Obviously I'm not trying to curse like a British by using the word "bloody," but tomorrow Indonesians will be celebrating what we call "Hari Pahlawan," or the National Heroes Day.
Here's a brief story about what happened on 10 November.
-oOo-
It all started in the time where we were struggling to protect our identity, the identity of a free country. In 1945, about 3 months after the declaration of independence by Pak Soekarno and Pak Hatta in Jakarta, the Japanese surrendered and the Dutch came again with help from the Allies. Britain arrived in Jakarta & Surabaya in order to get control over the Japanese weapons and freeing Japanese prisoners and bringing them back to Japan, but nonetheless Britain also brought a mission to bring Indonesia back to be the Dutch East Indies again.
Meanwhile in Surabaya, On 27 October 1945 Britain arrived and gave the people of Surabaya an ultimatum to surrender their weapons. On 28 October, not only the infantries but the people of Surabaya itself attacked the British troops. The men were marching forward to fight the British no matter who they are, children and women are ordered to stay back and went to a safe place. What most memorable from this battle was a speech that caused the fiery spirits of the Surabaya people, by one of the most famous national hero in Indonesia by the name of Bung Tomo.
Bung Tomo itself read the speech furiously, saying that the Surabaya people will never be afraid of anything, not the Allies, not the Dutch, and not for the fact that they were lacking weaponries too.
People mainly used left-behind Japanese weapons, but since that time Indonesia was so little of weaponries, people even fought in battles using bamboos with sharp ends to be able to stab the enemies.
Surabaya men or "arek-arek Suroboyo" then known for their heroic spirits despite all the obstacles that they faced, at the end they got through it. Losing about 200.000 men while the Allies side losing about 2000 men.
That time, the word "merdeka" brought a lot of miracles for everyone.
With this one word, an unforgettable phrase was born, "Merdeka atau mati." "Freedom or death."
Though we are not in the era where we struggled to gain our real identity, "merdeka atau mati" is a really common phrase, especially when we celebrate our country's national day (17 August). Sad our generations these days even forgot about it too sometimes.
And so, many of them forgot about what happened on 10 November.
Dadah
Nibras Sakkir
(Image belongs to its rightful owner)
Here's a brief story about what happened on 10 November.
-oOo-
It all started in the time where we were struggling to protect our identity, the identity of a free country. In 1945, about 3 months after the declaration of independence by Pak Soekarno and Pak Hatta in Jakarta, the Japanese surrendered and the Dutch came again with help from the Allies. Britain arrived in Jakarta & Surabaya in order to get control over the Japanese weapons and freeing Japanese prisoners and bringing them back to Japan, but nonetheless Britain also brought a mission to bring Indonesia back to be the Dutch East Indies again.
Meanwhile in Surabaya, On 27 October 1945 Britain arrived and gave the people of Surabaya an ultimatum to surrender their weapons. On 28 October, not only the infantries but the people of Surabaya itself attacked the British troops. The men were marching forward to fight the British no matter who they are, children and women are ordered to stay back and went to a safe place. What most memorable from this battle was a speech that caused the fiery spirits of the Surabaya people, by one of the most famous national hero in Indonesia by the name of Bung Tomo.
Bung Tomo itself read the speech furiously, saying that the Surabaya people will never be afraid of anything, not the Allies, not the Dutch, and not for the fact that they were lacking weaponries too.
People mainly used left-behind Japanese weapons, but since that time Indonesia was so little of weaponries, people even fought in battles using bamboos with sharp ends to be able to stab the enemies.
Surabaya men or "arek-arek Suroboyo" then known for their heroic spirits despite all the obstacles that they faced, at the end they got through it. Losing about 200.000 men while the Allies side losing about 2000 men.
That time, the word "merdeka" brought a lot of miracles for everyone.
With this one word, an unforgettable phrase was born, "Merdeka atau mati." "Freedom or death."
Though we are not in the era where we struggled to gain our real identity, "merdeka atau mati" is a really common phrase, especially when we celebrate our country's national day (17 August). Sad our generations these days even forgot about it too sometimes.
And so, many of them forgot about what happened on 10 November.
Nibras Sakkir
(Image belongs to its rightful owner)
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