The 73rd Anniversary of Indonesia's Independence

Happy 73rd Anniversary of Indonesia's Independence!

Posing with Lampungnese traditional attire against the backdrop of our First President, Ir. Soekarno, declared Indonesia's Independence

August 17 is celebrated as the national day for my beloved Indonesia.
Soekarno and Mohammad Hatta, the founding fathers of Indonesia, proclaimed Indonesia's independence on this day after being colonised by the Dutch for around 350 years and by Japanese for around 3.5 years.

After celebrating it in New York City for the last 4 years, we are now celebrating it at home!
In our beloved Indonesia!
We were super excited.

My office invited all of its staff to join the flag-hoisting ceremony starting at 7.15 AM.
My kids already had the similar events a day before as their schools were off on the D-day.

Happy Independence Day, Indonesia. Picture from pixabay

I went to my office for the flag-hoisting ceremony that morning and we were requested to wear Indonesian traditional costumes. As Indonesia is indeed rich in cultural heritages, being a proud home of more than 700 traditional tribes (or may be even more!), we believe that showcasing those traditional costumes during our national day will be a perfect occasion to deepen our love and respect towards our historical roots and independent struggles. 

The ceremony started at 7.15 AM and we finished at around 8 AM, as the Minister needed to be at the Palace to join the celebration with the President of the Republic of Indonesia, which started at 10 AM.
The ceremony was conducted in a semi-military arrangement, with flag-hoisting team marching to the flag pole and hoisting Merah Putih, our national flag, while the participants sang Indonesia Raya, our national anthem, together.
It was such a solemn and proud moment, as we all continue fighting for Indonesia's priorities and needs, wherever we are.

As you probably know very well, I chose to wear the wedding attire of Lampung, where I was born and raised. 

Proklamasi....

You don't know how proud I was wearing the almost-3-kg Siger or the traditional crown as well as the complete set of the costume which includes 2-kg Tapis Lampung or the hand-woven traditional fabrics from golden threads. 
It was indeed a great experience, considering that it was a hot and humid morning :).

The Siger, traditional crown of Lampungnese bride

The flag-raising ceremony is taken place in so many parts of Indonesia as well as the representatives of Indonesia all over the world.It is usually followed by Pesta Rakyat or people's party, packed with sports and fun contests as well as endless entertainment. While we were in NYC, we never missed the ceremony as well as the Street Festival conducted in the following weeks.



Long story short, the ceremony in my Office in Jakarta was solemnly done and afterwords, we had fun photo sessions here and there, as always.
I even took the photo near the mascots of Asian Games 2018, Bhin Bhin, Atung and Kaka.

Enjoy some pictures I took with my phone during the ceremony and once again,

HAPPY 73RD ANNIVERSARY, INDONESIA

Maju terus, Indonesiaku tercinta