Independence Day!

17 August 2006 – Indonesia celebrates its 61st 'birthday' and indeed, you can see 'birthday parties' all over the country! In almost every neighborhood many fun games and competitions were held by the locals, not only for kids but for adults as well. In Jakarta, every part of the city is decorated with everything red and white, the colors of Indonesia's flag.

In the morning, as I am a 'less active' Indonesian citizen, I only followed the flag ceremony at the Presidential Palace on TV, but then at around 11 a.m. the neighborhood became so noisy as children were already back from attending flag ceremonies at schools, and gathering now in front of our house, getting ready for the fun games (and the prizes waiting for the winners!)

The first competition was catching eels. A group of kids raced to catch several eels, run as fast as possible and put the eels in a pail around 10 meters away. Second game was eating crackers which were strung just above the head. The participating kids had to jump a little while eating the crackers, their hands were tied on the back. The one who finished the crackers fastest won the game. Many adults took their roles as cheerleaders that day. But many of them also participated in games such as soccer, tug-of-war, or climbing a slippery tree (with prizes suspended on top of the tree!), taking places in (usually) soccer fields (and not every neighborhood has one).

Let's see...the celebrations normally continue until end of August. I guess I should anticipate traffic jams as there will be entertainments on the streets. Anyhow it's good to see people enjoying themselves during these celebrations. It feels like a big family cheering their kids and friends.


Racing to catch eels


Cheering the cracker eaters