Selamat Merayakan Hari Kesaktian Pancasila – Commemorating Pancasila

“Today is Hari Kesaktian Pancasila, you know,” a friend told me first thing when I arrived in the office.
“Oh? Frankly, I actually forgot about it. Completely. All I remember is that today’s payday,” I said.
She chuckled. “Well, I remember only because it’s the same day of China’s National Day as well. My mom celebrates it.”
“Many people I met only vaguely remember what are 5 principles in Pancasila. What’s there to commemorate?”

*

Then my mind jumped right away to the movie “The Act of Killing,” a documentary by Joshua Oppenheimer on the 30 September Movement back in 1965, and the genocide that followed afterwards, and I couldn’t help but think how ridiculous this Hari Kesaktian Pancasila is. “Sakti” here is something similar to “powerful,” or “great.” I remember how watching Oppenheimer’s movie, especially the scene when a few of the perpetrators of the post-1965 killings showed how they were glorified for what they did back then in the name of Pancasila. I remember wondering whether they even understand what Pancasila is. Hell, I’m not even sure I truly do as well! For me, it’s just like those overly-idealistic principles that I always read in books.

Then as I found some time for myself when I got home, I became curious of how big this day is, then found some background information of how this day is related to the so-called 30 September Movement, which, despite the debate and controversy of who’s responsible for the ’65 coup, the New Order government decided and proclaimed (as we all know) that PKI (The Indonesian Communist Party) was responsible, and they decided to commemorate (1) the coup on 30 September, famously known as Gerakan 30 September/PKI (G30S/PKI), and (2) the so-called Pancasila on the day after, which is today, known as “Hari Kesaktian Pancasila.” And what’s ridiculous is an article ( Presiden SBY Pimpin Upacara Hari Kesaktian Pancasila ) I saw in Kompas earlier how they want to take in the values in Pancasila for the sake of the nation’s character building.
I felt depressed thinking about the philosophy behind this. What are they commemorating, really? The Pancasila? The “victory” over the massacre on the day before, done in the name of Pancasila? The fakeness of Pancasila?
Here’s Pancasila, by the way:

1. Ketuhanan yang Maha Esa (Belief in the one and only God)
2. Kemanusiaan yang adil dan beradab (Just and civilized humanity)
3. Persatuan Indonesia (the unity of Indonesia)
4. Kerakyatan yang dipimpin oleh hikmat kebijaksanaan dalam permusyawaratan/perwakilan (democracy guided by the inner wisdom in the unanimity arising out of deliberations amongst representatives)
5. Keadilan sosial bagi seluruh rakyat Indonesia (social justice for all of the people of Indonesia)

*translations are taken from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancasila_(politics)

Please, help me out here: “just and civilized humanity”? Our history is full of wounds from bloodsheds and pogroms, dating even way from the 18th century, and even until now many of the victims are still traumatized and paranoid when talking about it, then the government barely do anything about it. What is “just” about it? And humane? Discrimination, racism, and hatred surrounds the country, and the extremists won’t even hesitate to kill others in the name of their god, or the state (mostly god, though). In another documentary by Andre Vltchek and Rossie Indira on 1965 that I watched, “Terlena: Breaking of a Nation,” there’s this narration by Len Tooke that got me chuckling: “Although Indonesia claims to have a population that is 100% religious, it is arguably among the world’s least compassionate nations.” Seriously, “humanity?”
“The unity of Indonesia?” Extremists are burning temples, churches, destroying other believers’ sacred ground, calling them names, then other extremists got back for revenge–please tell me where the fuck is the unity in all these. We got chauvinist conservatives, extremists who are too narrow-minded and “exclusive,” who can barely conform and tolerate anyone but themselves. It sure sounds like “unity” somewhere there…
And “democracy”? You mean democrazy, yes? I laughed so hard when I read how Pram described that the presidents are “clowns” except for Soekarno, and how the painter, Djokopekik called the country is full of “buffaloes” in the documentary “Terlena.” Such representatives, they are.
And help me god, “social justice for all of the people of Indonesia?” A guy walked from his home, already destroyed by the Lapindo mud, to the capital city, wanted to meet the president to ask for what he’d promised: a compensation for his lost home and if I had not mistaken, he didn’t get to meet the big guy in the end (I forgot the link of the article. In case I got the information wrong, feel free to correct me and send me the link). Ask him where justice is.
So, Pancasila? Somehow it’s becoming more and more of a nonsense…

Habibie & Ainun (2012)

This is a biographical movie telling the love story of the former Indonesian president, B. J. Habibie and his one and only wife, the late Hasri Ainun Besari (later Ainun Habibie). Adapted from a book with the same title, written by Habibie himself, this movie takes the audience into a roller-coaster of emotion revolving around their life. Going back to the days when they were together in high school, the movie portrays further their life onwards up to the day Ainun passed away, which means this include the day they got married, moved to Germany, and then went back to Indonesia and the day Habibie became the vice president and later, the 3rd president of Indonesia.

“Habibie & Ainun” Movie Poster

The lead actor, Reza Rahadian, is one of the main reason I so badly wanted to see this movie. I saw him acted before in three different movies which I’ve come to like: Alangkah Lucunya (Negeri Ini), 3 Hati 2 Dunia 1 Cinta, and Tanda Tanya, and his performance in this movie haven’t change my opinion of how good he is as an actor. I never really saw him act like he was in the movie–he became a completely different person, with a different attitude and even the way he altered his intonation and articulation when he speak is brilliantly meticulous. Of course, I might be clouded by me being a fan of his already, but I do think it deserves an applause.

As for the lead actress, the prominent Indonesian actress Bunga Citra Lestari played Habibie’s wife, Ainun. I believe that Bunga (also known with her initial: BCL) is a very good and talented actress, and she did played Ainun wonderfully. My favorite scene is probably (SPOILER ALERT!) the one when she got homesick during the early years of her marriage with Habibie, and she tried to hold it back inside, but when her husband asked, she finally spilled and cried. Another one is the scenes when she got diagnosed with ovarian cancer and finally hospitalized. Probably one of the most touching scene throughout the movie, we could see a very strong connection between Habibie and his wife when he got anxious waiting outside the operation room and insisted to get inside and accompanied his wife because he thought she might be worried about him. Then when he finally got in after the operation, he asked gently what got Ainun worried sick. She weakly shook her head when he asked whether she felt any pain (there’s one more question but I forgot), but she finally nodded her head when he asked whether she’d been worried about him instead. Then he reassured her that he’d taken his meds (he was diagnosed with tuberculosis early in the movie, when he was still young). Most certainly, this got me and the girls sitting next to me sobbing badly. And the way BCL depicted Ainun’s last days on bed, when she got very sick that she could not talk and had to struggled hard to merely lift her hands was really touching and brought me into tears. However, I don’t think this movie has really shown the extent of what BCL could do with her act. For me, at least, it’s not enough.

Reza Rahadian as Habibie & BCL as Ainun

One thing that got me pretty disappointed is the lack of a full portrayal of the time when Habibie got involved in politics and then elected as the vice-president to the late Soeharto. All we see is Habibie got home one day after the night before promising Ainun a cruise trip, telling her that they might have to delay that because he’s gonna be the vice president of Indonesia. Of course, later I remembered that this is a story of both Habibie AND Ainun, not just Habibie himself, but still, I was hoping they would show more of his journey of becoming the vice president. But again, I haven’t really read the book itself, Habibie & Ainun, so I don’t really know whether Habibie also wrote a lot about that one as well or not.

But overall, I really enjoy the movie, and despite usually preferring other movies than a cliché and cheesy romance, I’d definitely looking forward to buy the DVD later. …or maybe I again got clouded by this idea that no matter how cheesy these romances are, they did happened for real.

I’m not sure whether this is a movie guys would want to see because I know several guys who did watched it and liked it, and I also know those who lacked interest in watching it (which made it so hard for me to find companion to watch it), but I’d definitely recommend this movie.

FYI, this movie is delivered in two different languages: Bahasa Indonesia and Germany, but movies like this usually got me in doubt of how good the foreign language is in the movie (in this case, the Germany language), so I don’t know whether the Germany spoken by Indonesians in the movie a natural, good Germany or a broken one instead, but considering the frequency of the language spoken (which is a lot), I’d assumed that it has to be quite good, at least.

P.S. Oh, and this is definitely a tearjerker.

Salatiga’s Street Arts

I was inspired by the increasing number of blog posts about street arts in WordPress’ Freshly Pressed lately, so I decided to make a post about street art as well. I’ve been noticing street arts, or graffiti, to be precise, when I was pursuing my bachelor of education in English, in a small but homely city called Salatiga. I obviously still have a thing for that city, because I talked my mother into letting me spend some of my holidays in Salatiga instead of spending it in my hometown the whole time.

Ironically, having left my hometown for more than four years, I can barely remember where I could find street arts, or graffiti anymore. I knew there are some, if not plenty, but I don’t know where to find them anymore. Guess I’d need to spend some more time in my hometown, really. But I do notice that Salatiga has plenty, plenty of graffitis. I definitely remember one on the wall behind the campus, Satya Wacana Christian University, and then another one on this street called Sukowati, if I had not mistaken. Too bad I wasn’t able to take pictures of the latter one.

The graffitis on the wall behind the campus. That small, narrow door leads to Satya Wacana Christian University.

Anyway, I managed to spend three days in Salatiga, and so I told Ikka about this blog post I meant to write, and she was willing to help me. Finally, on my last day in Salatiga, she picked me up at the hotel and took me around the city to get pictures of the graffitis (which all were taken with my 2 MP camera phone, sorry for that). So, thanks a lot, Ikka! And I hope you guys think these graffitis are nice as I do too. Enjoy the pictures!

The statue near the hotel where I stayed at, called “Pangeran Diponegoro” (Prince Diponegoro). He’s one of Indonesian national heroes.

A closer look at “Pangeran Diponegoro” statue.

This is what we called as “bundaran” (roundabout) in front of the dept. store in Salatiga. There’s a big clock in the middle of a fountain, and a statue of “Jenderal Soedirman” in front of it. He’s another national heroes of Indonesia.

A closer look at “Jenderal Soedirman” (General Soedirman) statue.

Those letters are actually advertisements of cafes and restaurants, including bistros in Salatiga. Graffitis as ad, cool.

“Darahku Merah Tak Sudi Dijajah” Related to the past times when Indonesia was conquered by Dutch colonies. We have a saying “Merah Darahku, Putih Tulangku” (Red is my blood, white is my bones), which is kinda figurative speech of Indonesian flag.

The graffitis on the wall behind the campus. That small, narrow door leads to Satya Wacana Christian University.

“Batik Milik Kita!” (Batik Is Ours!)

“Batik” and “Love For Batik!”

A nice graffiti of Batik.

“Cintailah Laut Kita” (Love Our Seas/Oceans)

“Green”

“Ich Liebe Dich”

There’s Ikka sitting on her motorcycle, waiting for me, haha. Thanks for waiting, Ikkal!

“Selamatkan”, means “Save”

The graffiti with number “3” on it is actually a phone-provider ad, with its motto: “Jagoan Internet” (Internet Expert).

Some graffitis at the parking lot.

A stop sign with a “Rage” on it.