CELEBRATION OF THE 68th ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA AND EID AL-FITR
On the occasion of the 68th anniversary of the declaration of independence of the Republic of Indonesia “HUT-RI Ke-68”, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, the Indonesian Community in Serbia and the members of the Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship “Nusantara” celebrated the national holiday with the motto: “Protect the political stability and economic development to improve the prosperity of our people”.
Indonesian flag raising ceremony and the Indonesian national anthem were performed in the courtyard of the residence of the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia, on August 17th, the day when Indonesia declared its independence in 1945.
After the flag raising ceremony, on the occasion of this year’s Eid “I Syawal 1434 Hjriyah”, which was just a few days before Independence Day, this Muslim holiday was celebrated – Eid al-Fitr.
Numerous guests – the embassy diplomats, Indonesians and friends were greeted by the host H.E. Ambassador Samuel Samson, on behalf of the Islamic community, the Serbian Mufti Jusufspahic, on behalf of Muslim ambassadors, Algerian Ambassador H.E. Abdelkader Mesdoua, on behalf ASEAN ambassadors (Association of South East Asia), Ambassador of the Union of Myanmar H.E. Zaw Tun, Ambassador of the Netherlands H.E. Louis Laurent Stokvis, and on behalf of the members of the Nusantara Association General Secretary Marko Jelic.
Mr Jelic congratulated religious holiday to all Muslims and national holiday to Indonesians and informed the guests that the Chairman of “Nusantara” Association Mr. Aleksandar Rakovic was the guest of the President of Indonesia, and that this year Association marks 10 years since the establishment.
As a sign of gratitude and hospitality the ambassador treated all speakers with Tumpeng – yellow, festive rice.
In the music part of the program the guests were entertained by the members of the Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship “Nusantara”, playing in the band “After work”.
The formal diplomatic reception was organized at Belgrade hotel “Hyatt Regency” on September 5th, 2013 on the occasion of the national holiday, 68th anniversary as Indonesia gained independence from the former colonial power the Netherlands, Ambassador Samson, emphasized the friendship between the two “very close” countries which have had diplomatic relations for more than 57 years.
At the reception, which gathered nearly thousand guests, Ambassador Samson expressed great appreciation and sincere gratitude to the Government and people of Serbia for the support and bilateral cooperation.
Also present were the President of the National Assembly of Serbia, Nebojsa Stefanovic, the wife of the President of Serbia Dragica Nikolic, representatives of the Government, Assembly, Serbian Army, and diplomatic corps, religious dignitaries, businessmen, media representatives, numerous friends, and representatives of the Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship “Nusantara”.
Ambassador Samson said that the largest country in Southeast Asia, the third most populated democracy in the world and most populous Muslim country “will never betray Serbia.”
Samson expressed his belief that the already strong bilateral relations and good cooperation between the two countries in the fields of politics, economy, culture and defence can be further improved and developed. The meeting between Presidents Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Tomislav Nikolic should additionally contribute to this. “Such a summit will be a cornerstone and a history moment for a new era of bilateral relations and cooperation between Indonesia and Serbia,” the Ambassador said.
Samson expressed his belief that Indonesia and Serbia can promote bilateral cooperation in the future, and that acting together internationally, they can preserve peace, stability and development in certain regions and the international community at large.
The Ambassador said that the contacts between the young people of Indonesia and Serbia made a solid base for the future of both countries adding that 25 members of a dance troupe of university students from Jakarta, Indonesia was on a 20-day tour through 14 cities of Serbia, representing the art and culture of their country. Also, in August, 15 young people from Serbia went to Indonesia on a variety of specializations in the course of the year, as a part of “Darmasiswa” government program in Jakarta for scholarships for students from abroad. “Young people from Serbia were eager to set off for Indonesia knowing that they were going to a friendly country, and that their success in carrying out the tasks would bring a lot of benefit not only to them personally, but to both countries,” the Ambassador said.
Samson sad that ever since August 17th, 1945 when Ahmed Sukarno and Mohemed Hata, proclaimed the independence of the Republic of Indonesia, this country of 17,508 islands scattered over an area of 1.9 million square kilometres with more than 240 million people, has been constantly developing. “We’ve experienced the ups and downs, were faced with various challenges and obstacles, but we have also achieved many successful results,” said the Ambassador of Indonesia.
Today Indonesia is the member of the Group of 20 most powerful and fast growing economies in the world (G-20). Indonesia’s economy is the fifth largest in Asia and 15th or 16th in the world (depending on the criteria for measuring gross domestic product GDP).
Further process of change in Indonesia, according to Samson, aims to “to make Indonesia a democratic, unified and prosperous country, which could, together with Serbia and other friendly countries, contribute to the profit of the international community.”
Ambassador Samson, who is completing three years of service in Serbia, thanked for all the good things that were offered to his family and to him personally, and said he wanted “our friendly relationship, the result of our joint efforts, to be stronger and more enduring, useful for the people of our two countries. I hope for that Serbian proverb: good is rewarded by good.”
The rich cultural program included the performance of a renowned “Barili” choir from Pozarevac which, under the baton of Katalin Tasic, performed Indonesian anthem “Indonesia Raya” and Serbian anthem “Boze pravde”. Dance Group of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia lead by Ms Ivana Askovic performed traditional Indonesian dances.
Gamelan orchestra, traditional musical ensemble, which also operates under the Embassy, presented the music that is an integral part of Indonesian culture. This orchestra includes the members of the Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship “Nusantara” Boris Vancev, Zarko Vidakovic, Nebojsa Pavlovic and Marko Jelic, as well as the members of the orchestra Mirjana Sukiban, Dyanih Mahesthi, William Nover, Sinisa Grudic and Boris Jelocnik.
All the time, during the reception, Members of Gamelan were playing traditional Javanese songs. Head of ensemble Mr. Sutikno Sukiban, accompanied by Marko Jelic, sang “Tamo daleko”, “Ajde Kato” and “Ajde Jano”.
The guests were treated by famous national dishes from Indonesia: Nasi Goreng (fried rice with meat and plenty of spices) and Rendang (beef cooked in coconut milk) and fried rice macaroni (very thin), fried onions (Tempura onion) and Lumpia goreng (Spring rolls). Some of these specialties were made under the supervision of Dede Setiaavana, chef at the residence of the Ambassador of Indonesia.
This year’s reception has attracted significant media attention and, according to the management of “Hyatt” hotel, this was one of the major events organized at this hotel.
