Nation celebrates Independence Day

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 08/18/2008 11:30 AM  |  Headlines

Young Chinese Indonesians celebrate victory following a pole-climbing competition held as part of the Independence Day celebrations in the Chinese town of Glodok, North Jakarta, on Sunday. (JP/P.J.Leo)

Indonesia marked the 63rd anniversary of its independence Sunday in a festive mood, thanks to various pieces of good news that, for a short while at least, eclipsed the lingering problems of poverty and unemployment.

About 225 million people around the country spent the national day with their heads held high after the top badminton players followed what is now tradition, and won a gold medal at the Olympic Games.

About six million civil servants and servicemen, plus millions of retirees, had another reason to celebrate the day on Sunday: Just two days earlier, the government promised them a 15-percent pay rise.

More than 5,800 prison inmates discovered a literal meaning of Independence Day as they were released early on Sunday, thanks to the remission awarded them.

Meanwhile, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono could not help but take this year's anniversary of independence personally. He presided over the ceremony at Merdeka Palace for the first time as a grandfather. His daughter-in-law Anissa Pohan gave birth to a baby girl at 6:21 in the morning. The baby was named Dirgahayu, which means "long life" in Sanskrit.

The ceremony at Merdeka Palace was as solemn as ever, despite the absence of some former presidents invited to the event.

The country's fourth president Megawati Soekarnoputri opted to observe the national day with members of her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) at its headquarters in South Jakarta. In the absence of Megawati, the family of the late founding president Sukarno was represented by his children Guruh Soekarnoputra and Rachmawati Soekarnoputri.

The third president BJ Habibie was reportedly in Germany, his second home base.

No family members of the late second president Soeharto were seen in attendance.

It was surprising, however, that former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid was present, despite his ongoing feud with Yudhoyono's government. Gus Dur was accompanied by his wife Sinta Nuriyah and daughter Inayah.

"This is to respect the state," Gus Dur said of his attendance.

He branded the government a "cheat" for recognizing as legitimate the faction of his party, the National Awakening Party (PKB), led by House of Representatives deputy speaker Muhaimin Iskandar.

Gus Dur, who helped found the PKB in 1998, has accused the government of siding with Muhaimin, his nephew, in a move to block his own bid for the presidency in 2009.

Gus Dur was among those notable for their absence from the ceremony last year.

Other prominent ceremony attendees Sunday were Nada Luthfiyyah, a victim of the 2004 tsunami in Aceh, and her pen friend Maggie Hamilton from Michigan. The two girls were among the President's special guests.

Yudhoyono also led the flag-lowering ceremony in the afternoon, which had a couple of minor disruptions. Commander of the ceremony Col. Bambang Suswanto dropped his sword, while the flag bearers seemed to lower the flag a tad too fast, so it reached the bottom of the pole before the national anthem had ended.

Generally, there were no security issues reported, except for a minor incident in the Aceh regency of Bireuen, where unidentified people lowered eight flags before the independence celebration.

"We are hunting down the perpetrators. Their act is unacceptable," Aceh Police chief Insp. Gen. Rismawan was quoted as saying by Antara.

The incident took place at a high school and occurred just after 20 national flags in the village of Ulee Gle in the same regency were reportedly stolen.

Aceh was plagued by four decades of rebellion, which ended in August 2005 following a peace agreement between the government and the rebel group.

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