Are You Proud To Be Indonesian?

Proud to be an Indonesian? Should be. But, honestly, I had never felt that way. How could I possibly be proud of it if the fact we’re overwhelmed by terrible news about Indonesia: corruption, the natural catastrophes, the terrorist bomb attack… . It looks as if those become the characters stick to our country. Consequently, I felt embarrassed to mention my nationality everytime I was abroad.

Until then, I had the opportunity to participate in an international conference in Birma (or we use the more common term for it ‘Myanmar’). It gathered young people from every member country of ASEAN (derived from the words ‘Association of South East Asian Nations’). All the participants are university students who looked very confident and proud of their own countries. I was even fascinated by a participant from Myanmar, a country which is more known for its strong regime against the liberation movement than its wonderful pagodas. She didn’t appear to be a passive girl. On the contrary, this Burmese young woman performed with all her good quality that she has in herself: beautiful, smart, speak fluent English, and lively vocal in debates. She was also proud of wearing the Burmese traditional costume, the longyi dress, in ever occasion.

Then I thought to myself, “I am supposed to be like her too. Even though her country’s in under forces, but she’s still proud of being a Burmese. Why can’t I?”. A friend of mine who was also an Indonesian delegate even warned me on a dinner session hosted by the Minister of Education, which asked all the participants to dress in their traditional costumes, “Put off your jacket so that people can see your dress! Your kebaya is beautiful, don’t cover it up!”

Soon I was reflecting all of what had happened during those days. I thought, it was no longer the moment where I still felt ashamed of my own country. Well, it’s true Indonesia is actually in an unpleasant situation for everyone, but it was no use to be continuously pessimistic. If we never feel proud of our own country, how can we rebuild Indonesia then?

Finally, I decided to put off my jacket on a farewell dinner held on the last day of the event. I showed off to the people that Indonesian costume was also as beautiful as others! Maybe I seemed to be a bit narcissistic, but… I think let it be, as long as it is for my country. Other participants even gave us, the Indonesian delegates, a great applause, not only for our harmonious costumes, but also for our artistic performance that was the most hilarious: poco-poco dance! Viva Indonesia!