Less than a week ahead of the nation'€™s 70th Independence Day anniversary, residents across the capital have started to fancy up their neighborhoods with various kinds of red-and-white paraphernalia and are gearing up for traditional games and activities.

Aside from hoisting the national flag at every house for the festive day, which falls on Aug. 17, residents in densely populated areas have also been putting up banners, umbul-umbul (decorative flags) and strings of plastic cups painted red and white over the roads.

Residents in Cikini, Menteng, Central Jakarta, are enthusiastically welcoming the anniversary of independence.

'€œWe will hold a marathon on a route including the areas surrounding the Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) arts center. It'€™s simply for keeping their spirits alive. This has been our tradition for years,'€ said Tuty Iriani, 64, a neighborhood unit head in the Kali Pasir subdistrict, on Wednesday.

Besides holding popular games associated with the Aug. 17 celebrations, such as tarik tambang (tug of war) and lomba kerupuk (eating crackers hung from ropes), Tuty said, local residents were also planning an arts festival.

'€œLike in previous years, it will include music, dance, comedy and many other kinds of performance. It is mainly aimed at developing their creativity,'€ she said, adding that such events often took the neighborhood by surprise.

'€œWith the existence of festivals like that, their various talents showed up. Previously, I had no expectations that, among my residents, there are those who are very good at comedy performances and magic shows,'€ Tuty told The Jakarta Post.

While preparing for the upcoming events, she said, her residents were currently also adorning their neighborhood with hundreds of decorative flags.

'€œEvery community unit will erect around 10 umbul-umbul,'€ said Tuty, who supervises 15 community units, adding that by Aug. 14 all residents are expected to be flying the national flags at their respective houses.

Also in Central Jakarta, residents along Kebon Sirih'€™s Jl. Jaksa, which was formerly known as a foreign backpackers'€™ paradise, also appeared to be in festive mood.

Helmy Zain, 59, a local resident who usually initiated and funded events for the anniversary of independence in previous years, said that traditional games held along the street often attracted hundreds of participants and foreigners also joined them.

'€œForeign tourists enthusiastically participated in the competitions because they have no such unique games in their countries and wanted to try them. Besides, they also wanted to take part in observing our Independence Day,'€ said Helmy, who owns a cafe bar in the area, on late Tuesday.

Along with local residents in the neighborhood, he is currently preparing to hold a wide range of games, including the popular sack races and bakiak (a group of people walking in pairs of tandem wooden clogs).

Led by Helmy, residents have also put up 30 decorative flags along the 400-meter street and will hang a seven-by-one-meter banner over the road.

He said that his willingness to reach deep into his own pocket, which can hold tens of millions of rupiah (thousands of dollars), to enliven Independence Day simply came out of his desire to show love for the country and express gratitude for the nation'€™s freedom.

'€œI am a nationalist. My father was a member of Pembela Tanah Air [PETA]. This is what I can do to thank my father and other freedom fighters,'€ Helmy told the Post, referring to the Japanese-led volunteer army made up of Indonesians during the 1945 phase of the independence movement.

Aside from Jakartans preparing to brighten up the upcoming anniversary celebrations, the capital has also seen residents taking advantage of the festive day by selling various kinds of red-and-white symbols.

At the Jatinegara traditional market in East Jakarta, Ahmad, 40, is currently selling flags, umbul-umbul, key chains and other kinds of decorations. Sold for between Rp 5,000 (36 US cents) and Rp 400,000, the decorations were products made in Cirebon, West Java, he said.

'€œAll of these products were brought to Jakarta by my friends in July. Then they stay for a month to help me sell them,'€ said Ahmad, who in other months sells fruit.

Having sold the decorations for 10 years, he said that he could reap more than Rp 10 million on peak days, which usually lasted since the beginning of August. Most of his buyers were corporations, which mostly bought flags for roof edges, Ahmad added. (alm/agn)

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