his mother pay for his supposed-to-be-free education. Sixty-four years of independence but still, education is only a minor privilege and a major luxury.

An old woman, around 50 years old, named Nur sells cockle shells everyday to earn 1,500 rupiahs for every kilos. She can sell 10 kilos per day and that would give her 15,000 rupiahs per day. Sixty-four years of independence but still, some old people have spent most of their years in total poverty.

A little village near Bogor, a province with the second largest government regional financial support in whole Java, still lacks from electricity. Regardless in such a modern age Indonesia lives today, some parts of it are still pitch black. At noon, their lives are just as ordinary as any other Indonesians'. But at night, the story changes. They have to use traditional oil lamps and lots of candles to prevent them from tripping over the edge of the cliffs or simply to see each other's smiles. The kids insist to study under dim candle lights, knowing that nothing can ever compensate the importance of education. Sixty-four years of independence but still, Indonesia is darkness.

A school at one of the largest province in Indonesia had such delicate foundation that the building nearly collapsed when strong wind and heavy rain hit it. Now the kids struggle to continue their classes outside the building, amidst the hot sunshine and polluted air. They lined up neatly on any surface they found, their teachers squatted down to check their works and tried to explain the subjects the best they could. We say that we are a nation who offers utmost protection to young generation. Sixty-four years of independence and still, we can't provide a rooftop over the children's heads. 

A baby died few weeks ago. Not from terminal disease that requires millions of rupiahs worth of surgery. Not from lack of nutritional food. But from getting hot boiling soup splashed on her. She was sleeping peacefully inside his stroller, or cart, when her parents' business were taken down by police. Their parents sell soup with meatballs along the roadside at a cheap local market. The police tore the business down, burned the cart and spilled the soup on the baby in process. She died immediately afterwards. Sixty-four years of independence and still, we use the without-solution excuses such as traffic disciplining to tear down the only business a poor family possesses.

A massage centre in Java has been operating for years. It's not very successful but it's still running. The only reason why it still is, is because it's owned by a blind man called Drajat. People trust blind people to massage their bodies and people pity blind folks. As a differently-abled citizen, what Drajat needs isn't pity. What he needs isn't support. What he needs is his right as a citizen. Whenever he's sick or in need of dealing with an administrative plea, he gets rejected. Apparently in Indonesia, bureaucracy discriminates. Blind people are second-class citizens and are not worthy of any service. Sixty-four years of independence and still, our democracy and equality resonance in hollow echoes.

Hundreds of Indonesia children live their lives on the street. They spend their days trying to survive from what people throw on the street. They play with danger and they kid with death. They are not only poor but they are also running low on faith. Instead of being somewhere safe and getting proper education, they fight with police officers who try to sweep away their existence. Most of them are only aged between 4 to 9. Sixty-four years of independence and still, we fail our constituency that regulates government's role as the protector and benefactor of homeless people and street children.

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For those who think I'm blaming the government, you are mistaken.
You are not seeing the big picture here. Let me explain.

If there is one thing certain in this world, my friends, it is that crisis will strike from time to time. I don’t know why the world is designed in such a way. What saddened me isn't how all these pitiful events are still occurring but how less (not how many) people actually pay any slightest attention to them and do something about them. To me, it is even more interesting to see that how it is in this kind of situation human nature is truly revealed. It always amazes me how people always choose the easy way out when faced with difficult situations. A new disease breaks out, and no, it doesn’t really matter how we should support each other to overcome the crisis. That can wait. Let’s FIRST find out who started this. Let’s blame somebody. Blaming the government is the easiest escape. We are too used to taking the easy way out in life that it has been part of our nature. What disturbs me is to see how depressingly materialistic and apathetic human has become these days. Here on the brighter side of the earth, some men with full bellies enslave themselves for more money, ready to sacrifice even their humanity. And no, still no empathy for the less fortunate. I can’t see, my friends, what you are celebrating today for.


I know now why I am feeling so hollow inside. You see, today is not Indonesia's Independence Day. Today is not a day for celebration. Today is a day to reflect on how poorly we are still doing until today. Today is a day to reminisce what fights we have gone through and what fights we have to go through. Today is a day to preserve the good fights and struggle harder for freedom and equality. Today is a day to realize that Indonesia isn't freed completely yet. Today is a day to realize that Independence Day is something we have not had within our grasp. 

Very much true, Indonesia is no longer under any international colonization. No country is trying to take over us. Thanks to the crusaders who presented us this constitutional freedom. Thanks to them for this freedom to draw our own laws and regulations. However, we are doing no justice to those who fought their lives for this country's freedom. Constitutional freedom and humanity freedom does not come in one package. Moral degradation and human inequality peeks gleefully from every corners of our country. Sixty-four years of so-called independence and still, we are never truly independent. 

Fellows, we are mostly only lingering in the pretense of it. 

(Thanks to Keti, my newly found friend.)