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Sam Ratulangi’s tomb cleaned for Independence Day celebration
To celebrate the 71th Indonesia’s Independence Day, the North Sulawesi administration has dispatched several workers to clean the tomb of Sam Ratulangi, a national hero from the province.
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Reverence -- A man visits the statue of Sam Ratulangi, a national hero from North Sulawesi on Monday. (thejakartapost.com/Lita Aruperes)
T
o celebrate the 71st Independence Day, the North Sulawesi administration dispatched workers to clean the tomb of Sam Ratulangi, a national hero who hailed from the province.
On Monday, four workers, one of whom was a woman, were seen cleaning the tomb and its surrounding area since morning. They cut the grass and painted the rotunda housing the tomb, which is shaped like a waruga (stone tomb of Minahasa people during the Megalithic era).
“We started to work here last Monday,” said Kiven, one of the workers, on Monday.
Kiven further said the workers were assigned not only to clean the tomb complex but also to paint the statue of Sam Ratulangi. They were also assigned to display red-and-white flags around the complex.
Gerungan Saul Samuel Jacob Ratulangi, popularly known as Sam Ratulangi, was born to parents Jozias Ratulangi and Augustina Gerungan in Wawalintoan subdistrict, West Tondano district, Minahasa regency, North Sulawesi, on Nov.5, 1890.
Sam Ratulangi pursued a higher education in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In 1919, he obtained his doctorate degree in physics and math from the University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Sam Ratulangi’s involvement in Indonesia’s political movement became stronger after he was inaugurated as a Volksraad (People's Council) member in 1927. He was imprisoned for fighting for Indonesians' equality in 1937. After Indonesia’s independence in 1945, Sam Ratulangi was inaugurated as the first North Sulawesi governor. He died in Jakarta on June 30, 1949. (ebf)
