School celebrates Pakistan, RI independence days

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 08/18/2007 7:08 AM | Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In traditional Sundanese dress and sporting a painted beard, mustache and sideburns, 9-year-old Adel Hene En from Romania cut quite a figure dancing to Sundanese song Tokecang.

""The dance was difficult, especially the fighting elements. We only started rehearsing it two hours ago ... but I enjoyed it,"" Adel said.

The Tokecang dance and some other traditional dances from across the archipelago and Pakistan were staged Wednesday night by students at the Pakistan Embassy International School, Central Jakarta, to mark the independence days of Pakistan and Indonesia.

In addition to the dancing, some older students presented a theater piece that told about the struggles for independence of both Indonesia and Pakistan.

Pakistan celebrated its 60th year of independence from British rule on Aug 14, while Indonesia gained its independence on Aug. 17, 1945, following three-and-a-half centuries of Dutch colonialism.

""Our anniversary is only three days before Indonesian Independence Day. So we merged the celebrations to save time,"" said school principal Khalid Iqbal.

He said the event had also been an opportunity to congratulate students from kindergarten to high school levels on their academic achievements.

""We want to give the students some entertainment after they were under pressure during the final examination,"" Khalid said.

The event was attended by Pakistan Ambassador to Indonesia Maj. Gen (ret) Ali Baz and Secretary-General of Indonesian Foreign Affairs Imron Cotan.

The international school, which uses English as the language of instruction, was established 39 years ago, and now has 154 students from 17 nationalities. The majority of students are Indonesians, followed by Pakistanis and Pakistani-Indonesians.

According to Education Ministry data, Indonesia is home to 49 international schools. Some of them are run by private foundations, others by embassies. (13)

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