The famous quote has been memorized and repeated till now, motivating present and future Indonesian generations to contribute to their country, with the spirit upheld by the freedom fighters while striving to liberate the country from foreign occupation in the past.
Since 1959, Indonesians have celebrated November 10 as Heroes Day, recognized by a presidential decree on commemorative days in Indonesia. Soekarno had earlier promoted that day as the day of heroism, as one of the most significant battles during the Indonesian National Revolution that occurred on the exact day in Surabaya.
The Battle of Surabaya, Nov 10, 1945
History books have recorded a great battle between Indonesian freedom fighters and British troops that broke out on November 10, 1945, in Surabaya, triggered by the death of Brigadier General Mallaby during a skirmish earlier on October 30 amid soaring tensions between Surabayans and the arriving foreign troops.
Infuriated by the death of their military commander, Major General Robert Mansergh issued an ultimatum calling Indonesians in Surabaya to cease hostilities and surrender their weapons to the British troops. The ultimatum deadline was set for November 10, and Surabayans were threatened with an all-out invasion if the conditions were not met until the end of the ultimatum period.
The popular decision of Surabayans to not abide by the ultimatum then triggered the British troops to unleash aerial, land, and naval attacks against Surabaya on the fateful day. Surabayans, recognizing that they are united by the independence declaration, heroically resisted the attacks using all available means.
Despite huge losses among the republicans, with the death toll recorded at 20 thousand and more than 150 thousand residents being forced to flee the city, the resistance offered by the Surabayans was sufficient to prove to the international community that Indonesia’s independence declaration was not a mere ploy of a group of statesmen claiming to represent the masses, but instead it had received sincere popular support.
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The Battle of Surabaya, being the first large-scale battle after Indonesia’s independence, was declared earlier on August 17, effectively pitching the British troops against the nascent nation that Surabayans could proudly elevate by name – the Republic of Indonesia.
To remember the heroic resistance of Surabayans during the battle of November 10, 1945, President Soekarno declared the day as Heroes Day, recognized by Presidential Decree No. 316 of 1959 on Commemorative Days.
By declaring the day as Heroes Day, Indonesians of the next generation are expected to remember the past heroism of Surabayans during the battle and exert equally heroic actions while contributing their best for the nation.
Living the spirit of 1945 Independence
Despite Indonesia being freed from foreign military occupation, Indonesia is currently grappling from other issues that are being experienced by every country in the world, such as poverty, drug abuse, terrorism and radicalism, digital threats, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic that tests the global community and national governments to the limit.
Despite no panacea that could vanish all issues plaguing the country in an instant being available, we could reinvigorate our fighting spirit to offer new solutions as an answer to our current issues.
We could rekindle the iron will of past independence fighters, who have brought the greatest present for this nation – independence – and comprehend our duty as the succeeding generation born after Indonesia's independence to continue the struggle that our predecessors had fought for since the past.
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As the future helmsman of the nation, the present youth generation would lead the country to the era when Indonesia is projected to achieve its golden era in 2045, the centenary of Indonesia’s independence.
As earlier stated by the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs’ Head of Department of Enhancement of Educational Quality and Religious Moderation Coordination, Agus Sartono, the country would have around 310 million citizens in 2045.
In the same year, Indonesia is projected to experience a demographic bonus, as citizens from the young, productive age of 15-40 years would become the majority. The demographic bonus, enabling Indonesia to accelerate its growth to achieve global power status, is a present of the centenary of Indonesia’s independence.
As Indonesia would become a youth-majority country in 2045, the present generation must conceive ways to transfer the responsibility on national development to the youth and ensure that they would continue the struggle to reach the ultimate goal in future.
The youth generation must unite to achieve a commitment to fulfil the 2045 Indonesia Golden Era goal, Secretary of the Central Jakarta’s Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI) Regional Leadership Council Tri Wahyudi Utomo affirmed.
The youth generation must commit that they are bound by the same goal: taking over leadership on strategic and essential positions in the nation to pursue the golden era goal in the future, regardless of their ethnic groups, religious, cultural, or language differences, he emphasized.
In concert with Utomo’s opinion, the Indonesian Ulema Council’s Extremism and Terrorism Prevention Agency Deputy Chairperson Inspector General (Ret.) Hamli stated that the youth must have a noble, adaptive personal character and must be able to utilize their religion, nationalism, independence, and mutual assistance values to protect national integrity.
We must commemorate this year’s Heroes Day by instilling values of heroism that past heroes had firmly adhered to in order to brace for the future era when we will be the helmsmen of this nation that continues the struggle for the glory of Indonesia.
We must also preserve our predecessors’ optimism that the current generation will successfully lead this nation to achieve the golden era in 2045.
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Editor: Suharto
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