Indonesia: Independence Day

August 17th is Indonesia's Independence Day.
On this day at 10am some 61 years ago, Bung Karno and Bung Hatta told the whole world that we are free:

     Kami bangsa Indonesia dengan ini menyatakan kemerdekaan Indonesia.
     Hal-hal yang mengenai pemindahan kekuasan dll diselenggarakan
     dengan cara seksama dan dalam tempo yang sesingkat-singkatnya.

So they said it (and you bet we had to memorize the above in school!) …. MERDEKA!

So, every year on the day, there's always this ceremony in the morning to celebrate the Independence Day, followed by some competitions (different kinds .. interesting and fun stuff).
Of course, in school, we had no choice .. we had to go outside (in the sun) and followed the ceremony. That's why I joined the school red cross – so I could walk back and forth to the building taking care of sick people (and staying in shades). HAHAHA! No, that's not it, I thought I could be more useful doing that than just standing in rows for a couple of hours.
Or if I wasn't doing that, I was one of the flag bearers .. 'coz then we got to stand on the side usually in shades (and not wear that hat and tie). HAHA! No, that's not my reason either .. I loved that task. Seriously.

But today at 10am, I'll be at work .. working.

Happy Birthday, Indonesia!