October 28 – Youth Pledge Day in Indonesia

nPosted October 28, 2019

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nAh, youth!

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nYoung people are often the ones who don’t see “how it’s always been” as having power over the future.

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nThey tend to be passionate and idealistic, energetic and healthy, and they care EVEN more about the future than do old folks – because they are almost certain to still be around to experience that future. 

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nThroughout history, we see young people rise up to question traditions, to see past the convenient explanations, to boldly go where nobody has gone before. In the U.S. right now, young people have led a much more effective effort to get sensible gun legislation than all the decades of adult-led movements. And in the world right now, young people have led the charge on meaningful climate action.

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nWell, back in the 1920s, young people living in the Dutch East Indies were taking steps to promote the idea of an independent and united Indonesia. On this date in 1928, at the Second Youth Congress, young people created a Youth Pledge. 

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nThey proclaimed Indonesia as their motherland and nation, and they proclaimed Indonesian as their language. 

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nThat might seem obvious now, but when they were crafting the pledge, these young Indonesians lived in a Dutch colony, ruled by a wealthy Dutch elite, and Dutch was the official language.

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nIt took a long time for the Indonesian youth and other nationalists to achieve their goal. 

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nActually, the Dutch colony was taken over by Japan during World War II, and after the Japanese occupation most people in Indonesia and even the world thought that Indonesia should be independent. The fact that the Netherlands struggled to regain control of the Asian islands for more than four years is…sad, really!

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nBut Indonesians prevailed and maintained their independence, first declared in 1945.

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nCheck out the beauties of the Indonesian land, waters, culture, and people:

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nPlan ahead:

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• nOctober holidays

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• nOctober birthdays

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• nHistorical anniversaries in October
  

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nAnd here are my Pinterest boards for:

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• nNovember holidays

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• nNovember birthdays

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• nHistorical anniversaries in November

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