“I almost cry each time I sing the national anthem because the song somehow affects me by arousing my spirit of nationalism,” a private company employee Maryadi Setiawan told The Jakarta Post recently.
Maryadi belted out a lyric- and melody-perfect rendition of the anthem.

Indonesians celebrate their 65th anniversary of independence on Aug. 17.

“The song reminds me of [the founding fathers’] sacrifice to free our country from colonialists,” said Maryadi.

He mentioned Rayuan Pulau Kelapa (Seduction of the Coconut Island) and Tanah Air Beta (Our Motherland) as two other songs that he enjoyed. Both were composed by Ismail Marzuki, one of the founding fathers of modern Indonesian music.

Citizen Kania Yuliandini, said the national anthem gave her the goose-bumps with its “majestic” tune.
Kania said she also loved the well-known songs such as Gugur Bunga (Falling Leaves) and Tanah Air (Motherland), composed by Saridjah N. B. Soedibjo, better known as Ibu Sud,  given their “powerful and beautiful” lyrics.

Sanusi, a security guard at a shopping center in Central Jakarta, was also well-versed in the anthem’s lyrics.

“I am an Indonesian and will probably spend my entire life in this country. I think it is ridiculous if I don’t know Indonesia Raya,” Sanusi said, while stomping his legs and chanting the chorus.

However, among 20 people interviewed at random by the Post last week, only the above three knew any patriotic songs and considered them as favorites.

Another security guard  said he couldn’t bother remembering the the national anthem or patriotic songs from his long gone school days.

Puji Widodo said he believed nationalism was more about respecting others by living together in peace and stop fussing over social status and religion.

A teacher, Widya Mukti, said patriotic songs were not taught as intensively as had been several years ago. “Our current national curriculum does not make learning the songs compulsory so we teach them  only as an extracurricular activity,” he said.

Historian Asvi Warman Adam said it was older people who would likely recall such songs, citing the playing of  Satu Nusa Satu Bangsa (One Motherland, One Nation) in movie theaters before each film, in the 1980s. “However, the phenomenon of people forgetting their national anthem and patriotic songs was bound to happen, as in any other country,” he said.

Jaap Erkelens, the former head of the representative office of a Dutch institution documenting Indonesian history, the KITLV, said that there were times when the national anthem was only heard at football matches or other sporting events.

“The songs were created as tools to strengthen unity among Indonesians during the struggle for independence. With the advent of peace [and freedom], people no longer saw them as necessary,” Erkelens told the Post in an email exchange.

He said people could not really expect that such songs could serve to unify a nation during times
of peace, as they were only a small part of many other tools to encourage nationalism.

“However, the government should preserve such songs as national heritage so they are not forgotten and lost in time,” Erkelens added. (rch)

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